The World Bank’s report, State of the Social Nets 2018, has revealed that an estimated 36 per cent of the very poor, or 50 million people, escaped extreme poverty across the globe.
The report provided clear evidence that social safety net programmes were making a substantial impact in the global fight against poverty.
According to it, the impact of social safety nets on poverty is measured, based on available household data, by comparing the welfare of the safety nets’ beneficiaries with what it would have been, had they not received such support.
It stated, “Data from the report shows that safety nets, which include cash, in-kind transfers, social pensions, public works, and school feeding programmes, targeted at the poor and vulnerable households, also lower inequality, and reduce the poverty gap by about 45 per cent, even if they do not emerge from poverty. These positive effects of safety net transfers hold true for low and middle-income countries
alike.”
Despite the increased adoption of safety net programmes by countries in recent years, global coverage of poor and vulnerable people remains inadequate.
About 2.5 billion people, worldwide, are covered by a social safety net, of which 650 million are in the poorest 20 per cent.
However, only one out of five persons living in a low-income country is covered by a social safety net. Furthermore, countries at high risk of natural disasters often have lower safety net
coverage.
