Financial crises in developing and transition countries have often proven disruptive to policies and programs due to procyclical trends government spending growth. Given the importance and significant component of public budgets devoted to education and health cuts in government expenditures...

This paper examines the impacts of the 2008-2009 economic crisis on social spending, drawing on evidence at the global, national, and household levels, to provide a sense of the nature and the effects of the worldwide downturn on spending in the social sectors. It summarizes existing empirical...