This publication provides updates on Social Protection Indicators of 24 countries in Asia, with an analysis of 2015 data on social protection programs. It shows progress in expenditure, primarily driven by social insurance and coverage between 2009 and 2015. Spending on women has improved in several countries, yet others continued to favor the nonpoor over the poor, and men over women. The Social Protection Index---now the Social Protection Indicator---was developed by the Asian Development Bank and its partners as the first comprehensive and quantitative measure of social protection systems in Asia and the Pacific.

Investments in social protection help to reduce poverty and vulnerability, and promote inclusive growth. This report analyzes comprehensive data on government social protection programs in 35 countries in Asia and the Pacific. The Social Protection Index---developed by the Asian Development Bank---helps to assess the nature and the effectiveness of these programs and to facilitate cross-country comparisons. It provides governments with policy-relevant data and analysis to inform decisions concerning the reform and expansion of social protection programs.

What circumstances or behaviors turn poverty into a cycle that perpetuates across generations? The answer to this question carries especially important implications for the design and evaluation of policies and projects intended to reduce poverty. Yet a major challenge analysts and policymakers face in understanding poverty traps is the sheer number of mechanisms—not just financial, but also environmental, physical, and psychological—that may contribute to the persistence of poverty all over the world. The research in this volume explores the hypothesis that poverty is self-reinforcing because the equilibrium behaviors of the poor perpetuate low standards of living. Contributions explore the dynamic, complex processes by which households accumulate assets and increase their productivity and earnings potential, as well as the conditions under which some individuals, groups, and economies struggle to escape poverty. Investigating the full range of phenomena that combine to generate poverty traps—gleaned from behavioral, health, and resource economics as well as the sociology, psychology, and environmental literatures—chapters in this volume also present new evidence that highlights both the insights and the limits of a poverty trap lens. The framework introduced in this volume provides a robust platform for studying well-being dynamics in developing economies.

The book examines the conceptual, economic, and fiscal impact(s) of the Social Protection Floor (SPF) initiative of the International Labor Organisation (ILO) and other policy influencers by first critically examining the methodologies used by the international agencies to estimate the fiscal costs of designated minimum package(s) of social protection programs. The book also briefly reviews the methodologies used and usefulness of the Social Protection Index (SPI) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Second, the book analyses strategies and specific initiatives used by the selected East Asian countries (China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam), designed to progress towards the social protection goals underlying the Social Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, and endorsed by the countries covered in this book. Finally, the book provides a framework for generating fiscal space to fund the social protection programs and initiatives. The country chapters utilise this framework in the context of each specific country to suggest generating fiscal space.

This report, the ninth edition of the biennial OECD overview of social indicators, addresses the growing demand for quantitative evidence on social well-being and its trends. This year’s edition presents 25 indicators, several of which are new, and includes data for 36 OECD member countries and ...

The State of Social Safety Nets 2018 Report examines global trends in the social safety net/social assistance coverage, spending, and program performance based on the World Bank Atlas of Social Protection Indicators of Resilience and Equity (ASPIRE) updated database. The report documents the main social safety net programs that exist globally and their use to alleviate poverty and to build shared prosperity. The 2018 report expands on the 2015 edition, both in administrative and household survey data coverage. A distinct mark of this report is that, for the first time, it tells the story of what happens with SSN/SA programs spending and coverage over time, when the data allow us to do so. This 2018 edition also features two special themes †“ Social Assistance and Ageing, focusing on the role of old-age social pensions, and Adaptive Social Protection, focusing on what makes SSN systems/programs adaptive to various shocks.