Addressing inflation-related food insecurity is a global priority, but how are social protection systems responding to the crisis? Our updated tracker (v.2) includes data on 376 social protection responses across 121 economies! Subsidies claim 61% of social protection responses and take four main forms (fuel, food, fertilizers, and various fee subsidies). Social assistance accounts for 21% of responses, 71% of which is provided in the form of cash transfers. Social protection programs cover, or are planning to do so, 449.6 million people and include a level of spending of $277.7 billion. The size of social assistance transfers represents about one-fifth of median income. Most transfers are new and are provided on a one-off basis as opposed to monthly installments. Trade-related measures represent 12% of total responses and are implemented in 32 economies. Active labor market policies and social insurance represent 3% and 2% of measures, respectively. Enjoy navigating through the 270-page report, including global trends, regional outlooks, and country-level action!

From one crisis to another, with new evidence on social protection and climate change. In Ethiopia, an amazing article by Hirvonen et al estimates that PSNP public works “… increased tree cover by 3.8% between 2005 and 2019, with larger increases in less densely populated areas and on steep-sloped terrain” (h/t Andrea Vermehren).

More on Africa with a giant question: is it better to provide childcare subsidies or cash transfers? In Uganda, an experiment by Bjorvatn et al shows that childcare leads to a 44% increase in household income, which is in line with the effects of cash; but “… childcare also improves child development while the cash grant does not”. See also the brilliant blog by Goldstein on the study.

Moving further south in the region, Aguero and Fasola investigate the effects of social pensions on social cohesion in South Africa. What did they find? Those programs increase life satisfaction and the likelihood of holding favorable views toward government as well as racial diversity. But effects on interpersonal trust and attitudes towards immigration are marginal. See the great set of 11 graphs on p.30-40! Bonus on Africa: Tabe-Ojong et al review the evidence on COVID-19 and food insecurity in the region.

Let’s get practical: Hammad added a new social protection theme to the UNICEF “practitioner note” series, including exploring inclusive communication, case management and accountability. Among reviewed best practices are ways to increase people’s access to information through multiple channels, with linked case studies of Greece, Lebanon, Sudan, and Morocco, among others (p.12); mechanisms for inclusive grievance redress, such as in Palestine, Turkey, and Egypt (p.13); alert systems to activate gender-based violence and child protection services (p.14, e.g., Yemen); and monitoring options (p.15, e.g., Syria) (h/t Zehra Rizvi).

Bonus on practitioner notes! A separate compilation of approaches by Sato focuses on social protection for forcibly displaced populations. Also in this case, there is a vast number of practical tips on offer, such as on eliminating implementation, administrative and information barriers (e.g., Portugal, p.20), or coordinating responses between humanitarian and government actors (e.g., Jordan, Sudan and Pakistan, p.21).

Speaking of humanitarian assistance, a duet of papers examines its linkages to social protection in Iraq: in one note, Phadera et al explore the thorny issue of targeting of humanitarian multipurpose cash assistance and national cash transfers; and another piece by Obi et al outlines some bigger picture issues on the humanitarian-to-social protection transition in the country. And that’s not all: an evaluation of the UN support to Yemen by Sida et al concluded that aid was “unacceptably poor”.

Bonus on the region: a report by Kidd (Sarina) is highly critical of the World Bank and IMF approaches to social protection in MENA, which she defines as “small budgets and low coverage” and which, it is argued, “confuse policymakers and practitioners into thinking that schemes with low coverage generate greater impacts than those with higher coverage”. An accompanying four-pager summarizes her critique.

Moving to LAC, a new technical paper by Bergstrom et al assesses Brazil’s Bolsa conditional cash transfers in relation to its marginal value of public funds. Such measure captures households’ willingness-to-pay for a reform relative to the total budgetary cost of the reform, which in their reform scenario include a 0.9-1.12. The paper also touches upon the issue of universality vs targeting, landing slightly in favor of the latter: “… even in a setting with a highly pronounced notch and substantial scope for misreporting, the efficiency cost generated by behavioral responses is simply not large enough to outweigh the equity gain associated with the increased generosity of benefits targeted to poor households (relative to a universal transfer)” (p.4).

Oh, let me flag a different form of conditional transfers: Parsitau and Kamoko show that in Zambia, 37,000 girls pledged to complete their studies in return for use and eventual ownership of a bicycle. Such “bike-for-school” program decreased girls’ sexual harassment on their way to school by 22%. Also, girls were 33% less likely to leave early or miss school because of safety concerns, and reduced absenteeism and dropout by 28% dropout by 19%, respectively.

What’s going on in Asia? A paper by Dervisevic et al tested the channels through which cash transfers could reduce gender-based violence, including women’s emotional and mental well-being, their status within the family and the community, their bargaining power, and social capital and networks (see figure 1, p.7). The authors found that in the Philippines, cash “… enhanced women’s bargaining power and empowerment (…) and bolstered women’s social networks. All these changes (…) contributed towards [violence] reduction”.

But how to persuade family members to adopt recommended maternal nutrition and breastfeeding behaviors? Grandner et al interviewed 35 community health workers in rural Bangladesh and found that among key motivators to support suggested practices were improved fetal growth and child intelligence.

Before taking a break for a few weeks, let me leave you with my recommended social protection summer readings – just pick and choose among 40 exciting materials published in 2022 that you may want to take with you on vacation!

 

Ugo Gentilini is from the World Bank’s Social Protection & Jobs global practice. The Social Protection Links newsletter, issued every Friday, distills and discusses a selection of curated resources on the topic, from academic articles to podcasts. The blog is republished on socialprotection.org each week, offering knowledge on social protection to help you stay on top of it — succinctly, regularly and frequently. Previous editions can be found here. 

To sign up to the newsletter or share materials, you can contact Ugo by email ([email protected]), Twitter (@ugentilini) or LinkedIn.

Social Protection Programmes: 
  • Social assistance
    • Social transfers
      • Cash transfers
        • Conditional cash transfers
        • Unconditional cash transfers
      • In kind transfers
    • Social care services
  • Social insurance
    • Old-age pension
  • Labour market / employment programmes
    • Active labour market programmes / Productive inclusion
      • Public works programmes
Social Protection Building Blocks: 
  • Policy
    • Expenditure and financing
  • Programme design
    • Benefits design
    • Targeting
  • Programme implementation
    • Benefits payment / delivery
    • Enrolment / registration
    • Outreach / communications and awareness
  • Programme performance / impact analysis
Social Protection Approaches: 
  • Adaptive social protection
  • Child-sensitive social protection
  • Gender-sensitive social protection
  • Shock-responsive social protection
  • Social protection systems
Cross-Cutting Areas: 
  • Child Protection
  • Health
    • COVID-19
  • Humanitarian–social protection nexus
  • Labour market / employment
  • Migration
  • Poverty reduction
  • Climate change
  • Humanitarian assistance
Countries: 
  • Ethiopia
  • South Africa
  • Uganda
  • Zambia
  • Brazil
  • Bangladesh
  • Iraq
  • Philippines
Regions: 
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
The views presented here are the author's and not socialprotection.org's