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Book Strengths of the Social Safety Net in the Great Recession

Download or read book Strengths of the Social Safety Net in the Great Recession written by Christopher J. O'Leary and published by W. E. Upjohn Institute. This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book is based on analyses of SNAP and UI program benefit receipt around the time of the Great Recession in six states-Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, and Texas. The introductory chapter proceeds with brief overviews of the UI and SNAP programs and an outline of the way eligibility rules permit the programs to interact. It continues with a general description of the data available for research and the national context for our state studies. Next, there is a description of the data available for the separate studies, along with contrasts drawn between these various data, followed by a graphical review of the extent of SNAP and UI program use and interaction in the study states. Finally, the authors present important results from each of the six state studies and offer some summary comments"--

Book Strengths of the Social Safety Net in the Great Recession

Download or read book Strengths of the Social Safety Net in the Great Recession written by Christopher J. O'Leary and published by W.E. Upjohn Institute. This book was released on 2019-08-22 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributors in this book use administrative data from six states from before, during, and after the Great Recession to gauge the degree to which Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) and Unemployment Insurance (UI) interacted. They also recommend ways that the program policies could be altered to better serve those suffering hardship as a result of future economic downturns.

Book The More Things Change  the More They Stay the Same

Download or read book The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same written by Marianne P. Bitler and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much attention has been given to the large increase in safety net spending, particularly in Unemployment Insurance and Food Stamps, during the Great Recession. In this paper we examine the relationship between poverty, the social and private safety net, and business cycles historically and test whether there has been a significant change in this relationship during the Great Recession. This analysis yields several important findings. First, the relationship between unemployment and official cash poverty remained remarkably consistent with historical patterns during the Great Recession. Second, the safety net programs receiving the most attention through the Great Recession (Food Stamps and UI) exhibit adjustments very consistent with their behavior during previous historical cycles. The most dramatic change in the safety net is the post-welfare reform decline of cash assistance in providing protection for the most disadvantaged. Third, changes in living arrangements are modest and for the most part in line with prior cycles. Thus on balance we find, as our title suggests, that despite the attention to the apparent differences in the responses of the private and social safety nets in the Great Recession, the relationship between cycles and economic well-being are as we would have predicted from the historical patterns.

Book The Safety Net s Response to the Recession

Download or read book The Safety Net s Response to the Recession written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book The Great Recession

Download or read book The Great Recession written by David B. Grusky and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Officially over in 2009, the Great Recession is now generally acknowledged to be the most devastating global economic crisis since the Great Depression. As a result of the crisis, the United States lost more than 7.5 million jobs, and the unemployment rate doubled—peaking at more than 10 percent. The collapse of the housing market and subsequent equity market fluctuations delivered a one-two punch that destroyed trillions of dollars in personal wealth and made many Americans far less financially secure. Still reeling from these early shocks, the U.S. economy will undoubtedly take years to recover. Less clear, however, are the social effects of such economic hardship on a U.S. population accustomed to long periods of prosperity. How are Americans responding to these hard times? The Great Recession is the first authoritative assessment of how the aftershocks of the recession are affecting individuals and families, jobs, earnings and poverty, political and social attitudes, lifestyle and consumption practices, and charitable giving. Focused on individual-level effects rather than institutional causes, The Great Recession turns to leading experts to examine whether the economic aftermath caused by the recession is transforming how Americans live their lives, what they believe in, and the institutions they rely on. Contributors Michael Hout, Asaf Levanon, and Erin Cumberworth show how job loss during the recession—the worst since the 1980s—hit less-educated workers, men, immigrants, and factory and construction workers the hardest. Millions of lost industrial jobs are likely never to be recovered and where new jobs are appearing, they tend to be either high-skill positions or low-wage employment—offering few opportunities for the middle-class. Edward Wolff, Lindsay Owens, and Esra Burak examine the effects of the recession on housing and wealth for the very poor and the very rich. They find that while the richest Americans experienced the greatest absolute wealth loss, their resources enabled them to weather the crisis better than the young families, African Americans, and the middle class, who experienced the most disproportionate loss—including mortgage delinquencies, home foreclosures, and personal bankruptcies. Lane Kenworthy and Lindsay Owens ask whether this recession is producing enduring shifts in public opinion akin to those that followed the Great Depression. Surprisingly, they find no evidence of recession-induced attitude changes toward corporations, the government, perceptions of social justice, or policies aimed at aiding the poor. Similarly, Philip Morgan, Erin Cumberworth, and Christopher Wimer find no major recession effects on marriage, divorce, or cohabitation rates. They do find a decline in fertility rates, as well as increasing numbers of adult children returning home to the family nest—evidence that suggests deep pessimism about recovery. This protracted slump—marked by steep unemployment, profound destruction of wealth, and sluggish consumer activity—will likely continue for years to come, and more pronounced effects may surface down the road. The contributors note that, to date, this crisis has not yet generated broad shifts in lifestyle and attitudes. But by clarifying how the recession’s early impacts have—and have not—influenced our current economic and social landscape, The Great Recession establishes an important benchmark against which to measure future change.

Book America s Poor and the Great Recession

Download or read book America s Poor and the Great Recession written by Kristin S. Seefeldt and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-29 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A thorough and enlightening survey of the impact and legacy of the Great Recession on low-income Americans . . . accessible and readable.” —Journal of American Studies Millions entered poverty as a result of the Great Recession’s terrible toll of long-term unemployment. In this book, Kristin S. Seefeldt and John D. Graham examine recent trends in poverty and assess the performance of America’s safety-net programs. They consider likely scenarios for future developments and conclude that the well-being of low-income Americans, particularly the working poor, the near poor, and the new poor, is at substantial risk despite economic recovery. “[This] primer on the state of America’s poor in the wake of the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 cuts through Beltway theater and provides a clear picture of the magnitude of poverty of the United States as well as the patchwork nature of social services targeting the poor.” —Journal of Policy Analysis and Management

Book Children of the Great Recession

Download or read book Children of the Great Recession written by Irwin Garfinkel and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2016-08-21 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many working families continue to struggle in the aftermath of the Great Recession, the deepest and longest economic downturn since the Great Depression. In Children of the Great Recession, a group of leading scholars draw from a unique study of nearly 5,000 economically and ethnically diverse families in twenty cities to analyze the effects of the Great Recession on parents and young children. By exploring the discrepancies in outcomes between these families—particularly between those headed by parents with college degrees and those without—this timely book shows how the most disadvantaged families have continued to suffer as a result of the Great Recession. Several contributors examine the recession’s impact on the economic well-being of families, including changes to income, poverty levels, and economic insecurity. Irwin Garfinkel and Natasha Pilkauskas find that in cities with high unemployment rates during the recession, incomes for families with a college-educated mother fell by only about 5 percent, whereas families without college degrees experienced income losses three to four times greater. Garfinkel and Pilkauskas also show that the number of non-college-educated families enrolled in federal safety net programs—including Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or food stamps)—grew rapidly in response to the Great Recession. Other researchers examine how parents’ physical and emotional health, relationship stability, and parenting behavior changed over the course of the recession. Janet Currie and Valentina Duque find that while mothers and fathers across all education groups experienced more health problems as a result of the downturn, health disparities by education widened. Daniel Schneider, Sara McLanahan and Kristin Harknett find decreases in marriage and cohabitation rates among less-educated families, and Ronald Mincy and Elia de la Cruz-Toledo show that as unemployment rates increased, nonresident fathers’ child support payments decreased. William Schneider, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, and Jane Waldfogel show that fluctuations in unemployment rates negatively affected parenting quality and child well-being, particularly for families where the mother did not have a four-year college degree. Although the recession affected most Americans, Children of the Great Recession reveals how vulnerable parents and children paid a higher price. The research in this volume suggests that policies that boost college access and reinforce the safety net could help protect disadvantaged families in times of economic crisis.

Book The Social Safety Net

    Book Details:
  • Author : United States Congress
  • Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
  • Release : 2017-10-13
  • ISBN : 9781978171060
  • Pages : 68 pages

Download or read book The Social Safety Net written by United States Congress and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-10-13 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The social safety net: impact of the recession and of the Recovery Act : hearing before the Committee on the Budget, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, first session, hearing held in Washington, DC, December 9, 2009.

Book Welfare and the Great Recession

Download or read book Welfare and the Great Recession written by Stefán Ólafsson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-10 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Welfare and the Great Recession surveys and analyses welfare consequences in the period following the financial crisis in Europe. It investigates how the burdens of the recession were shared between countries, between different socio-economic groups across Europe, and within individual countries, and offers new evidence that demonstrates the importance of the welfare state and government policies in sheltering populations from serious economic contraction. The first comprehensive study of the Great Recession in Europe that focuses on household level welfare consequences, this edited volume relates financial hardship to institutional characteristics such as welfare regimes, currency regimes, socio-political patterns, affluence levels, public debt, and policy reactions to periods of crisis. It takes into account stimulus versus austerity, the degree of social protection emphasis, the commitment to redistribution, and the significance of activism. Widely comparative, Welfare and the Great Recession combines comparisons of thirty countries with an in-depth study of nine country cases to offer various lessons from the crisis experience in Europe and reflect on welfare futures in a globalized crisis-prone environment.

Book Shared Responsibility  Shared Risk

Download or read book Shared Responsibility Shared Risk written by Jacob Hacker and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-25 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The collapse of the financial markets in 2008 and the resulting 'Great Recession' merely accelerated an already worrisome trend: the shift away from an employer-based social welfare system in the United States. Since the end of World War II, a substantial percentage of the costs of social provision--most notably, unemployment insurance and health insurance--has been borne by employers rather than the state. The US has long been unique among advanced economies in this regard, but in recent years, its social contract has become so frayed that is fast becoming unrecognizable. Despite Obama's election, the burdens of social provision are falling increasingly upon individual families, and the situation is worsening because of the unemployment crisis. How can we repair the American social welfare system so that workers and families receive adequate protection and, if necessary, provision from the ravages of the market? In Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk, Jacob Hacker and Ann O'Leary have gathered a distinguished group of scholars on American social policy to address this most fundamental of problems. Collectively, they analyze how the 'privatization of risk' has increased hardships for American families and increased inequality. They also propose a series of solutions that would distribute the burdens of risks more broadly and expand the social safety net. The range of issues covered is broad: health care, homeownership, social security and aging, unemployment, wealth (as opposed to income) creation, education, and family-friendly policies. The book is also comparative, measuring US social policy against the policies of other advanced nations. Given the current crisis in America social policy and the concomitant paralysis within government, the book has the potential to make an important intervention in the current debate.

Book Recession Proof Your Life  The Ultimate Guide to Financial Stability During Economic Downturns

Download or read book Recession Proof Your Life The Ultimate Guide to Financial Stability During Economic Downturns written by Luna Z. Rainstorm and published by BornIncredible.com. This book was released on 2023-01-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Fortify your financial future by understanding and navigating the complex world of recessions." Navigate uncertain financial waters with "Recession-Proof Your Life," a comprehensive guide to understanding, preparing for, and surviving economic downturns. Gain a thorough understanding of the history, causes, and consequences of recessions, as well as strategies to protect your finances, career, and emotional well-being. Explore the history of major recessions, such as the Great Depression and the 2008 financial crisis, and learn valuable lessons from each event. Understand the definition and indicators of a recession, as well as the economic cycles that lead to these downturns. Discover the various types of recessions, such as demand-side, supply-side, and financial crises, and learn about the impact of recessions on employment, housing, small businesses, and more. Uncover the role of government in managing recessions, as well as the influence of international recessions and globalization on the economy. Examine the psychological aspects of recessions, including fear, uncertainty, and the importance of maintaining optimism during challenging times. Learn effective strategies for surviving a recession, from budgeting and finding alternate sources of income to protecting your assets and investments. Tackle job loss and unemployment during recessions with practical coping strategies and tips for finding new employment opportunities. Adapt your business or start a new one during an economic downturn by pivoting your business model and identifying growth opportunities. Understand how recessions impact education, healthcare, mental health, social justice, and retirement. Find out how communities and governments respond to recessions, and learn about available resources and support programs. Master the art of investing during a recession, with a focus on risk management and diversification. Prepare for future recessions by learning from past experiences and embracing innovation. In "Recession-Proof Your Life," you'll find a wealth of knowledge, tips, and strategies to help you face economic uncertainty with confidence. Become financially resilient and well-prepared for any economic challenge that comes your way. Table Of Contents Introduction Explanation Of A Recession Prevalence And Impact Of Recessions Importance Of Understanding The History Of Recessions And How To Survive Them History Of Recessions: Overview Of The History Of Recessions Major Recessions Throughout History Causes And Consequences Of Past Recessions Lessons Learned From Past Recessions What Is A Recession: Definition Of A Recession Causes And Indicators Of A Recession The Impact Of A Recession On The Economy And Individuals Understanding The Difference Between A Recession And A Depression The Economic Cycle The Role Of Interest Rates In The Economic Cycle The Business Cycle And Recessions Indicators Of A Recession Leading Economic Indicators Lagging Economic Indicators Coincident Economic Indicators Types Of Recessions Demand-Side Recessions Supply-Side Recessions Financial Crises The Great Recession Of 2008 Causes Of The Great Recession The Impact Of The Great Recession Lessons Learned From The Great Recession The Impact Of Recessions On Employment Unemployment Rates During Recessions The Impact Of Recessions On Different Industries Strategies For Managing Job Loss During A Recession The Impact Of Recessions On Housing Housing Market Trends During Recessions The Impact Of Recessions On Home Values Strategies For Managing Homeownership During A Recession The Impact Of Recessions On Small Businesses The Unique Challenges Faced By Small Businesses During A Recession Strategies For Managing A Small Business During A Recession Government Programs And Assistance For Small Businesses During A Recession The Role Of Government In Managing Recessions Fiscal Policy During A Recession Monetary Policy During A Recession The Effectiveness Of Government Intervention During A Recession International Recessions And Globalization The Impact Of Recessions On International Trade The Role Of Globalization In The Spread Of Recessions Strategies For Managing The Impact Of International Recessions The Psychology Of Recessions The Impact Of Fear And Uncertainty During A Recession Strategies For Managing Anxiety During A Recession The Role Of Optimism And Hope In Recovering From A Recession Surviving A Recession: Maintaining A Budget And Reducing Expenses Finding Alternate Sources Of Income Protecting Assets And Investments Coping With The Emotional Impact Of A Recession Job Loss And Unemployment: Overview Of Job Loss And Unemployment During A Recession Strategies For Coping With Job Loss And Unemployment Finding New Employment Opportunities Managing Finances During Unemployment Practical Tips / Strategies To Reduce Debt Business And Entrepreneurship During A Recession: Overview Of Strategies For Business Survival During A Recession Pivoting Business Models To Adapt To A Recession Finding Opportunities For Growth During A Recession Starting A Business During A Recession Successful Businesses Started During Past Recessions Community And Government Response To A Recession: The Role Of International Organizations In Responding To Global Recessions Investing During A Recession The Impact Of Recessions On The Stock Market Strategies For Managing Investments During A Recession The Role Of Diversification In Managing Risk During A Recession The Impact Of Recessions On Education The Impact Of Recessions On Education Funding The Impact Of Recessions On Student Loan Debt Strategies For Managing Education During A Recession Healthcare During A Recession The Impact Of Recessions On Healthcare Funding The Impact Of Recessions On Healthcare Access Strategies For Managing Healthcare During A Recession The Impact Of Recessions On Mental Health Strategies For Managing Mental Health During A Recession The Role Of Community Support In Managing Mental Health During A Recession Recessions And Social Justice The Impact Of Recessions On Marginalized Communities Strategies For Managing The Impact Of Recessions On Social Justice The Role Of Government Policies In Addressing Social Justice During A Recession The Impact Of Recessions On Retirement The Impact Of Recessions On Retirement Savings Strategies For Managing Retirement During A Recession The Role Of Government Programs In Supporting Retirement During A Recession The Future Of Recessions Predictions For Future Recessions Strategies For Preparing For Future Recessions The Role Of Innovation In Managing Future Recessions Lessons Learned From Recessions Key Takeaways From Past Recessions Strategies For Managing Future Recessions Based On Past Experiences The Role Of Resilience In Recovering From A Recession Conclusion: Recap Of Key Points Final Thoughts On Understanding And Surviving A Recession Importance Of Being Prepared For Economic Downturns And Seeking Support When Needed. 2023 Indicators Interesting Facts Asset Bubbles Frequently Asked Questions. What Happens In A Recession? What Would A Recession Mean? What Is A Recession Vs Depression? How Long Do Recessions Last? What Is A Recession What Should You Not Do In A Recession? Who Suffers The Most During A Recession? Who Benefits In A Recession? Does Recession Mean Crash? Are We Headed For A Depression In 2023? How Do You Survive A Recession? How Do You Prepare For A Recession? What Jobs Will Be Affected By A Recession? How Long Did 2008 Recession Last? Should You Sell Before A Recession? What Will Happen If The World Goes Into Recession? Will The World Go Into Recession 2023? How Long Will The 2023 Recession Last? What To Buy In Recession? Is My Money Safe During A Recession? What Is Best To Hold In A Recession? Who Will Be Hit Hardest By Recession? Who Gets Laid Off In A Recession? What Is The Biggest Problem In A Recession? Do People Lose Money During A Recession? Do I Lose Money In A Recession? What Are The Signs Of A Recession Coming? How Long Will 2023 Recession Last? What Happens If We Go Into Recession? What Does A Recession Do To The Average Person? Who Benefits From A Recession? Who Suffers Most In A Recession? How Long Do Recessions Usually Last? How Do You Profit From A Recession? What Are The Financial Predictions For 2023? How Much Money Should You Hold In A Recession? What Is The Best Fixed Income During A Recession? What Is The Most Stable Asset In The World? Is A Recession Scary? What Are The Five Stages Of Recession? Is A Recession When You Lose Your Job? How Do I Keep My Job During A Recession? Who Does A Recession Hurt The Most? Which Jobs Are Safest In A Recession? What Happens To The Average Person During A Recession? Do People Work Harder In A Recession? What Defines A Job Recession? How Long Does A Recession Lost? Is A Recession Coming In 2023? How Do You Prepare For A Job Loss In A Potential Recession? How Does A Company Survive A Recession? How Do You Prepare Employees For A Recession? How To Get Rich During A Recession? What Goes Up The Most During A Recession? Who Makes The Most Money During Recession? What Jobs Are Most Affected By A Recession? What Jobs Are Good In A Bad Economy? Who To Survive A Recession? Does A Recession Affect The Rich? Who Gets Hurt In A Recession And Why? What Would Be Worse Than A Recession? Will Recession Last Into 2024? Should I Hold More Cash During Recession? How Much Cash Should I Have In A Recession? Who Earned Most Money In 2008 Financial Crisis? What Does A Recession Mean For Hr? What Does A Recession Look Like For Me? What Is A Bank Run? What Is A Bank Run And Why Is It A Problem? What Are Bank Runs Examples? What Do Banks Do During A Bank Run? What Is The Biggest Bank Run In History? Why Do People Do Bank Runs? What Happens After A Bank Run? What Happens To My Money If The Banks Collapse? How Do You Stop A Bank Run? What Is The Difference Between Bank Runs And Bank Fails? What Is Another Word For Bank Runs? How Do Banks Really Make Money? What Is The Central Issue That Causes Bank Runs And Panics? What Group Is Responsible For Stepping In To Prevent A Bank Run? Who Owes World Bank The Most? Why Do Most People Keep Their Money In The Bank? What Were Bank Runs During The Great Depression? Can A Bank Survive A Bank Run? How Long Does A Bank Have To Come After You? Should I Withdraw My Money From The Bank? Can The Bank Take Your Money If The Bank Fails? Do You Lose All Your Money When A Bank Collapses? Have Questions / Comments?

Book Making the Work Based Safety Net Work Better

Download or read book Making the Work Based Safety Net Work Better written by Carolyn J. Heinrich and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2009-06-02 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Work first. That is the core idea behind the 1996 welfare reform legislation. It sounds appealing, but according to Making the Work-Based Safety Net Work Better, it collides with an exceptionally difficult reality. The degree to which work provides a way out of poverty depends greatly on the ability of low-skilled people to maintain stable employment and make progress toward an income that provides an adequate standard of living. This forward-looking volume examines eight areas of the safety net where families are falling through and describes how current policies and institutions could evolve to enhance the self-sufficiency of low-income families. David Neumark analyzes a range of labor market policies and finds overwhelming evidence that the minimum wage is ineffective in promoting self-sufficiency. Neumark suggests the Earned Income Tax Credit is a much more promising policy to boost employment among single mothers and family incomes. Greg Duncan, Lisa Gennetian, and Pamela Morris find no evidence that encouraging parents to work leads to better parenting, improved psychological health, or more positive role models for children. Instead, the connection between parental work and child achievement is linked to parents' improved access to quality child care. Rebecca Blank and Brian Kovak document an alarming increase in the number of single mothers who receive neither wages nor public assistance and who are significantly more likely to suffer from medical problems of their own or of a child. Time caps and work hour requirements embedded in benefits policies leave some mothers unable to work and ineligible for cash benefits. Marcia Meyers and Janet Gornick identify another gap: low-income families tend to lose financial support and health coverage long before they earn enough to access employer-based benefits and tax provisions. They propose building "institutional bridges" that minimize discontinuities associated with changes in employment, earnings, or family structure. Steven Raphael addresses a particularly troubling weakness of the work-based safety net—its inadequate provision for the large number of individuals who are or were incarcerated in the United States. He offers tractable suggestions for policy changes that could ease their transition back into non-institutionalized society and the labor market. Making the Work-Based Safety Net Work Better shows that the "work first" approach alone isn't working and suggests specific ways the social welfare system might be modified to produce greater gains for vulnerable families.

Book Safety Net Programs and Poverty Reduction

Download or read book Safety Net Programs and Poverty Reduction written by K. Subbarao and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1997 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The need for social safety nets has become a key component of poverty reduction strategies. Over the past three decades several developing countries have launched a variety of programs, including cash transfers, subsidies in-kind, public works, and income-generation programs. However, there is little guidance on appropriate program design, and few studies have synthesized the lessons from widely differing country experiences. This report fills that gap. It reviews the conceptual issues in the choice of programs, synthesizes cross-country experience, and analyzes how country- and region-specific constraints can explain why different approaches are successful in different countries.

Book Realizing the Full Potential of Social Safety Nets in Africa

Download or read book Realizing the Full Potential of Social Safety Nets in Africa written by Kathleen Beegle and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2018-07-02 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Poverty remains a pervasive and complex phenomenon in Sub-Saharan Africa. Part of the agenda in recent years to tackle poverty in Africa has been the launching of social safety nets programs. All countries have now deployed safety net interventions as part of their core development programs. The number of programs has skyrocketed since the mid-2000s though many programs remain limited in size. This shift in social policy reflects the progressive evolution in the understanding of the role that social safety nets can play in the fight against poverty and vulnerability, and more generally in the human capital and growth agenda. Evidence on their impacts on equity, resilience, and opportunity is growing, and makes a foundational case for investments in safety nets as a major component of national development plans. For this potential to be realized, however, safety net programs need to be significantly scaled-up. Such scaling up will involve a series of technical considerations to identify the parameters, tools, and processes that can deliver maximum benefits to the poor and vulnerable. However, in addition to technical considerations, and at least as importantly, this report argues that a series of decisive shifts need to occur in three other critical spheres: political, institutional, and fiscal. First, the political processes that shape the extent and nature of social policy need to be recognized, by stimulating political appetite for safety nets, choosing politically smart parameters, and harnessing the political impacts of safety nets to promote their sustainability. Second, the anchoring of safety net programs in institutional arrangements †“ related to the overarching policy framework for safety nets, the functions of policy and coordination, as well as program management and implementation †“ is particularly important as programs expand and are increasingly implemented through national channels. And third, in most countries, the level and predictability of resources devoted to the sector needs to increase for safety nets to reach the desired scale, through increased efficiency, increased volumes and new sources of financing, and greater ability to effectively respond to shocks. This report highlights the implications which political, institutional, and fiscal aspects have for the choice and design of programs. Fundamentally, it argues that these considerations are critical to ensure the successful scaling-up of social safety nets in Africa, and that ignoring them could lead to technically-sound, but practically impossible, choices and designs.

Book Who Cares

    Book Details:
  • Author : Christopher Howard
  • Publisher : Oxford University Press
  • Release : 2022-10-25
  • ISBN : 0190074450
  • Pages : 353 pages

Download or read book Who Cares written by Christopher Howard and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-10-25 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Societies are often judged by how they treat their most vulnerable members. In the United States, that responsibility belongs not only to governments, but also to charities, businesses, individuals, and family members. Their combined efforts generate a social safety net. Many academics and journalists have studied discrete pieces of this net. However, it is still hard to see larger patterns and learn general lessons. Who Cares pulls these pieces together to offer the first comprehensive map of the U.S. social safety net. The central theme of the book is care. Part I describes how much we care about people in need as well as who we think should take care of them. Individual chapters capture the views of ordinary citizens, business and labor organizations, churches and other charities, and public officials. The emphasis in Part II is on tangible acts of caring. Who pays for government programs and charitable services? Who are the most important caregivers, public and private? How adequate is the care that people receive? Each chapter answers these questions for specific human needs-income, food, housing, medical care, and daily care. Although the U.S. social safety net is extensive, major gaps remain. Blacks, Hispanics, and individuals who are not employed full-time are more likely to suffer. These problems exist even when the economy seems healthy; Who Cares is based heavily on evidence from the years right before the COVID-19 pandemic. The postscript offers an initial assessment of how the social safety net performed during the pandemic"--

Book A Safety Net That Works

Download or read book A Safety Net That Works written by Robert Doar and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-02-13 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an edited volume reviewing the major means-tested social programs in the United States. Each author addresses a major program or area, reviewing each area’s successes and recommending how to address shortcomings through policy change. In general, our means-tested programs do many things well, but some adjustments to each could make the system much more effective. This book provides policymakers with a broad overview of the issues at hand in each program and how to address them.