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[Combating poverty and inequality] Towards universal social protection
Hujo, Katja Gaia, Elena McClanahan, Shea
Hujo, Katja
Gaia, Elena
McClanahan, Shea
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Hujo, Katja
Gaia, Elena
McClanahan, Shea
Gaia, Elena
McClanahan, Shea
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Abstract
"Protecting people from the vagaries of the market and life’s changing circumstances is one of the main objectives of social policy. As a key component of social policy, social protection is concerned with preventing, managing and overcoming situations that adversely affect people’s wellbeing. It helps individuals maintain their living standard when confronted by contingencies such as illness, maternity, disability or old age; market risks, such as unemployment; as well as economic crises or natural disasters. In the developed world, social protection has traditionally been concerned with temporary or foreseeable income shortfalls and transitory experiences of poverty in otherwise relatively stable life trajectories and acceptable living conditions. In developing countries, by contrast, social protection has recently emerged as a policy framework for addressing poverty and vulnerability. In contexts where chronic poverty and persistent deprivation affect large sectors of the population, social protection programmes are evolving to include elements of promotion as well as protection, with the aim of tackling not only sharp declines in income but also persistently low incomes and their structural causes. In this sense, social protection is a key component of development policy that can support people in moving out of poverty and living more dignifi ed and productive lives. This chapter argues that universal social protection – that which covers the entire population with adequate benefi ts and is grounded in claimable entitlements, whether derived from rights or payments by institutions and individuals – can contribute to human security, reduce poverty and inequality, and build social solidarity. Universal social protection in developing countries can help protect living standards in general and provide basic levels of consumption to those living in, or at risk of falling into, poverty. Furthermore, it facilitates investment in human and other productive assets that provide escape routes from persistent and intergenerational poverty and that strengthen the agency of the poor. Universal social protection can contribute to human security, reduce poverty and inequality, and build social solidarity"(pg 135)
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Book chapter
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2010
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9789290850762
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With permission of the license/copyright holder