Social Protection Index Brief: Labor Market Programs in Asia and the Pacific

[Excerpt] The Asian Development Bank (ADB) report The Social Protection Index: Assessing Results for Asia and the Pacific (2013) documents the negligible role of labor market programs in social protection programs across the region

Social Protection of Older People

Social protection is a major arena of government activity aimed at ensuring that vulnerable population groups receive appropriate and effective public support to ensure their financial security and to safeguard their health. However, despite the growth and extent of social protection programs in both developed and developing countries, most emerging economies have nascent systems and only a small portion of all such efforts address the specific vulnerabilities and needs of older people. This paper (a) discusses the vulnerabilities of older people and the benefits of crafting social programs to address them; (b) describes the nature of social protection and the forms it can take to address those vulnerabilities; (c) reports descriptive evidence on the availability and use of social protection programs; and (d) delineates steps that can be taken to remedy the shortfalls experienced by older people.aging, social protection

Social Protection Index Brief: Social Assistance Programs in Asia and the Pacific

[Excerpt] The Asian Development Bank (ADB) report The Social Protection Index: Assessing Results for Asia and the Pacific (2013) documents the role of social assistance in social protection systems across the region. This brief examines the six major subcomponents of social assistance and draws out policy lessons based on comprehensive data for 35 countries in the region. The report uses the Social Protection Index (SPI) as the focal point for its analysis. The SPI is the ratio of total social protection expenditures to the total number of intended beneficiaries. These “expenditures per potential beneficiary” are then compared to a regional poverty line as a reference point (ADB 2012c)

Supporting Career Development and Employment: Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach (BPA&O) and Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS)

This training curriculum is dedicated to increasing knowledge and understanding of the Social Security Administration\u27s disability and return to work programs and work incentive provisions as prescribed in the Social Security Act and Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 as well as other federal benefit programs. These informational resources were compiled and edited to provide continuing education and print materials for benefits specialists and protection and advocacy personnel on the interplay of these benefit programs and impact or employment

Pay-Roll Contribution Financed Social Protection Programs in Uruguay

In this paper we analyze the recent performance, perspectives and some policy options for two public social security programs in Uruguay: pensions and unemployment insurance. We review the impact of these programs on public expenditure, including recent and expected future trends, and on income inequality. Performing microsimulations, we evaluate the fiscal impact, and in some cases the equity impact, of some policy options.Pensions, Unemployment insurance, Inequality

Exploring the Relationship between Business Elite Networks and Redistributive Social Policies in Latin American Countries

Although the cohesion of business elites has been associated with income concentration and regressive policies, few studies have investigated in depth the role of business elite networks in macrosocial issues such as redistributive social policies. This research explores the relationship between business elite networks and redistributive social policies in several Latin American countries. To do so, this paper (1) examines business elite networks applying a network analysis of interlocking directorates, and (2) performs a cross-national comparative analysis of the cohesiveness of business elite networks, coverage and incidence of social protection and labor programs, and other variables. Results show that where business elites formed cohesive networks, social protection and labor programs were more inclusive. In conjunction with other factors, business cohesion plays a crucial role in business elites’ acceptance of redistributive social policies because it enables long-term cost-sharing agreements, reduces uncertainty and internal divergent interests, and facilitates inducement

Evaluating Social Protection Programs in Tajikistan

Following independence from the former Soviet Union, Tajikistan inherited an extensive social protection system that included a range of cash and noncash benefits. While the economy is well into its transition from a centrally planned to a market-oriented economy, its social welfare policies still adhere to the methods and approaches of the Soviet period. This is true for social protection, which has both social insurance and social assistance components, and for which benefits are effectively noncontributory in nature in that no contributions are collected from employees. In this paper, we examine the performance of the country's social protection system - essentially public transfers for the elderly and disabled - in terms of reducing poverty, with the aim of identifying its key problems. Since the government provides such public transfers mainly as pensions (i.e., old-age pension, disabled pension, and survivors pension), it merits an in-depth analysis of whether or not these transfer programs reach the intended beneficiaries; that is, how well do they target the intended beneficiaries? Using data from the Living Standards Measurement Survey conducted in 2007, the study finds that only 43% of poor households are receiving transfers from the government, while 33% of nonpoor households receive transfers. This study argues for applying a targeted approach to public transfer programs, including noncontributory pension schemes aimed at the most vulnerable populations

Toolkit on tackling error, fraud and corruption in social protection programs

This toolkit is intended to provide a concise but thorough resource for social protection practitioners on how to minimize error, fraud and corruption in their program(s). It is organized in five sections. The first section introduces the topic, by clarifying the key concepts and spelling out the rationale for this activity. The second section provides a generic framework for combating error, fraud, and corruption (EFC), developed around four building blocks of prevention; detection; deterrence; and measurement. The third section reviews the instruments, tools and mechanisms used to combat EFC in social protection programs, structured by strategic actions (prevention; detection; deterrence), by level of government and over time (how these tools and instruments can be developed over time). Section four includes generic terms of reference for the assessment of the mechanisms for combating EFC in social protection programs. The last section summarizes the main findings for three such diagnostics from the Kyrgyz Republic and the Ukraine.Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,E-Business,Debt Markets,Emerging Markets

Social protection: Opportunities for Africa

"Social protection involves policies and programs that protect people against risk and vulnerability, mitigate the impacts of shocks, and support people who suffer from chronic incapacities to secure basic livelihoods. It can also build assets, reducing both short-term and intergenerational transmission of poverty. It includes social insurance (such as health, life, and asset insurance, which may involve contributions from employers and/or beneficiaries); social assistance (mainly cash, food, vouchers, or subsidies); and services (such as maternal and child health and nutrition programs). Interventions that provide training and credit for income-generating activities also have a social protection component. Interest in social protection is growing across Africa, fueled by persistent high rates of poverty and malnutrition; the undermining of livelihoods and family-based support systems by shocks such as the AIDS epidemic; volatile food prices and the calamities of weather and war; extensive evidence that denying children basic nutrition, health, and education has lifelong, irreversible, and intergenerational consequences; and growing evidence of the effectiveness of social protection in low-income countries throughout the world—particularly in contributing to poverty reduction and improved health, nutrition, and education. Approaches vary across regions and countries, with a notable introduction or scale-up of cash transfers for the very poor in southern and East Africa. While many programs have been undertaken on a pilot basis, successful implementation of large-scale social protection programs in Ethiopia and South Africa—each with more than 8 million beneficiaries—has demonstrated that social protection systems are no longer only within the reach of rich countries." from Author's textSocial protection, Poverty reduction, Hunger, Cash transfers,