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Weekly Social Protection Links: May 24

Ugo Gentilini's picture
Submitted by Ugo Gentilini
on Fri, 24/05/2019 - 14:35
A big table, but one worth keeping in the back-pocket: what are the long-term effects of conditional cash transfers ? A ten-country review by Millan et al unbundles the effects at two stages in the lifecycle, namely at school age (because of CCT exposure in utero or early childhood) and during young adulthood (participation at school age). On the latter, the evidence is strong on education-related outcomes (“… CCTs consistently help these children obtain higher grades, and often enable completion of higher levels of schooling”), but more mixed on learning. Evidence is thinner on employment: only in Nicaragua long-term effects on labor force participation and income are positive – and are so for both man and women. Evidence on effects at early life stages is more...Read more

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Could a minimum income scheme lift India out of poverty?

Bastian Harth's picture
Submitted by Bastian Harth
on Mon, 20/05/2019 - 08:33
Recently, Rahul Gandhi - president of the Indian National Congress Party (CP) and candidate for Prime Minister (PM) in this week’s Inidan national elections - proposed a new social welfare income scheme: Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY, Hindi for “justice”). The scheme would involve a direct conditional cash transfer of about Rs 72,000 (US$ 1050) per year to 50 million of India's poorest households. Despite Ghandi's altruistic overtures, the proposal may be a political move in an attempt to gain votes in the elections. Even so, the benefits of successfully implementing the scheme are undeniable. However, there are many challenges to implementation – beyond political will. Political campaigning and the NYAY As India was hit by one of the strongest tropical cyclones in the last...Read more

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Weekly Social Protection Links: May 17

Ugo Gentilini's picture
Submitted by Ugo Gentilini
on Fri, 17/05/2019 - 16:14
How much time does it take to scale-up social protection in crises? About 3.5 months on average according to a new AusAid paper by Barca and Beazley. Examining the performance of 9 countries affected by natural disasters, the analysis shows that response time ranges from 2 weeks to 14 months (see table 4 p.41) and discusses factors affecting performance. I really liked figure 3 (p.22) quantifying the different models and overlaps in response, as well as the final handy summary framework (p.48) compressing key actions in assessments, decision-making, preparedness and adaptation. Bonus: a new case study by Aldaba delves into the linkages between humanitarian assistance, social protection and disaster risk in the Philippines , while Lovell et al...Read more

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Bilateral agreements: A tool for enhancing social protection for migrant workers

Pilar Luz Rodrigues's picture
Submitted by Pilar Luz Rodrigues
on Sun, 12/05/2019 - 16:43
Today, millions of people around the world migrate in search of work to sustain their livelihoods. Migrant workers encounter a multiplicity of vulnerabilities and challenges in their country of destination, including access to social protection. Access is hindered by migration, (un)employment, residency, and most pertinently, citizenship status (Fornalé, 2017). What’s more, due to absence from their country of origin, migrant workers are faced with the risk of losing social security benefits at home (ILO/IOM/OSCE, 2007). Barriers in accessing social protection Migrants face numerous barriers to accessing social protection, including (Panhuys et al., 2017): The principle of territoriality The principle of nationality Lack of coordination or bilateral agreements...Read more

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Weekly Social Protection Links: May 10

Ugo Gentilini's picture
Submitted by Ugo Gentilini
on Fri, 10/05/2019 - 16:38
What nutritional effects can cash transfers with soft conditions achieve in conflicts? New results from war-torn Yemen by Kurdi et al show that such program reduced acute malnutrition by 9-10 percentage points (pp). Also, declines were observed in stunting and wasting (by 0.35 and 0.43 z-scores, respectively), while the probability of breastfeeding increased by 15pp. And on a different kind of crisis… what did we learn from the Ebola outbreak response on 2014-15? A thoughtful, first-hand set of lessons from Konyndyk highlights that, from the outset of the crisis, the world (i) knew the basics on to break Ebola transmission, (ii) had a strong vaccine candidate, and (iii) had a robust therapeutic candidate. And yet… the virus containment tools could not be scaled...Read more

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