The negative impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on women's employment, care responsibilities, and access to services have motivated an unprecedented level of advocacy around strengthening national ...social protection systems from a gender perspective. Yet very little empirical evidence exists about what a gender‐responsive social protection system entails in practice. This paper addresses this gap through a comparative analysis of 52 national social protection strategies from primarily low‐and middle‐income countries. To analyse the gender responsiveness of these strategies, we developed an analytical framework based on international human rights standards and social policy, gender and development literature. Through presentation of the framework and our findings, this paper makes several contributions to scholarship and practice. First, our framework―the first of its kind―offers a novel conceptual and methodological contribution by enabling a systematic, comparative assessment of national approaches to social protection from a gender perspective. Second, the framework enables the systematisation of empirical evidence on the degree to which gender is integrated into social protection systems. By applying it to national social protection strategies, we identify which gendered risks and vulnerabilities are most commonly acknowledged and addressed in countries' efforts to create gender‐responsive social protection systems. We also highlight a concerning gap between rhetoric and response when it comes to gender equality in the strategic plans that governments lay out for these systems. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic cross‐country assessment of such documents. We conclude with future directions for research and practice, including the gap between recognition and action.
The period of the Covid-19 pandemic is a special one, it is a period in which governments around the world have allocated large sums to social protection spending, when many parts of the economy have ...seen a reduction or even closure of activity. The present paper is structured as empirical research that analyses longitudinally and cross-sectionally social protection expenditure with the purpose of identifying those countries in the EU that have significantly increased this expenditure and to see whether in the last decade the growth rates are significant. So, we found that at EU-27 level, the social protection spending has expanded and intensified during the pandemic and that the governments have adopted measures to support vulnerable groups.
•The evidence weighs in favour of slightly positive effects more than highly impactful effects of contributory social protection on formalization.•Enterprise formalization (the extensive margin) may ...lead to worker formalization (the intensive margin), but the two dimensions need not be coupled.•Different incentives such as individual subsidies or the extension of social protection to dependents may boost compliance and thus formalization.•Mechanisms behind the relation between contributory social protection and formalization depend on the study-specific data and methods used.•Results vary according to factors such as the country-specific context, the extent of informality and the design of the intervention schemes.
Social protection is a central component of achieving ‘SDG 8: decent work and economic growth’, yet at a global level a large social protection deficit remains. The majority of those uncovered are found in or dependent on income or profit from the informal economy, which remains the dominant source of employment in many low- and middle-income countries. The relationship between a lack of social protection and high informality in low- and middle-income countries is generally confirmed across the literature, yet the perceived direction of the relation and the mechanisms behind it vary depending on the country-specific context, including dominant form(s) of informality and types of social protection schemes and benefits provided. Much of the existing literature on social protection and (in)formalization examines the relation between non-contributory social protection (social assistance) and the broader concept of the informal economy. Taking a different focus, this article reviews the evidence on the relationship between contributory social protection and formalization of enterprises and workers among micro- and small enterprises in low- and middle-income countries. We adopt a scoping review methodology and follow a thorough literature search and screening process in which 30 primarily quantitative studies are carefully synthesized. In analysing the main findings and mechanisms underlying the observed linkages between contributory social protection and formalization, our study finds substantial variation across as well as within countries. In general, the evidence paints a favourable picture in terms of contributory social protection leading to increased formalization of enterprises and workers, yet it is not a given that enterprise formalization (the extensive margin) automatically leads to worker formalization (the intensive margin). The results point to the importance of appropriate incentive structures in social protection policies as well as ensuring stronger coherence and coordination between different types of social protection schemes and other labour market policies.
The impact of disability on people’s lives is often underestimated because the extra costs of living with a disability are not accounted for. This paper analyzes several different methodologies for ...estimating those costs and explores their usefulness in designing inclusive social policies. For example, one approach is to measure what is currently being spent, while another is to estimate what would need to be spent for equal participation. These can be measured using statistical techniques or through a more qualitative methodology. Each of these methods has its advantages and disadvantages. The paper concludes with recommendations for which methodology fits which purpose, and how they can be used together to obtain a full accounting of the extra costs incurred by people with disabilities.
Informal social protection (ISP) has been recognised as a source of livelihood support for the poor and a critical element of the welfare mix in the global South. While the potential of ISP in ...contributing to economic welfare is well‐documented, less is known about its role in responding to and maintaining horizontal inequalities. Group‐based inequality is a key concern of transformative social protection, particularly discriminatory practices and exclusion that shape them. By using a mixed‐method approach to social networks, and including non‐poor and poor individuals, I provide insights into how support practices differ across race and education in urban Namibia thereby reflecting continued economic inequalities. I argue that ISP plays an important role in understanding transformative approaches to social protection; both by highlighting the importance of exploring ISP beyond a conceptual lens on poverty as well as its potential in maintaining power imbalances in a stratified, unequal society.
•Qualitative study on social protection in the context of national climate action.•Focus on Ethiopia’s ‘adaptive’ or ‘climate-smart’ productive safety net program.•Analysis based on historical ...narratives of development and environment in Ethiopia.•Critique of dominant climate discourses as reinforcing the political status quo.•Missed opportunity for social protection to address roots of climate vulnerability.
A rights-based approach to ‘adaptive social protection’ holds promise as a policy measure to address structural dimensions of vulnerability to climate change such as inequality and marginalisation, yet it has been failing to gain traction against production and growth-oriented interventions. Through the lens of Ethiopia’s flagship Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), we trace the role of climate discourses in impeding progress towards socially transformative outcomes, despite the importance of social protection for building resilience. We argue that intertwining narratives of moral leadership and green growth associated with Ethiopia’s national climate strategy shape how the PSNP is rendered ‘climate-smart’. These narratives, however, are embedded within politics that have historically underpinned the country’s drive for modernisation and growth-oriented policies, particularly in dealing with food insecurity. Like pre-existing narratives on development and the environment, they rationalise the presence of a strong central State and its control over natural resources and rural livelihoods. The PSNP is thus conditioned to favour technocratic, productivist approaches to adapting to climate change that may help reproduce, rather than challenge the entrenched politics at the root of vulnerability. Ultimately, this case study demonstrates how climate discourses risk diluting core rights-based dimensions of social protection, contradicting efforts to address the structural dimensions of vulnerability to climate change.
Public attitudes towards the free movement of workers in the European Union vary substantially between countries and individuals. This paper adds to the small but growing research literature on this ...issue by analysing the role of national welfare institutions. We investigate the relationship between the degree of 'institutional reciprocity' in national systems of social protection and attitudes to EU labour immigration across 12 European countries. We do not find evidence of an effect of institutional reciprocity on opposition to EU labour immigration among the public at large. However, institutional reciprocity appears to matter for economically vulnerable groups. We identify an interaction effect indicating that higher degrees of institutional reciprocity in national social protection systems, and in unemployment insurance systems specifically, are associated with lower levels of opposition to EU labour immigration among unemployed people. Hence, reciprocity in welfare state institutions appears to shield free movement from opposition, at least among vulnerable groups.
•The development of formal social protection mechanisms in African countries is critical.•Four reciprocity categories are identified within support relationships: symmetrical reciprocity, no ...reciprocity, and two asymmetrical reciprocities.•Reciprocity norms are closely associated with household living conditions.•Findings reveal a strong correlation between food-safety shocks and asymmetrical reciprocity.•Findings reveal the need to develop analyses and policies that take into account the diversity of social protection mechanisms (formal and informal).
The development of formal social protection in African countries is critical. The Covid-19 crisis has largely increased this need. Informal social protection mechanisms remain central to households' management of shocks. This article investigates the relationship between reciprocity norms and dependency in contexts of extreme poverty. Using egocentric networks, the study conducts an original analysis of reciprocity norms based on 2868 social relationships across three regions in southern Madagascar. Four reciprocity categories are identified within support relationships: symmetrical reciprocity, no reciprocity, and two asymmetrical reciprocities. Using a mixed method approach, the findings reveal that reciprocity norms are closely associated with household living conditions, with individuals in poverty more likely to be integrated into relationships characterized by asymmetrical reciprocity. Moreover, the article identifies a strong correlation between food-safety shocks and asymmetrical reciprocity. Lastly, the results highlights the significant role of local organizations in formation of symmetrical support relationships. These findings underline the need to develop analyses and policies that take into account the diversity of social protection mechanisms (formal and informal).
Considering the COVID-19 global public health crisis, this paper examines the socio-cultural, economic and psychosocial impact of the pandemic on urban refugees in Uganda. We analyse the living ...conditions of urban refugees that make it problematic for them to adhere to public health measures. Since COVID-19 is perceived as “imported”, refugees are assumed as its potential transmitters, consequently experiencing heightened stigma and isolation. Lack of culturally and linguistically accessible information and services excludes them from on-going efforts to prevent the pandemic. The lockdown has affected refugee livelihoods and increased income insecurity, sexual and gender-based violence and anxiety. Given the paucity of government-led services to contain the epidemic, we argue that contingency planning must involve refugees and their communities to access accurate and relevant information in appropriate languages. It is also important to build the capacity of frontline workers to understand the specific needs of refugees to deliver appropriate protection in the context of the pandemic.
Social protection is an area, and an important direction, in the policy of any government regardless of its political orientation. Taking into account the regulations of the European Parliament and ...the Council on ESSPROS, the paper analyzes the evolution of Social protection expenditures in Romania after 2000, both as a whole and on social protection functions. The analyzed period was characterized by an upward trend in social protection expenditure per capita as well as a change in the share of expenditure on function on social protection.
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