We live in a rapidly aging world, in which people who are 60 years and older outnumber children under the age of five. This book reveals large and growing gaps in care for older adults in countries at all income levels and shows how to leverage reforms for improving health outcomes for older...

A large body of research has attempted to explore the links between women's autonomy and their uptake of reproductive health services in the South Asia region, but the evidence so far is inconclusive. This study uses the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey to examine the...

This paper analyzes the patterns of and the challenges for youth employment in Pakistan and examines whether these challenges are youth-specific. Using the 2005/2006 Labor Force Survey, the analysis includes determinants of unemployment, determinants of working in the formal sector, rate of...

When deciding who should receive welfare benefits with the aim to increase household well-being, it is necessary to understand the effects of the distribution of power within the households at which the aid is directed. Two primary household models have been used to study intra-household...

As part of the recent health reform effort, the government of Georgia launched a Medical Assistance Program in June 2006 to provide health insurance to its poor population. So far the program covers slightly over 50 percent of the poor and provides benefit coverage for outpatient and inpatient...

The relationship between wealth and child labor has been widely examined. This paper uses three rounds of time-series, cross-sectional data to examine the relationship between wealth and child labor and schooling. The paper finds that wealth is crucial in determining a child's activities, but...

Using a panel survey, this paper investigates how the increase in food prices in Pakistan in 2008-2010 affected children's school enrollment and labor. The causal identification relies on geographical variations in the price of food (wheat). The results show that the negative impacts of food...

A growing body of literature is investigating the social and cultural determinants of household financing activity. This paper examines the impact of traditional culture, specifically Confucian culture in China, on informal household financing at the county level. We find that Confucian culture...

Welfare losses from the 2008 food price crisis in Pakistan are deepening the gap between poor and non poor populations and further increasing inequality between the provinces. To estimate welfare losses, the reduction in caloric availability at household level is measured. The analysis of...

Improving global health outcomes amidst fiscal constraints, climate crises, and pandemics is a formidable challenge for governments worldwide. The recently published WHO/World Bank 2023 UHC Global Monitoring Report underscores a concerning reality: despite the goal of universal health coverage...