Wake-Up Call for Social Assistance? An Unfinished Mission to Reach the Poor and Beyond

This paper examines the current state of play and trends in social assistance in terms of spending, coverage, incidence, benefit size, and poverty reduction impacts using administrative data and household survey data from about 70 countries worldwide. This paper is the fourth edition of the State of Social Safety Nets Report, following the publications in 2018, 2015, and 2014. It also serves as a background paper for the first edition of the State of Social Protection Report 2025: The 2-Billion-Person Challenge. As a major driver and component of social protection, social assistance has made considerable progress in expanding its coverage over the past decade. However, the work is still unfinished, as is evident in the persistent gaps in coverage and financing, particularly in low-income countries and those affected by fragility, conflict, and violence, where the need for support is greater. As a result, the adequacy of benefits remains low, undermining the impacts of social assistance in reducing poverty. The paper highlights potential opportunities and priorities for further investment to address these challenges and progressively expand the effectiveness of social assistance which can better support not only the poor but also broader populations in the face of shocks. For example, these include leveraging new technologies, strengthening referrals to other programs, and reforming fiscal policies. These investments are relevant and critical to make adaptive and integrated social protection systems, covering wider social protection pillars - including social insurance, and labor market and employment programs - and to ensure adequate social protection support both during normal and crisis periods