How Reliable Are Social Safety Nets? Value and Accessibility in Situations of Acute Economic Need

Herwig Immervoll, Raphaela Hyee (), Rodrigo Fernandez () and Jongmi Lee ()
Additional contact information
Raphaela Hyee: OECD
Rodrigo Fernandez: OECD
Jongmi Lee: OECD

No 15232, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Social protection systems use a range of entitlement criteria. First-tier support typically requires contributions or past employment in many countries, while safety net benefits are granted on the basis of need. In a context of volatile and uncertain labour markets, careful and continuous monitoring of the effectiveness of income support is a key input into an evidence-based policy process. This paper proposes a novel empirical method for monitoring the accessibility and levels of safety net benefits. It focusses on minimum-income benefits (MIB) and other non-contributory transfers and relies on data on the amounts of cash support that individuals in need receive in practice. Results show that accessibility and benefit levels differ enormously across countries – for instance, more than four out of five low-income workless one-person households received MIB in Australia, France and the United Kingdom, compared to only one in five in Greece and Italy, two countries that have since sought to strengthen aspects of safety-net provisions.

Keywords: minimum-income benefits; accessibility; coverage; non-take-up; adequacy; poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C31 C53 D31 H31 H53 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2022-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur
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Working Paper: How reliable are social safety nets?: Value and accessibility in situations of acute economic need (2020)
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