illustration for the drivers of inequality

Driver Category 4.8

Lack of appropriate universal social protection floors and active labour market programmes

This driver covers everything related to ensuring minimum level of social protection for all. This includes all relevant protections needed for certain groups (eg. pregnant women and children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, work injury victims, the poor and vulnerable).

It also covers adequacy and coverage of active labour market programmes and public works programmes.

Guiding Questions

General social protection questions

  • Is providing a universal social protection floor a core commitment of the government?
  • What is the current coverage of the social protection system?
  • Does it seek to cover all relevant groups that need a minimum income level (pregnant women and children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, work injury victims, the poor and vulnerable)?
  • Which groups are not properly covered?
  • Is a universalistic or targeted system (through means-testing or other method) applied or some form of hybrid model?
  • Are the social protection programmes in existence/development being implemented in all areas of the country?
  • Are cash transfers adequate and are they adjusted to keep up with inflation?
  • How do they compare to the extreme poverty and poverty thresholds, median incomes and the cost of living in the country?
  • Is any targeting system in place correctly designed to benefit those in need?
  • Are benefits conditional on certain aspects (children attending school or health clinics, looking for work or attending work-related trainings)?
  • Is conditionality working well, with positive impacts and fair to recipients?
  • Is the social protection system designed to be appropriately gender-sensitive?
  • Does the social protection system adequately provide for people with disabilities (children and adults) and for those who care for them?
  • What is the nature of the public pension scheme?
  • Are public pensions financed out of general revenue, universalistic in nature and not based on individuals’ contributions?
  • What are the eligibility rules?
  • Is the level of the public pension adequate to cover the needs of the elderly?
  • How is public policy on pensions changing in response to demographic changes and the growth in the elderly population?
  • Is the benefit-claiming age being raised or the level of public pensions adjusted?
  • What are the existing gaps or emerging weaknesses in the social protection system?
  • Is the government seeking to expand coverage - to reach all relevant groups and in all geographies – and improve adequacy of payments?
  • Is the government tightening eligibility rules or lowering the amount of support available for any groups?

Social protection budget

  • What is the level of public expenditure on social protection?
  • Is spending increasing or is it under pressure?
  • Is corruption with the sector - and leakage from social protection budgets - a problem?
  • What is the level of social protection expenditure on different aspects and programmes (e.g. child benefits, support for those with disabilities, public works programmes, public pensions, unemployment benefits etc.)?
  • How are expenditures on different programmes evolving?
  • What is the cost of administration - particularly administering any targeting measures - of the social protection system?

Active labour market programmes

  • What is the coverage of active labour market programmes?
  • Do all unemployed or long term unemployed (12+ months) qualify for assistance for finding work?
  • Are retraining opportunities available for the unemployed?
  • Are active labour market programmes gender-sensitive and adapted appropriately for caring responsibilities and for people with disabilities?
  • Is there evidence of the effectiveness of active labour market programmes available in your country or in a similar country context?
  • Is this evidence being used appropriately to design active labour market programmes in your country?

Public works programmes

  • How comprehensive is coverage of any public works programme in terms of geographic areas and the number of beneficiaries who gain work?
  • What is the average number of days worked by beneficiaries each year and what is the level of the daily public works payment?
  • Does it provide an adequate annual work income?
  • How does the payment compare to extreme poverty and poverty thresholds and the prevailing agricultural wage rate for labour?
  • What is the nature of the public works programme?
  • Is the programme focusing only on short-term rural infrastructure development or does it seek to contribute to infrastructure and investments in other pro-poor sectors (e.g. contributing to agricultural growth or health and education infrastructure)?
  • Is the targeting system and eligibility criteria correctly designed to benefit the poorest and most vulnerable?
  • Are the relevant groups taken into account (e.g. out of work youth, poor female headed households, indigenous communities, ethnic minorities etc.)?
  • Is the public works programme gender-sensitive by design to encourage participation and empowerment of women?
  • What childcare options are provided for mothers of young children who need to access public works programmes?
  • Are rules related to cash payments into bank accounts appropriate to ensure women have control over their wages?

Indicators

Potential indicators to monitor the drivers of inequalities in this main driver category

  • % of national budget / GDP dedicated to social protection
  • % of social protection budget spent on different programmes/benefits (public works programmes/active labour market programmes, child benefit, disability benefits, unemployment benefit, public pensions etc.)
  • % of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, work-injury victims and the least advantaged
  • Number of public works programme beneficiaries (nationally and per region, and disaggregated by relevant characteristics)
  • % of unemployed who qualify for active labour market programmes; % of participants who receive training
  • Average number of days work provided and average public works wages earned per beneficiary per year (nationally and per region, and disaggregated by relevant characteristics)

Candidate Policies

To see related Candidate Policies in this main driver category please click here.