Perspectives of South African caregivers in receipt of Child Support Grants: Implications for family strengthening interventions

Cash transfers have delivered measurable benefits for poor and vulnerable children in low‐ and middle‐income countries. However, on its own, a cash transfer is insufficient to promote holistic child well‐being. In the quest for appropriate complementary family support services, known as ‘cash plus’ programing, this qualitative study sought to explore the perspectives of a group of South African caregivers, all of whom were in receipt of a Child Support Grant (CSG), in relation to their own caregiving and family functioning. Critical areas of support to families were identified to further scale up the already positive impacts of the CSG, such as mental health services, social supports for caregivers, decreasing levels of poverty and growing caregiving knowledge and skills. Key conclusions are that improving the quality and integration of public services and developing culturally appropriate and evidence‐based family strengthening programmes are critical to complement and boost the positive impacts of the CSG.     

Poverty eradication programs in Indonesia: Progress,challenges and reforms

This study explores the progress of and the challenges to poverty eradication programs in Indonesia by analyzing various social assistance programs and subsidies. Earlier poverty eradication programs such as food-based assistance and energy subsidies were only designed to increase households’ purchasing power. Later, the government also developed more advanced programs, such as conditional cash transfer, school assistance, and health insurance contribution assistance, to address long-run poverty by improving human capital quality. Common challenges of the existing programs remain, including inaccurate target the poor and lack of complementarity between programs. An exercise using a dynamic Computable General Equilibrium model shows that integrating programs into the conditional cash transfer reduces poverty further in rural and urban areas.     

Targeting social assistance in Azerbaijan: what can we learn from micro‐data?

This article investigates the targeting performance of social assistance programmes in Azerbaijan, a low-income country in transition from a centrally-planned economy to a market economy. Micro-data from a nationally-representative household survey are used, through the employment of several empirical approaches, to assess the extent to which social assistance identified the neediest households. The set of empirical evidence presented in this article shows a low targeting effectiveness of the social assistance programmes. It indicates that a significant proportion of the poor did not benefit from social assistance, whilst a substantial share of social benefits was leaked to the non-poor. The receipt of benefits was also weakly associated with a variety of indicators of living standards including consumption, education, number of children, ownership of dwelling, household durables, motor vehicles, agricultural assets, and access to sanitation and utility supply as well as social capital. It is argued that the current social assistance programmes should be reformed to increase the success in reaching the poor.     

Between Poor Relief and Human Capital Investments – Paradoxes in Hybrid Social Assistance

Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) are often being promoted for their simultaneous advantages of short‐term income protection and long‐term human capital investments. Yet, existing evaluations have largely failed to test the underlying programme theory, and few empirical case studies have explored inherent contradictions and ambiguous consequences of this hybrid approach. To further understand the programmes' social policy implications, this study identifies and analyzes such ambiguities and paradoxical consequences in the case of Uruguay's CCT‐programme, Asignaciones Familiares (AFAM). Drawing on qualitative data from interviews with beneficiaries and members of the commission who designed the programme, this study reveals major paradoxes in AFAM's design and implementation caused by various endogenous factors. Relevant to social policy in general, and CCT‐evaluations in particular, findings also indicate that the hybrid social assistance approach may have perverse effects on the programme's twin objectives.     

Cell phones,electronic delivery systems and social cash transfers: Recent evidence and experiences from Africa

Electronic delivery systems for social cash transfer programmes offer advantages to programme implementers and benefit recipients in terms of enhanced cost efficiency and flexibility. The rapid penetration of cell phone infrastructure, combined with a growing interest from banks to extend financial services, is likely to make the electronic delivery of cash transfers an increasingly viable option. Taking into account the broader benefits for cash transfer recipients arising from improved access to financial services infrastructure, this article elaborates recent evidence and experiences from Kenya, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland. The article concludes with an assessment of the opportunities and challenges for scaling‐up electronic delivery systems.     

Social protection and poverty in Azerbaijan, a low-income country in transition: Implications of a household survey

Using a nationally representative survey, this study examines the performance of social protection in Azerbaijan from the perspective of poverty reduction. Empirical evidence presented suggests that social protection programmes have an important impact on poverty alleviation. However, poverty is still widespread. The findings demonstrate that the current system of social protection has several important limitations. First, a significant proportion of the poor population is not covered by the social protection system. Second, the poor typically receive a smaller share of total benefits than the non-poor. Finally, most social transfers are too small to lift households out of poverty. The current system of social protection in Azerbaijan requires further strengthening. In particular, the government should develop and implement new social assistance programmes specifically directed towards poverty reduction.     

Social assistance and inclusive growth

The expansion of social assistance in low- and middle-income countries raises important issues for inclusive growth. Labour is by far the principal asset of low-income groups. Changes in the quantity, quality, and allocation of labour associated with social assistance will impact on the productive capacity of low-income groups and therefore on inclusive growth. The article re-assesses the findings reported by impact evaluations of social assistance in low- and middle-income countries to address this issue. Most studies have tested for potentially adverse labour supply incentive effects from transfers but have failed to find supportive evidence. The article highlights findings from this literature on the effects of social assistance on human capital accumulation and labour reallocation. They point to the conclusion that well-designed and well-implemented social assistance contributes to inclusive growth.     

Social security reforms in Kenya: Towards a workerist or a citizenship‐based system?

With social security provisions in Kenya remaining under‐reported in the more recent literature, this overview covers recent reforms in key areas of the country's social security system. In the health sector and in old‐age pension provision social security is still mainly workerist (biased toward those in formal employment), and attempts to expand coverage have had limited effect only – cash transfer programmes, for instance, have been expanded but in practice they do not universally cover the entitled categories. Thus, although the Kenyan social security system now has a considerable pro‐poor social assistance component it remains biased toward those in formal employment, to the benefit of the highest income quintile.     

Building a partnership for social service delivery in Indonesia: state and faith‐based organisations

Contrary to the secularisation processes in modernisation theory, religions and faith‐based organisations (FBOs) are thriving in contemporary Indonesia. Strongly supported by community members, religious organisations have begun to extend their services beyond the traditional areas of education and health to operate in disaster relief and poverty alleviation programmes. These FBOs have been offering assistance to the disadvantaged whose needs have not been adequately met by the state. Social programmes run by the FBOs are an important safety net at the grass‐roots level in Indonesia; how to effectively coordinate and offer such services are important social policy issues. This paper will show that the Indonesian Government is keen to remain the key provider of social services and often perceives the services of FBOs as a threat. Some recent state policies to regulate the funding sources of Islamic organisations have posed a significant logistical challenge for their future operation. In addition, theological differences across various religious groups have made it difficult to form inclusive and extensive partnerships among the FBOs, who tend to compete with each another resulting in rivalry. These socio‐political contexts have limited the formation of effective partnerships for offering coordinated social services.     

A Qualitative Evaluation of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Turkey: The Beneficiaries’ and Key Informants’ Perspectives

ABSTRACT

Since the 2001 economic crisis, conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have been provided to poor families in Turkey to improve education and health outcomes of children. Under the framework of CCT programs, grants provide an incentive for poor households to use available basic social services. The aim of this study is to explore beneficiaries’ perspectives in relation to a CCT program in Turkey. The in-depth study design entailed semistructured qualitative interviews with beneficiary households and key informants. A total of 397 in-depth interviews were conducted. Analysis results suggest that the CCT program not only positively affected health and educational outcomes, but also contributed to the empowerment of women and improved the self-esteem and self-confidence of beneficiary children. Recommendations for future research are made including the need for an impact evaluation analysis that employs quantitative research methods designed to improve the provision and quality of the basic social services.     

Social policy expansion and segmentation in the first two decades of the 21st century in Latin America

Latin American countries saw an important expansion in social policy in the first two decades of the 21st century. Along with this increased inclusion, however, social policy remains segmented. Using recent data from ECLAC, World Bank, and other sources, this paper offers a comprehensive analysis of trends in social policy for the period 2000–2020 for 17 countries in Latin America. Four areas of social policy are assessed in longitudinal and comparative perspectives: transfers, health care, education, and family policies. Conditional cash transfers (CCT) and noncontributory pensions (NCP) are the two main policy innovations that allowed countries in the region to expand social rights to previously excluded populations (outsiders). At the same time, due to their design, these policies have introduced new layers of fragmentation to the welfare mix, without resolving—or even increasing—segmentation in social policy. Segmentation is still the rule for the areas of health care and education, and increasing privatisation went unabated even in the periods of social policy expansion and in the countries governed by left coalitions.     

Social investment effects of public education,health care,and welfare service expenditures on economic growth

The purpose of this study is to theoretically and empirically examine whether public spending in education, health care, and welfare service operates as a fruitful investment in welfare states, which has been implied in the literature of social investment arguments. Based on comprehensive review of existing literature, this study suggested a tripartite mechanism of social investment effect of such spending, that is “enhancement of human capital,” “support for labor force participation,” and “job creation.” To find the empirical evidence, a pooled time‐series cross‐section analysis was conducted with the data of 15 advanced welfare states from 1980 to 2015 using estimation technique of fixed‐effect model. The results confirmed that public spending in education, health care, and welfare service had a positive medium‐term as well as long‐term effect on economic performance, while cash‐type welfare spending had an obscure or no visible effect on economy. Government consumption that is a proxy and control variable of size of the welfare state showed a positive effect on real GDP in the medium term but a negative effect in the long run. In conclusion, this study suggests that reinforcing social services should be recognized and dealt with as essence of social investment strategy.     

Poverty amid Plenty: Lessons from Botswana's Social Assistance Scheme

Social assistance programmes are making a strong comeback after social policy analysts had predicted their demise, as is the use of the budget standards approach to identifying poverty and to establishing the generosity of social assistance benefits. Using the example of Botswana, this article highlights some pitfalls in using the budget standards approach in social assistance schemes, and especially the parsimonious help the poor can expect from this approach. It suggests, however, that conventional explanations for the increasing popularity of social assistance, such as economic constraints and the pathologizing of the poor, are not universal. Greater attention needs to be given, therefore, to the context of poverty rather than to the customary focus of poverty studies on measuring poverty "objectively".     

The Poverty Situation in Indonesia: Challenges and Progress of the Marginalized Group

This paper focuses on Indonesian poverty alleviation programs. It examines the national poverty reduction programs of cash‐based support projects for the poorest of the poor and highly marginalized groups. Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the East Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. In 2005, Indonesia began unconditional cash transfers (UCT) for the first time – giving cash money to the poorest, poor and near‐poor targeted households. As a result, the income of the poorest households receiving UCT increased by 1.3 times compared to that of non‐recipients. The UCT can be seen as a new benchmark for Indonesia as a mechanism of a “shockbreaker” for the poor affected by the crisis. In 2007, the government of Indonesia began a trial of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program known as the Hopeful Family Program (Program Keluarga Harapan or PKH). The CCT program was provided to poor families with an allowance conditional on their attention to their children’s education and health. With this program, women in the community gained access to new resources, in the form of the additional cash. CCT is planned to be the basis of the development of a future social security system.     

社会救助方式的基本类型研究

完善的社会救助体系在关注弱势群体生存性需求的同时,还应关注其发展性需求。所以,新型的社会救助方式应发展出包括现金给付、实物提供、服务提供、心理援助、凭单兑换、资产建设、权利维护在内的多元综合体系,这样将有利于贫困问题的系统性、科学性、人性化的解决。     

引入“发展”维度 完善农村社会救助——基于资产建设的视角

当前农村减贫效果有限,原因之一在于农村社会救助以收入维持为主要目标,缺乏"发展"维度。救助对象局限在绝对贫困人口,未能满足边缘贫困人群和有劳动力贫困人口的"发展"需求。资产社会政策主张减贫策略并非简单地直接增加穷人的收入,而是要帮助穷人进行资产积累与投资。通过资产建设,可为穷人提供可持续生计,提升其人力资本和社会资本,降低其脆弱性,增强抵御风险和发展的能力。因此,帮助穷人建立、积累个人资产和社区资产,可促进个人、家庭和社区发展,推动农村社会救助的完善。     

China's social assistance policy: experiences and future directions

The Minimum Living Standard Guarantee System (MLSGS) forms the core of China's current social assistance policy, and special assistance programmes are used to supplement this policy. This paper scrutinizes the evolution and achievements of the social assistance policy, and analyses the challenges and problems that the policy faces. In this paper, we argue that the international trend of social assistance reforms, institutional background changes and the problems of social assistance in China require a developmental model to guide the future development of the social assistance policy. Therefore, social assistance policy should not only fulfil the basic living requirements of the underprivileged and enable underprivileged people to share the outcomes of economic and social development, but also should enable the underprivileged to develop human capital and participate in the labour market. To move towards developmental social assistance, this article proposes several relevant policy suggestions.     

The Brazilian pension model: The pending agenda

To achieve national goals defined by the 1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution, cash benefits alone are insufficient in the absence of more robust social services to reduce inequalities and improve social cohesion. The Constitution, albeit of national importance and international significance, has not addressed many institutional and administrative weaknesses in the design of the national pension system. Although coverage has been increased and inequality reduced, these measures are not sufficient. Brazil's ambitions to further develop social policies (and, indeed, to live up to its accorded international status as a social policy leader) may be constrained by an over‐reliance on conditional cash transfers such as those provided under the Bolsa Família programme. Brazil faces a major political‐economy challenge in addressing all these issues because the policy reform process is difficult, and, more importantly, because of the embedded role of vested interests. Moreover, Brazil must tackle these issues in the face of growing fiscal pressures, which could weaken the current political legitimacy of social policy and undermine important recent successes.     

Income Protection Through Direct Employment Programmes: Recent Concepts and Examples from Latin America

The risk of unemployment in Latin America is high. Unemployment insurance exists only in a few countries; coverage is small, and virtually non-existent in the informal economy. For this reason social protection policies for unemployed workers, defined in the broad sense, have addressed and strengthened the role of direct employment programmes and assistance through cash subsidies. This article describes the main features (financing and administration) of direct employment programmes in the region and their objectives, and evaluates their functioning in terms of targets and coverage, costs and impact. Available studies show that the net direct impact of such programmes on unemployment rates and on beneficiaries' incomes is in most cases relatively low. Nevertheless, in some cases they have helped to lower levels of unemployment and poverty, and have indirect positive effects that are more difficult to measure, such as incentives to economic recovery resulting from the chain effect on consumption of beneficiaries buying goods. For this reason direct employment programmes remain a fully valid mechanism, especially in social emergencies.     

Little cash to large households: Cash transfers and children's care in disadvantaged families in Ghana

Social protection is widely considered to have a positive effect on children, including supporting improvements in nutritional, educational and health outcomes. Much less is known, however, about the impact of interventions on children's care. This article considers the impact of a social cash transfer targeted at poor households – Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme – on child well‐being, quality of care and preventing children's separation from their parents as perceived by programme and non‐programme beneficiaries in a context of vulnerability, large households and widespread informal kinship care. Findings suggest that cash transfers can improve both material and non‐material aspects of well‐being and contribute to the quality of care and have the potential to prevent children's separation from their parents. At the same time, not all children appear to benefit equally, with non‐biological children being disadvantaged. The combination of large household sizes with programme design and implementation challenges, including low transfer amounts, a cap on the maximum number of eligible household members and poor sensitization and follow‐up, undermine the positive role that cash transfers can play.