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By means of counterfactual simulation methods, this paper quantifies the role of tax–benefit policies in mitigating the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic to household income in the European Union. The tax-benefit microsimulation model for the European Union EUROMOD is used to decompose changes in the income distribution into the effects of: (i) earnings losses due to COVID-19, (ii) automatic stabilizers, (iii) monetary compensation schemes introduced during the pandemic; and (iv) COVID-19-specific reforms to taxes and benefits implemented by European Union governments. The results show a great deal of heterogeneity between countries in terms of earnings losses and the effect of tax-benefit policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. In most countries, the largest contribution to cushioning the economic shock of the pandemic comes from monetary compensation schemes. Automatic stabilizers also play a role, mainly through the effects of social insurance contributions, taxes, and unemployment insurance benefits. Tax-benefit systems cushioned incomes to a large extent even among those most severely affected by the shock to earnings, with an important role for monetary compensation schemes, but also a larger stabilizing effect of unemployment insurance. Among automatic stabilizers, social assistance benefits played an important role in cushioning the income shock for the poorest quintiles among the most severely affected, but only in selected countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The works of Polanyi and Gramsci, taken together, help us to disentangle the multiple understands of and politics around social protection. Despite Gramsci's convincing analysis of hegemony as the organization of class struggle within limits of capitalism, he does not have a theory of counterhegemony. Polanyi, meanwhile, does not focus attention on the power of capitalist hegemony, yet his displacement of experience from production to exchange creates the grounds for a potential counterhegemony. The article analyzes how, despite apparent efforts to de-commodify labor and social protections, precarity has become more deeply engrained among the laboring poor. While precarity is not necessarily new to populations across the South, the way in which commodification has become hegemonic is, and the objective of the article is to better understand the role of social protection in shaping workers' experiences, and consider potential strategic directions to advance universal social protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic was unprecedented and its impact on the overall welfare of people was felt all over the world. In particular, the pandemic exposed the vulnerability of migrant workers. As key role players providing critical services during the pandemic, migrant workers witnessed limited access to social protection. Data gathered through qualitative method using face-to-face interviews, WhatsApp interviews and content analysis of secondary data found limited access of foreign workers to Covid-19 related social protection in South Africa. Foreign workers who did not possess the South African Identity Document, but contributed to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) experienced discrimination. They were not paid the Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief (Covid-19 TERS) for workers in the formal sector. The UIF computer system recognised only South African identity numbers and not foreign passport numbers. Bureaucratic xenophobia was explored to understand the experiences of the foreign workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a systemic and institutional analysis of transnational dynamics in the recruiting, hiring and placement of Vietnamese female migrants in domestic work in Saudi Arabia, this article showcases the experiences of Vietnamese female domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and contributes to the social protection and migrant domestic worker literatures. It contributes a critical analysis on whether bilateral labor agreements can be mechanisms for social protection of migrants. Focusing on the case of Vietnam, I argue that the bilateral labor agreement (BLA) signed between Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, enacted by the Vietnamese labor brokerage state and the Saudi Kafala systems, is a form structural violence because it fails to provide social welfare and protection for Vietnamese women domestic workers. In this systemic/structural violence, intersectionality shows that not all female workers suffer the same since ethnic minority workers most often suffer more than the majority (Kinh) female workers. Moreover, inside the Kafeel (the employer/sponsor) homes of this system, most of these female workers suffer, as unfree labor, from being transferred from one house to another, resulting in precarity, cycle of debt and dispossession of their rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term encampment has become a reality for a large portion of the forcibly displaced population of the contemporary world, given the inadequacies and limitations of the conventional durable solutions to forced displacement. However, encampment is principally a temporary arrangement that prevents long-term programming in camps, making long-term encampment contradictory and an arena of uncertainty, misery, and despair for the camp dwellers. It is rather more rational to admit long-term encampment as a reality and act on it as it involves unjustifiable humanitarian costs. The paper calls for thinking beyond the conventional practices and focusing on the wellbeing of the encamped population from a life-course perspective. It proposes a framework for building welfare institutions in refugee camps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused financial hardship and psychological distress among young Australians. This study investigates whether the Australian Government's emergency cash transfer payments—specifically welfare expansion for those unemployed prior to the pandemic (known in Australia as the Coronavirus Supplement) and JobKeeper (cash support for those with reduced or stopped employment due to the pandemic)—were associated with individual's level of coping during the coronavirus pandemic among those with and without mental disorders (including anxiety, depression, ADHD and autism). The sample included 902 young adults who participated in all of the last three waves (8, 9C1, 9C2) of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), a nationally representative cohort study. Modified Poisson regression models were used to assess the impact of emergency cash transfer payments on 18–22-year-old's self-rated coping level, stratifying the analysis by those with and without mental disorders. All models were adjusted for gender, employment, location, family cohesion, history of smoking, alcohol intake, and COVID-19 test result. Of the 902-person sample analysed, 41.5% (n = 374) reported high levels of coping, 18.9% (n = 171) reported mental disorders, 40.3% (n = 364) received the Coronavirus Supplement and 16.4% (n = 148) received JobKeeper payments. Analysing the total sample demonstrated that participants who received the JobKeeper payment were more likely to have a higher level of coping compared to those who did not receive the JobKeeper payment. Stratified analyses demonstrated that those with pre-existing mental disorder obtained significant benefit from the JobKeeper payment on their level of coping, compared to those who did not receive JobKeeper. In contrast, receipt of the Coronavirus Supplement was not significantly associated with higher level of coping. Among those with no mental health disorder, neither the Coronavirus Supplement nor JobKeeper had a statistically significant impact on level of coping. These findings suggest the positive impacts of cash transfers on level of coping during the pandemic were limited to those with a pre-existing mental disorder who received JobKeeper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the tensions and struggles over elder care that are happening in South Africa between family caregivers, care workers and the state. These struggles are experienced and expressed at the familial and community level but are best understood by examining how the state has de-funded facilities in favour of ‘ageing in place’ without any additional investment in community and home-based care support. The findings reveal that stresses on unpaid and paid carers are expressed in terms of individual failings and interpersonal conflict rather than through a socio-political contextual lens. These findings contribute to how a familialist care regime impacts the everyday personal relationships between paid and unpaid carers of older persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Covid crisis, while countries set up an unprecedented social protection response, international organisations quickly turned towards envisioning how to 'build back better' using social protection. Building on a qualitative document analysis, the article finds that international organisations frequently imagine the future through anticipations of protracted and multidimensional crises – often in quantified form. Arguing that futures are an ideational influence on policymaking, the article reconstructs two ways in which these crisis anticipations inform international organisations' social protection policy proposals: first, as legitimising narratives for expanding social protection; second, in the form of policy proposals that embed crisis anticipation in their design, as in the case of 'adaptive social protection'. The article shows that adaptive social protection departs from traditional social protection policy: it promotes strengthening individual, household and systemic resilience, and implementing preparedness as a governing rationale, thus moving from a focus on compensation and provision towards prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how livelihood security is co-produced through multiple strategies in Southeast Asia's agrarian transformation, by considering the case of Cambodian migrant workers, who cobble together their livelihood through a combination of land, labour and debt. These workers leverage small landholdings as collateral to take on debts to finance migration to Thailand, where low wages and insecure employment inhibit their ability to repay such debts. The traditional social welfare role of land as a safety net is superseded by the use of land as collateral to access microfinance loans, which are also commonly used to respond to livelihood shocks. In this financialised context, social protection schemes insufficiently address the combined livelihood risks that are assumed by workers and do not provide meaningful protection to workers. Drawing on field interviews, we argue that these various supposed sources of livelihood security rather act to increase precarity for workers, by exacerbating labour discipline and dependence on employers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does crisis open-up – or foreclose – new possibilities for alternative economic futures? This article explores the possibilities afforded by crisis for reconfiguring redistribution and welfare in contexts where access to income via work is increasingly tenuous. To do so, we turn to South Africa, where we examine the unfolding political possibilities and support for more generous and universal forms of social protection and (re)distribution during and after the Covid pandemic. In particular, we analyse visions of alternative redistributory policies both from above and from below, via original empirical data on the views of low-income inner-city residents in Johannesburg; interviews with government actors and civil society activists; and a close reading of media and policy discourse around social protection between 2020 and 2023. We argue while framing Covid as a crisis forced the state to embrace less workerist approaches to social protection, the very fact that new policies were rooted in an emergency context may have blunted more radical redistributory visions. This argument is underscored by the vacillations and internal contradictions of the South African government's expansion of its social grant system, as well as by the delimited scope of grassroots demands for more generous or unconditional economic support during and after the pandemic. We make the case that 'crisis temporalities' – and the temporality of work and welfare more generally – is critical to understanding the lack of political will and popular demands for more radical forms of redistribution and economic security beyond work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines social protection pathways in the former French colonies in sub‐Saharan Africa. We identify five steps to understanding the patterns and dynamics of social protection in these countries that provide evidence of its exogenous construction. First, we characterize the main developments in social protection systems and policies from their inception, covering the colonial era to the present, underlining the role of colonial legacy and the global social policy framework. Second, we document the similarity of national social protection trajectories and lack of national ownership of the policy problem markedly that characterizes social protection pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper uses a newly assembled dataset on various types of social protection spending in 154 countries during the COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 to analyze the effect of the electoral cycle on the size and composition of the social protection stimulus budget. The analysis shows that the longer the time since the last election in a country—and thus the sooner the next election date—the larger the share of the social protection pandemic budget allocated to social assistance and income protection, and the lower the share allocated to job retention schemes. The electoral cycle appears to have impacted the size of social assistance spending only in countries with high political competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income inequality is one of the most important social problems of our time due to the potential problems it poses for social peace and well-being. This study aims to measure the effectiveness of social protection programs in solving the problem of increasing income inequality. In this context, the extent to which social protection expenditures are effective in reducing income inequality at the cumulative and functional level is tried to be determined. The impact of different expenditure components on income inequality was analyzed for European countries between 2005 and 2017. The results show that public expenditures and total social protection expenditures as a whole contribute more to reducing income inequality. Moreover, expenditures on old age, disability, family benefits, unemployment, and housing are effective in reducing income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Netherlands, many part‐time domestic workers fall within the scope of a particular type of labour law, that gives them fewer social protection rights and that renders private actors (households and workers) responsible for exercising those rights. Over the years, this policy has been criticised for institutionalising the differential treatment of domestic workers, which goes against ideas propagated in international initiatives, like the European Pillar of Social Rights. This contribution explores Dutch domestic workers' access to social protection in greater detail. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews with 30 domestic workers, we show that the actual access to social protection greatly varies over different workers and over different employment relationships of individual workers, but generally falls below par. Our findings indicate that this is partly due to the fact that the Dutch policy option underestimates domestic workers' wariness of placing demands on the households they work for, which raises questions over the desirability of non‐mediated employment relationships in the sector. We conclude with a brief discussion and suggestions for future policy directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This scientific article is dedicated to the analysis and elucidation of the theoretical aspects of understanding the legal definition of «vulnerable population groups» and examining the evolution of its legal entrenchment in international and Ukrainian national law. The relevance of this topic is justified by the fact that the future of a modern state depends on the well-being of its most vulnerable population groups and their opportunities for safe existence and development. It is also noted that the legal status of the most vulnerable population groups significantly differs in the modern world. The article concludes that international law offers a traditional contractual approach to vulnerable population groups, whereby states are obliged to create mechanisms that ensure the protection of their rights. Based on the analysis of several international documents, it is concluded that the concept of «vulnerability» is not clearly defined in the legal acts of modern international law, with the foundation being the factor that determines vulnerability. It has been proven that neither international legal acts nor domestic acts provide an exhaustive list of vulnerable groups and the criteria for their vulnerability. There can be countless criteria for the classification of vulnerable population groups. It is shown that the international legal protection of each vulnerable group of the population has its specificities. It was concluded that the essence of the definition of «vulnerable population groups» allows to determine the list of persons who can be combined into a certain group based on the relevant characteristics. Such population groups are known to the entire world community and their various degrees of vulnerability are recognized by each state. It is emphasized that modern states must independently resolve the issue of applying the concept of vulnerability and creating a system for protecting the rights of vulnerable population groups that corresponds to national interests and international law. States are called upon to ensure the rights of vulnerable population groups through their normative legal entrenchment and the creation of an effective mechanism for their implementation and protection. In national law, the legal definition of «vulnerable population groups» is defined by the Law of Ukraine «On Social Services». [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes in detail the specifics of social protection of public service workers as a legal phenomenon that is of great importance for ensuring the efficiency and stability of the functioning of the state apparatus. The main attention is paid to the definition and characteristics of the main features of this category, which allows for a better understanding of its nature and meaning in the context of the modern legal field. Various approaches to the definition of social protection, expressed in the scientific literature, are considered, as well as the current legislation that regulates this area is analyzed. The author examines the views of leading scientists who study the issue of social protection of public service workers, compares their positions and approaches, highlighting the most significant and relevant aspects. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of legislative acts that establish the legal framework and mechanisms for the implementation of social protection, in particular regarding working conditions, pension provision, health insurance and other types of social guarantees. As a result of the research, the author formulated a unique list of signs of social protection of public service employees, which includes such key elements as legal protection, access to social benefits and guarantees, provision of proper working conditions, support of professional development and qualification, as well as provision of legal and social protection in cases of professional risks. Each of these signs is examined in detail, its meaning and meaning in the context of ensuring social stability and legal protection of public service workers is clarified. The importance of the effective functioning of the social protection system for increasing the motivation and productivity of employees, which, in turn, has a positive effect on the overall efficiency of the state apparatus, is emphasized separately. Analyzing various approaches and legislative norms, the author offers his own recommendations for improving the system of social protection of public service employees, taking into account modern challenges and needs of society. Thus, the article not only reveals the theoretical aspects of social protection of public service workers, but also provides practical recommendations for improving the legal mechanisms regulating this area, which is extremely important for the further development of legal science and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused financial hardship and psychological distress among young Australians. This study investigates whether the Australian Government’s emergency cash transfer payments—specifically welfare expansion for those unemployed prior to the pandemic (known in Australia as the Coronavirus Supplement) and JobKeeper (cash support for those with reduced or stopped employment due to the pandemic)—were associated with individual’s level of coping during the coronavirus pandemic among those with and without mental disorders (including anxiety, depression, ADHD and autism). The sample included 902 young adults who participated in all of the last three waves (8, 9C1, 9C2) of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), a nationally representative cohort study. Modified Poisson regression models were used to assess the impact of emergency cash transfer payments on 18–22-year-old’s self-rated coping level, stratifying the analysis by those with and without mental disorders. All models were adjusted for gender, employment, location, family cohesion, history of smoking, alcohol intake, and COVID-19 test result. Of the 902-person sample analysed, 41.5% (n = 374) reported high levels of coping, 18.9% (n = 171) reported mental disorders, 40.3% (n = 364) received the Coronavirus Supplement and 16.4% (n = 148) received JobKeeper payments. Analysing the total sample demonstrated that participants who received the JobKeeper payment were more likely to have a higher level of coping compared to those who did not receive the JobKeeper payment. Stratified analyses demonstrated that those with pre-existing mental disorder obtained significant benefit from the JobKeeper payment on their level of coping, compared to those who did not receive JobKeeper. In contrast, receipt of the Coronavirus Supplement was not significantly associated with higher level of coping. Among those with no mental health disorder, neither the Coronavirus Supplement nor JobKeeper had a statistically significant impact on level of coping. These findings suggest the positive impacts of cash transfers on level of coping during the pandemic were limited to those with a pre-existing mental disorder who received JobKeeper.

The institution of the family is the foundation of modern Russian society, a prerequisite for stability and well-being of the state. The article analyses the impact of state social policy on institutional trust of young family Russians on the basis of sociological research data in an innovative way. These results of the survey have showed that the formation of confidence of youth in the state and social well-being of young families need more significant systemic and comprehensive government support measures. The authors reasonably conclude that it is necessary to revise the principle of direct dependence “state support – trust of youth” in relation to this social category, since young married couples have their own particular matrix of values and relationships in the “I – family – state” triad. These factors dictate the need to adjust the package of social protection (support) measures for families with consideration to their real requests: strengthening the economic component (reduction of bureaucratic barriers, tax burden, support for small and medium-sized enterprises and firms that are led, as a rule, by representatives of young married couples); organising a network of centres for specialised psychological assistance to pregnant women and their husbands, then psychological and pedagogical accompaniment of parents; targeting information state policy (with an emphasis on the parental channel), as well as through programmes of educational shifts of youth camps (formation of knowledge among young generations of Russians even before marriage about the state policy of family protection (support), social trust and confidence in their well-being in the future). At the same time, the results of the study emphasise the need for a constant sociological analysis of the effectiveness of the public policy and social protection (support) as a measure of managerial influence on youth and young families – a mobile and ever-changing stratum of civil society.

In April 2020, nearly 1.6 billion learners were out of school. While a growing body of literature has documented the detrimental impact of these closures on children, less attention has been devoted to the steps countries took to mitigate the impact of these closures on working families. Paid leave is recognized as an important policy tool to enable working parents the time they need to respond to family needs without risking job or income loss. This article uses a novel data set to assess whether countries had policies in place prior to the pandemic to respond to increased care needs and the extent to which policies were introduced or expanded during the pandemic to fill the gap. Only 48 countries had policies in place prior to the pandemic that could be used to respond to the care needs created by school and childcare center closures. In the vast majority of these countries, the duration of leave in these policies was too short to meet the care needs of the pandemic or relied on parents reserving extended parental leave options. Only 36 countries passed new legislation during the pandemic, but the majority of those that did covered the full duration of closures. As countries continue to face COVID-19 and consider how to better prepare for the next pandemic, emergency childcare paid leave policies should be part of pandemic preparedness frameworks to prevent further exacerbating inequalities. The policies introduced during the pandemic offer a wide range of approaches for countries to identify feasible solutions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated a notable shift in care responsibilities, transferring them from institutions to families, with a pronounced impact on migrant women in transnational families who navigate both local and transnational care arrangements. This study explored how the pandemic affected women's care arrangements and exacerbated existing inequalities at the intersection of labour, migration, and welfare regimes. Following a qualitative methodology based on grounded theory and ethnography, this study analysed interviews with migrant women, their family members, and experts to understand their experiences with caregiving and transnational family dynamics during the pandemic, the costs and coping strategies related to gendered aspects of care, and the changing landscape of migration and care policies during the pandemic. This study scrutinised the intricate web of local and transnational caregiving structures, emphasising women's agency in negotiating care needs amid pandemic restrictions and constraints on access to formal social protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social assistance as a general form of social protection must be differentiated from social assistance as a specific power exercised by Spain’s autonomous regions through the Social Security System. In addition, the exercise of regional powers in the area of social assistance is affected by other State powers, such as those recognised in Art. 149.1.1 of the Spanish Constitution (CE in Spanish) on the basic conditions that guarantee equal exercise of constitutional rights and in Art. 149.1.13 CE on the bases and coordination of general economic planning; or the State power regarding public expenditure. The latter, although not strictly a specific power, enables the State to use its funds for any purpose. Likewise, certain constitutional precepts, such as that contained in Art. 139.1 CE, can have an impact on the exercise of the autonomous communities’ powers in the area of social assistance, which could imply a substantive limitation on their exercise.

Abstract Background Lesotho’s government has shown consistent efforts to implement social protection programmes. However, while recent evidence established a positive causal relationship between some of these programmes and food security there is little evidence on the extent to which these initiatives are associated with better educational and sexual and reproductive health outcomes among vulnerable adolescents in Lesotho. Methods and Findings The study uses cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the 2018 Lesotho Violence Against Children and Youth Survey. Our research examined the association between social protection receipt and educational and sexual and reproductive health outcomes among adolescents and young people (13–24 years) living in poverty. We employed multivariate logistic regression controlling for age, orphanhood, HIV status and sex. Social protection receipt was defined as household receipt of financial support from a governmental, non-governmental, or community-based program that provides income. Additionally, we fitted a marginal effects model by sex. Among the 3,506 adolescent females and males living in the two lowest poverty quintiles, receipt of social protection was associated with improvements in multiple adolescent outcomes: higher odds of consistent condom use (aOR 1.64, 95% CI 1.17–2.29), educational attainment (aOR 1.79, 95% CI 1.36–2.36), and school enrolment (aOR 2.19, 95% CI 1.44–3.34). Stratified analyses by sex showed that social protection receipt was also associated with reduced likelihood of child marriage among females (aOR 0.59, 95% CI 0.42–0.83) and higher odds of educational attainment and school enrolment among males (aOR 2.53, 95% CI 1.59–4.03 and aOR 3.11, 95% CI 1.56–6.19, respectively). Conclusions Our study provides evidence that social protection programs are associated with improved educational, sexual and reproductive health and child marriage prevention outcomes among adolescents living in poverty. Implementing and expanding such social protection initiatives could prove instrumental in improving the well-being of vulnerable adolescents. Contributions Social protection programs have been increasing in sub-Saharan African countries, playing a pivotal role in poverty reduction, with Lesotho being no exception. Despite the optimistic outlook brought about by the implementation of the National Social Protection Strategy Lesotho I (2014-19) and II (2021–2031), the impact of these programs on some specific outcomes that concern the lives of the most vulnerable adolescents in Lesotho remains to some extent unexplored. Additionally, Lesotho grapples with high rates of HIV, adolescent pregnancy, child marriage and early school dropout, which can further contribute to poor long-term health and social outcomes among adolescents. In this study, we used data from the 2018 Lesotho Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) to examine the association between receiving social protection and multiple adolescent outcomes: educational, sexual and reproductive. The findings revealed that social protection programs, particularly the existing government-provided cash transfers, are significantly associated with multiple better outcomes among adolescents living in the poorest households in Lesotho. Such cash transfer schemes in Lesotho are associated with improved sexual and reproductive health outcomes for adolescent females, including reduced child marriage rates, and improved educational outcomes for males. These findings indicate that government-led social protection programmes are positively associated with favourable outcomes that can improve the quality of life for adolescents in resource-limited settings.

Abstract Background Countries in the Global South are currently facing momentous economic and social challenges, including major debt service problems. As in previous periods of global financial instability, a growing number of countries have turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance. The organization has a long track-record of advocating for extensive fiscal consolidation—commonly known as ‘austerity’—for its borrowers. However, in recent years, the IMF has announced major initiatives for ensuring that its loans support social spending, thus aiding countries in meeting their development targets and the Sustainable Development Goals. To assess this track record, we collected spending data on 21 loans signed in the 2020–2022 period, including from all their periodic reviews up to August 2023. Results We find that austerity measures remain a core part of the organization’s mandated policies for its borrowers: 15 of the 21 countries studied here experience a decrease in fiscal space over the course of their IMF programs. Against this fiscal backdrop, social spending floors have failed to live up to their promise. There is no streamlined definition of these floors, thus rendering their application haphazard and inconsistent. But even on their own terms, these floors lack ambition: they often do not foresee trajectories of meaningful social spending increases over time, and, when they do, many of these gains are eaten up by soaring inflation. In addition, a third of social spending floors are not implemented—a much lower implementation rate from that for austerity conditions, which the IMF prioritizes. In several instances, where floors are implemented, they are not meaningfully exceeded, thus—in practice—acting as social spending ceilings. Conclusions The IMF’s lending programs are still heavily focused on austerity, and its strategy on social spending has not represented the sea-change that the organization advertised. At best, social spending floors act as damage control for the painful budget cuts: they are instruments of social amelioration, underpinned by principles of targeted assistance for highly disadvantaged groups. Alternative approaches rooted in principles of universalism can be employed to build up durable and resilient social protection systems.

Widespread livelihood shocks and vulnerability in rural areas highlight the critical need to extend the provision of social protection interventions, as targeted to reduce vulnerabilities and poverty. Evaluating the real effects of social protection instruments on rural communities is an important concern for governments and policymakers. Hence, the objectives of this review were to examine the effects and challenges of social protection in rural Ethiopia. The review was conducted by synthesizing peer-reviewed journals, books, working papers, and organization reports, which were obtained through internet searches from Google Scholar, AgEcon, Science Direct, Taylor, and Francis. Interestingly, among the documents retrieved, 45 were included using eligibility criteria. Finally, the data were presented and narrated in texts. The review outcome indicated that Idir, Zakat in Afar, community-based health insurance and productive safety net program were important to reducing risk vulnerability, poverty, and food insecurity in the rural community. Moreover, a productive safety net program has both positive and negative effects on beneficiaries’ social, economic, and environmental development. In a nutshell, social protection services play a vital role in addressing poverty, hazardous events, and vulnerabilities that affect livelihood. Therefore, concerned bodies should be focused on targeting rural communities to achieve food security and health services through social protection.

Abstract Background Mexico and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) present a growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with gender-differentiated risk factors and access to prevention, diagnosis and care. However, the political agenda in LMICs as it relates to health and gender is primarily focused on sexual and reproductive health rights and preventing violence against women. This research article analyses public policies related to gender and NCDs, identifying political challenges in the current response to women’s health needs, and opportunities to promote interventions that recognize the role of gender in NCDs and NCD care in Mexico. Methods We carried out a political mapping and stakeholder analysis during July–October of 2022, based on structured desk research and interviews with eighteen key stakeholders related to healthcare, gender and NCDs in Mexico. We used the PolicyMaker V5 software to identify obstacles and opportunities to promote interventions that recognize the role of gender in NCDs and NCD care, from the perspective of the political stakeholders interviewed. Results We found as a political obstacle that policies and stakeholders addressing NCDs do not take a gender perspective, while policies and stakeholders addressing gender equality do not adequately consider NCDs. The gendered social and economic aspects of the NCD burden are not widely understood, and the multi-sectoral approach needed to address these aspects is lacking. Economic obstacles show that budget cuts exacerbated by the pandemic are a significant obstacle to social protection mechanisms to support those caring for people living with NCDs. Conclusions Moving towards an effective, equity-promoting health and social protection system requires the government to adopt an intersectoral, gender-based approach to the prevention and control of NCDs and the burden of NCD care. Despite significant resource constraints, policy innovation may be possible given the willingness among some stakeholders to collaborate, particularly in the labour and legal sectors. However, care will be needed to ensure the implementation of new policies has a positive impact on both gender equity and health outcomes. Research on successful approaches in other contexts can help to identify relevant learnings for Mexico.

Abstract\nPoints of InterestThis article explores the experiences of working mothers raising children with disabilities. The study was conducted in the United Arab Emirates, which has a raft of policies empowering and facilitating the development of children with disabilities and their families. Drawing on the social model of disability, this article presents findings from qualitative data collected from both national and expatriate working mothers. It aims to provide insights into their work–caregiving balance and the development of their children with disabilities. Furthermore, this article identifies common reactions, coping strategies and expressed needs among both national and expatriate mothers. However, it highlights significant differences between the two groups in terms of access to rehabilitation and support services for children with disabilities. This research contributes to existing literature on caregiving experiences and offers recommendations for tailoring support services to meet the needs of working mothers raising children with disabilities in the United Arab Emirates.This article explores the caregiving experiences of 24 nationals and expatriates raising children with disabilities in the United Arab Emirates.The United Arab Emirates government is encouraging greater participation in the workforce, particularly among women, which could have implications for those raising children with disabilities.The findings reveal shared challenges/reactions to children’s diagnoses; however, differences were noted in the accessibility of rehabilitation and support services for children of nationals and expatriates.The insufficient or lack of available services sheds light on the experiences of mothers raising children with disabilities.The study concludes with a recommendation for employers to make provisions specifically for expatriate mothers raising children with disabilities in the United Arab Emirates.This article explores the caregiving experiences of 24 nationals and expatriates raising children with disabilities in the United Arab Emirates.The United Arab Emirates government is encouraging greater participation in the workforce, particularly among women, which could have implications for those raising children with disabilities.The findings reveal shared challenges/reactions to children’s diagnoses; however, differences were noted in the accessibility of rehabilitation and support services for children of nationals and expatriates.The insufficient or lack of available services sheds light on the experiences of mothers raising children with disabilities.The study concludes with a recommendation for employers to make provisions specifically for expatriate mothers raising children with disabilities in the United Arab Emirates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, about 1 billion people have disabilities. Cash transfers (CTs) are social protection programs often explicitly including people with disabilities. There is little research differentiating CT impacts by disability status. We used a triple difference estimation strategy with three‐way interaction terms to estimate disability‐differential impacts of CTs in Malawi and Zambia on material needs, physical health, and nutritional status among children. Results show CTs reduced the prevalence of illness more among children in households of members experiencing the greatest functional difficulties compared to those in households without disability. The CTs similarly improved access to material needs for all children. This research suggests CTs in Malawi and Zambia affected children in households with disabilities more in terms of health outcomes, despite experiencing similar impacts on material inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lesotho's government has shown consistent efforts to implement social protection programmes. However, while recent evidence established a positive causal relationship between some of these programmes and food security there is little evidence on the extent to which these initiatives are associated with better educational and sexual and reproductive health outcomes among vulnerable adolescents in Lesotho. Methods and Findings: The study uses cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the 2018 Lesotho Violence Against Children and Youth Survey. Our research examined the association between social protection receipt and educational and sexual and reproductive health outcomes among adolescents and young people (13–24 years) living in poverty. We employed multivariate logistic regression controlling for age, orphanhood, HIV status and sex. Social protection receipt was defined as household receipt of financial support from a governmental, non-governmental, or community-based program that provides income. Additionally, we fitted a marginal effects model by sex. Among the 3,506 adolescent females and males living in the two lowest poverty quintiles, receipt of social protection was associated with improvements in multiple adolescent outcomes: higher odds of consistent condom use (aOR 1.64, 95% CI 1.17–2.29), educational attainment (aOR 1.79, 95% CI 1.36–2.36), and school enrolment (aOR 2.19, 95% CI 1.44–3.34). Stratified analyses by sex showed that social protection receipt was also associated with reduced likelihood of child marriage among females (aOR 0.59, 95% CI 0.42–0.83) and higher odds of educational attainment and school enrolment among males (aOR 2.53, 95% CI 1.59–4.03 and aOR 3.11, 95% CI 1.56–6.19, respectively). Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that social protection programs are associated with improved educational, sexual and reproductive health and child marriage prevention outcomes among adolescents living in poverty. Implementing and expanding such social protection initiatives could prove instrumental in improving the well-being of vulnerable adolescents. Contributions: Social protection programs have been increasing in sub-Saharan African countries, playing a pivotal role in poverty reduction, with Lesotho being no exception. Despite the optimistic outlook brought about by the implementation of the National Social Protection Strategy Lesotho I (2014-19) and II (2021–2031), the impact of these programs on some specific outcomes that concern the lives of the most vulnerable adolescents in Lesotho remains to some extent unexplored. Additionally, Lesotho grapples with high rates of HIV, adolescent pregnancy, child marriage and early school dropout, which can further contribute to poor long-term health and social outcomes among adolescents. In this study, we used data from the 2018 Lesotho Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) to examine the association between receiving social protection and multiple adolescent outcomes: educational, sexual and reproductive. The findings revealed that social protection programs, particularly the existing government-provided cash transfers, are significantly associated with multiple better outcomes among adolescents living in the poorest households in Lesotho. Such cash transfer schemes in Lesotho are associated with improved sexual and reproductive health outcomes for adolescent females, including reduced child marriage rates, and improved educational outcomes for males. These findings indicate that government-led social protection programmes are positively associated with favourable outcomes that can improve the quality of life for adolescents in resource-limited settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty in early life can have lasting effects on health and human capital; social protection can counter these effects to promote the development of capabilities across the life course. This paper examines how social protection can promote adolescent well-being and facilitate safe and productive transitions to adulthood in lower and middle-income countries. Focusing on governmental non-contributory programmes the paper investigates (i) whether and how current non-contributory social protection programmes are adolescent-sensitive and (ii) what the impact of non-contributory social protection programmes on adolescents is. To examine these questions, we conducted an extensive review of the literature on existing non-contributory social protection programmes and related impact evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The medical certificate issued by the Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées (MDPH) provides the information needed by the MDPH's multidisciplinary team to assess the child's compensation needs. This assessment, combined with consideration of the child's life project and environmental factors, will be decisive in the choice of measures to be implemented. It is therefore important that GPs are able to complete this certificate in a relevant manner. This seventh sheet highlights the essential elements to be included on the certificate, and lists the main functional impairments and activity limitations in the case of a child with a visual impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social assistance as a general form of social protection must be differentiated from social assistance as a specific power exercised by Spain’s autonomous regions through the Social Security System. In addition, the exercise of regional powers in the area of social assistance is affected by other State powers, such as those recognised in Art. 149.1.1 of the Spanish Constitution (CE in Spanish) on the basic conditions that guarantee equal exercise of constitutional rights and in Art. 149.1.13 CE on the bases and coordination of general economic planning; or the State power regarding public expenditure. The latter, although not strictly a specific power, enables the State to use its funds for any purpose. Likewise, certain constitutional precepts, such as that contained in Art. 139.1 CE, can have an impact on the exercise of the autonomous communities’ powers in the area of social assistance, which could imply a substantive limitation on their exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to social protection in old age is crucial and yet contingent upon negotiations between the social structures of the welfare states and the personal networks within which individuals are embedded. International migration, changing family dynamics, and the transformation of care and other welfare policies in the global North make it challenging for older migrants to negotiate social protection. Drawing on 45 semi-structured interviews with first-generation older Turkish migrants in London and 13 semi-structured interviews with professional service providers for the community, the paper aims to investigate the assemblages of formal and informal social protection in the lives of older migrants. Findings indicate the complexity in accessing informal social protection and the navigation of formal care support in the UK for first generation older Turkish migrants and the contingency of access to formal care services on informal support networks for participants. It has been demonstrated that built infrastructure and policies aimed at older adults have great influence on assemblages of care, highlighting the need for more age-friendly and integrated policies to facilitate access to social protection for diverse groups of older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]