Do Social Benefits Respond to Crises? Evidence from Europe and Central Asia during the Global Crisis

Social benefits can potentially play an important role in protecting the poor and minimizing the impacts of an economic crisis. While many studies estimate the impacts of a crisis, there is little evidence of the actual response of social safety ne...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Isik-Dikmelik, Aylin
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:	ADVERSE IMPACT ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY ALLOWANCE PROGRAM ANTIPOVERTY PROGRAMS ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS AUTOMATIC STABILIZER BENCHMARK BENEFICIARIES BENEFICIARY BENEFIT SCHEMES BENEFIT SYSTEMS CAPACITY BUILDING CASH ASSISTANCE CASH TRANSFERS CHILD ALLOWANCES CHILD HEALTH CONSUMER PRICE INDEX CONTRIBUTORY PENSIONS COPING STRATEGIES DEPENDENCY DEVELOPMENT POLICY DISABILITIES DISABILITY DISABILITY ALLOWANCE DISABILITY ALLOWANCES DISABILITY BENEFITS DISABILITY PENSION EARLY RETIREMENT ECONOMIC COOPERATION ECONOMIC CRISES ECONOMIC CRISIS ECONOMIC DOWNTURN ECONOMIC DOWNTURNS ECONOMIC OUTLOOK ECONOMIC SHOCKS ELDERLY ELIGIBILITY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA ENTITLEMENT ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS EU FAMILY ALLOWANCE FAMILY ALLOWANCES FAMILY BENEFIT FAMILY BENEFITS FINANCIAL CRISIS FISCAL CONSTRAINTS FISCAL DEFICITS FISCAL POLICY FOOD STAMPS GDP HOUSEHOLD INCOMES HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INCOME INCOME SUPPORT INDEXATION INEQUALITY INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY INVENTORY JOBLESS LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LABOR STATISTICS LIVING STANDARDS MARGINALIZATION MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES MINIMUM INCOME NATURAL DISASTERS NEEDY FAMILIES NUTRITION ASSISTANCE OLD AGE PARTTIME EMPLOYMENT PENSION POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL SUPPORT POOR POSITIVE EFFECTS POVERTY LINE PRICE INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY PROTECTION POLICY PUBLIC SERVICE PUBLIC SPENDING PUBLIC WORKS PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMS PURCHASING POWER RESPONSE TO CRISES RETIREMENT BENEFITS RISK MANAGEMENT SAFETY SAFETY NET PROGRAMS SAFETY NET SYSTEMS SAVINGS SHOCK SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS SOCIAL BENEFITS SOCIAL PENSION SOCIAL PENSIONS SOCIAL POLICIES SOCIAL POLICY SOCIAL PROGRAMS SOCIAL PROTECTION SOCIAL RISK SOCIAL SAFETY NET SOCIAL SAFETY NETS SOCIAL SERVICES STAFF STRUCTURAL REFORMS SUPPORT PROGRAM SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TARGETING TARGETING MECHANISMS TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE UNEMPLOYED UNEMPLOYED WORKERS UNEMPLOYMENT UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE UNEMPLOYMENT RATES UNIVERSAL BENEFITS VULNERABLE GROUPS WAGES WAR WELFARE SYSTEMS WILL WORKERS WORKFARE WORKS PROGRAM crisis readiness crisis response
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/11/16964849/social-benefits-respond-crises-evidence-europe-central-asia-during-global-crisis http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13565

Description
Summary:	Social benefits can potentially play an important role in protecting the poor and minimizing the impacts of an economic crisis. While many studies estimate the impacts of a crisis, there is little evidence of the actual response of social safety nets to systematic shocks. This study traces the response of social benefits during the 2008-10 global crisis for 14 countries in Europe and Central Asia (ECA). The study first sets out a framework for defining the 'expected' response of social benefits covering an assessment of pre-crisis preparedness of social benefits and the severity of the crisis for all countries in the ECA region to provide the context; and then develops a typology of all countries categorized by expected response. Using this typology the study analyzes the monthly administrative data on the observed patterns within social benefit programs. Main findings indicate that actual responses were largely in line with expectations. Pre-crisis preparedness clearly influenced the ability of social benefits to respond to the crisis. Unemployment benefits were generally the first line of response in countries that have them, while social assistance programs also expanded coverage during the crisis. Lessons learned from the 2008?2010 global crisis (such as the importance of structural reform, design, and implementation which affect the success of social benefits programs in crisis response) are also presented. The study concludes with some policy recommendations to help ECA countries prepare for future crises.

Do Social Benefits Respond to Crises? Evidence from Europe and Central Asia during the Global Crisis

Similar Items