Cahyadi et al. (2020) examine the cumulative effects of conditional cash transfer programs in Indonesia after 2 and 6 years. They find beneficial effects for several of the indicators targeted by the cash transfer programme. They find a substantial increase in childcare using trained...

Disasters due to natural hazards pose a significant threat to people’s well-being and increase the risk of poverty, particularly in vulnerable populations. This paper provides a novel global estimate of poverty due to disasters, showing that 25.6 million people are at risk of poverty due to...

This 2025 Poverty and Equity Assessment examines Bangladesh’s progress in poverty reduction and inclusive development from 2010 to 2022. Poverty in Bangladesh declined between 2010 and 2022, but the pace of progress slowed after 2016, and over one-third of the population remained vulnerable to...

Ceremonies are central to social life, yet the pressure to conform to community spending norms traps households in a collectively suboptimal equilibrium, imposing severe financial burdens. Using nationally and regionally representative longitudinal data from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, we...

Reducing poverty is a central policy priority in many countries, also in wealthy countries with comprehensive universal support systems, such as the Nordic welfare states. This study examines policy options designed to support families with preschool-aged children and their implications for...

In the context of rural sustainability and poverty alleviation within the developing world, a key dilemma facing the international community is to identify suitable strategies and mechanisms to bring multiple stakeholders together to work in efficient and sustainable ways. This paper focuses on...

The issues of income inequality and poverty are intrinsically linked and represent persistent global governance challenges. China faced significant hurdles, including absolute rural poverty and a widening urban-rural development gap. The "Targeted Poverty Alleviation" policy (TPA), implemented...

South Africa has a relatively well-developed social protection system for a middle-income country. Despite its roots in the country's racially discriminatory past, the system has been repurposed post-apartheid to address deep poverty and severe inequality. This paper explores key characteristics...

Chile combines high income levels and strong human development outcomes with persistent inequality. This paper examines the country's social protection matrix, focusing on its institutional configuration, financial structure, and main outcomes. The analysis distinguishes three core components-...

The paper examines the structure of the social protection system in Egypt including its contributory and non-contributory components. It begins by examining the historical evolution of the system, its scale and reach, and its sources of financing. The book then assesses the de jure and de facto...

How do systemic modes of discrimination-such as a caste system, or racial bias-impact the transmission of intergenerational opportunities in a developing country? What are the mechanisms by which discriminatory norms in labour and marriage markets affect such opportunities? How could we measure...

Land-use policies shape the spatial allocation of infrastructure, services, and development and thus have direct implications for welfare. This paper examines the effects of Colombia's municipal territorial plan updates on poverty through the lens of the housing and services channel. Using...

The Scottish Government aims to increase employment and earnings as part of its 'National Strategy for Economic Transformation' and in order to help generate additional tax revenues that can help fund public services and investment. It also has ambitious targets to significantly reduce poverty,...

Colombia has a complex legal framework meant to protect the population against basic risks through a combination of contributory and non-contributory social insurance. The population is almost perfectly split between them, with eligibility to participate in the latter determined by poverty....

This study examines the career aspirations of economically disadvantaged Filipino children participating in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the Philippines' flagship conditional cash transfer program. Using data from 9,958 children aged 10 to 25 collected through the Fourth Wave...

The haor (Ox-bow Lake) region in Bangladesh, comprising seven districts, is rich in fishing, biodiversity, and boro-rice cultivation. However, its people are poorer due to wet monsoon seasonality. This study evaluates the joint impact of microcredit facilities and social safety net programs...

Since the late 1980s, extreme poverty has declined sharply, life expectancy and schooling have increased, and electoral democracy has expanded. However poverty reduction has slowed in recent years, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, amid intensifying conflict, fragility, climate...

How effective are cash transfers at improving labour market outcomes in settings characterized by severe job scarcity and constraints to self-employment? This paper provides evidence of the labour market effects of South Africa's Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, a low-value, unconditional...

This working paper investigates the tension between market forces and welfare policies by applying Karl Polanyi's "double movement" study to pre- and posttransformation Poland. The analysis aims at providing a comprehensive perspective on how poverty relief policies impacted and have been...

A new generation of policies can trace the path from wealth to inclusion. Building on its urban and youthful population, Equatorial Guinea can shift from a model of extraction to one of prosperity. This report—the World Bank's first Poverty and Equity Assessment for Equatorial...

The Philippines aspires to become a predominantly middle-class society by 2040. Significant strides have been achieved in the reduction of extreme poverty. However, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of recent gains and the vulnerability of many households to economic shocks. This study...

This paper explores the link between poverty and food insecurity in Pakistan using household survey data and three measures of food insecurity-average calorie availability, minimum dietary energy requirement, and the perception-based Food Insecurity Experience Scale-at national, rural, and urban...

Evolving from post-independence emergency relief to a diverse range of programmes addressing poverty, food insecurity, and lifecycle vulnerabilities, Bangladesh has made significant progress in social protection provision over the years. This paper critically examines the evolution, coverage,...

While Viet Nam has been remarkably successful in poverty reduction, the country is faced with various challenges ranging from uneven pockets of poverty, regional inequality, low labour productivity, and high informality rates, to a fast-ageing society. We offer an updated overview of the social...

Zambia is simultaneously amongst the poorest and the most unequal countries in the world. In 2022, 64.3 percent of the population - about 12.6 million individuals - was living on less than US$2.15 a day. This level is not only the 6th highest in the world but it is also misaligned with the...

Panamá ha sido uno de los países de más rápido crecimiento en la región, con una rápida expansión económica acompañada de una importante reducción de la pobreza. Impulsada por la inversión pública y privada, así como por la acumulación de mano de obra, la economía panameña...

Esta Evaluación de la Pobreza y la Equidad en México revisa la evidencia sobre la pobreza y la equidad en México durante las últimas dos décadas, la compara con la experiencia internacional comparable e identifica un conjunto de áreas críticas de intervención política para responder a...

The Middle East and North Africa faces significant climate challenges, such as increasing temperatures, heightened flood risks, frequent droughts, and growing air pollution issues. These challenges are compounded by the large proportion of the population living below the poverty line in some...

This paper examines the role of social protection in mitigating the adverse effects of conflict on household welfare. We assess the impact of a graduation intervention linked to Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme, focusing on Amhara, a region severely affected by the Tigray conflict....

Since intra-household resource distribution is unobserved, it is difficult to compare how women and children fare across countries. To address this, we analyze 45 household expenditure surveys from predominantly low- and middle-income countries, i.e. an international sample of around 2.4 million...

Whether gender-targeted cash transfers effectively redistribute resources to women and children in poor households remains an open question. We examine Uruguay’s largest social assistance program, Asignaciones Familiares (AFAM), which is directed at poor families with children and paid to...