In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries enacted tax and social protection measures to help mitigate the economic hardship faced by individuals and households. This experience underscores the need to better understand the impact of such programmes on incomes and poverty during...

This paper investigates retirees' optimal purchases of fixed and variable longevity income annuities using their defined contribution (DC) plan assets and given their expected Social Security benefits. As an alternative, we also evaluate using plan assets to boost Social Security benefits...

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the foundations of the economy and provoked devastating social effects in all the countries in the world, being Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) one of the most affected regions. This report updates the regional overview of the response measures...

In Ireland, between 2015 and 2020, 356 people were identified as suspected victims of human trafficking by An Garda Síochána. Of them, approximately 59 per cent were third-country nationals. This study examines the policy and practice in Ireland for the detection of a situation of human...

We study interactions between progressive labor taxation and social security reform. Increasing longevity puts fiscal strain that necessitates the social security reform. The current social security is redistributive, thus providing (at least partial) insurance against idiosyncratic income...

This assessment aims to understand how Afghanistan's demographic context, household characteristics and poverty are linked to vulnerability. Aware that more research must be done to establish causal relationships between these factors, the study suggests a direction in which to look further to...

This paper reviews the role of Social Protection and Labor in supporting both climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. The Climate Crisis is impacting the poor and vulnerable disproportionally, both as a consequence of climate shocks and through the distributional impacts of climate mitigation...

This study discusses the association between household exposure to negative shocks and social safety net program participation in Ghana. To examine this issue, we link data from high-resolution geospatial maps of drought and flood risks to government administrative data on safety net program...

An effective and equitable social protection system can help Kosovo to promote human capital, foster productivity, and reduce poverty. Since its independence in 2008, the country has made considerable socioeconomic progress, benefiting from the support of the international community and its own...

This paper attempts to analyze the growth effects of social security expenditures in Germany from a time series perspective. Therefore, a regression model based on standard determinants of growth is specified and estimated as a vector error correction model. Results show that there is a...

Policy frames in Brazil have long run up against conflicting visions and understandings about the causes and consequences of group-based inequality. This paper argues that a class-based lens has dominated the social protection framework. In recent years, political leaders have framed social...

This Practitioners' Note is the third in a four-part series providing governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and practitioners in the fields of social protection and disaster risk management (DRM) with general guidelines for future shock response informed by lessons...

Social protection systems play a key stabilising role for individuals and societies, especially in the recent context of heightened uncertainties. Income stabilisation and related social policy objectives hinge on the extent to which social protection is accessible for those requiring support....

This Research Report, developed by the IPC-IG and the UNICEF MENA Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa, presents five case studies that demonstrate how integrated social protection and child protection systems enhance efficiency, especially of the social service workforce, and...

This paper examines how different theoretical perspectives on resilience can be combined and applied to investigate Kenyan informal worker associations (IWAs) as social protection providers during COVID-19. We develop a model which shows that resilience is a dynamic property that can be affected...

Globalization, demographic trends, the green transition, and technological innovations are transforming labor markets in Europe and Central Asia, altering their institutional and contractual arrangements, and creating disparities and vulnerabilities in the labor force. Systemic risks - economic,...

The claim that social protection is a luxury good - with a national income elasticity exceeding unity - has been influential. The paper tests the “luxury good hypothesis" using newly-assembled data on social protection spending across countries since 1995, treating the pandemic period...

Quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty in Africa has been as difficult as predicting the path of the pandemic, mainly due to data limitations. The advent of new data sources, including national accounts and phone survey data, provides an opportunity for a thorough...

North Macedonia has strengthened its social protection system through comprehensive reforms in social assistance, social services, and pensions. This note considers, based on existing evidence, the extent to which the social protection system in North Macedonia satisfies four basic principles:...

The objective of this brief situational analysis is to assess the extent to which each element of the social protection system in Albania fulfills its purpose; to determine whether the system as a whole satisfies the four principles outlined in the report; and to identify knowledge gaps and areas...

The objective of this situational analysis is to provide a brief assessment of Serbia's social protection system. The situational analysis identifies how Serbia's social protection system performs and outlines areas for reform. In this note, social protection refers to: (i) social assistance,...

Aligning the short-term humanitarian assistance system with the government social protection system as a possible long-term solution for the displaced population is well discussed in the literature. However, there is limited evidence on how this alignment is applied in a real-world setting....

In Iraq, the Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance programs have been instrumental in reaching the households most affected by the conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in areas where the coverage of the government's social safety net (SSN) programs remain limited. In the evolving...