The Imperatives for Social Protection
Nigeria must establish a social assistance/security system that caters to vulnerable members of society such as the extremely poor and the disabled. This fund must be targeted at persons who have not and/or cannot make any contribution to pension.
Bangladesh approves, in principle, its National Social Security Strategy
In early April 2015, the Cabinet of the Government of Bangladesh approved in principle its new National Social Security Strategy (NSSS), subject to some changes. Since independence, Bangladesh has instituted a range of social security schemes although the level of investment in conventional cash-based schemes has remained relatively low, at...
The Ages of Man: Shakespeare and social protection through the life-course
In our 15th Perspective, Nicholas Freeland uses Shakespeare’s depiction of the seven ages of man to explore the vulnerabilities at each stage of the life-course. He proposes that an inclusive...
Africa Must Improve Its Social Services
The African welfare state and how it distributes resources is an interesting point of analysis. While some people see an all-inclusive welfare state structure, others see a system that overwhelmingly favours an economic elite. I belong to this latter group, writes Tochukwu Akunyili. Most African countries lack a coherent welfare...
Economic Impacts of a Universal Pension in Bangladesh
Dr. Bazlul Khondker is an economist, specialising in econometric modelling and social security. In this perspective, he looks at the economic impacts of a universal pension in Bangladesh. Through his modelling, he demonstrates that investing in a universal pension has similar economic impacts to those of investing in infrastructure and capital goods. Further, the distribution of economic benefits of a universal pension appear to be pro-poor and pro-rural.
A new dawn for social protection: a proposal to transform all social security programmes into conditional cash transfers
At Development Pathways, we like to please everyone. Recently, we’ve become particularly concerned by the continuing desire of many people to sanction poor and vulnerable families through the use of punitive conditions, despite the absolute lack of evidence of any added value from their use. So we’ve been racking our...
Establishing Comprehensive National Old Age Pension Systems
KfW Development Bank commissioned Stephen Kidd through Development Pathways for this paper which describes and explains the policy options available to developing countries committed to offering universal pension coverage and...
Cash transfer design can strengthen or weaken social relationships, universities find
A university research project to identify the impact of cash transfers on social relationships has uncovered that cash transfers are viewed as invaluable for poverty reduction by recipients – but...
Inclusive lifecycle social security: An option for Uganda?
Inclusive lifecycle social security: an option for Uganda? considers the feasibility and likely effects of introducing a comprehensive social protection system in the low-income country. The report, available for download below, for...
Uganda’s Senior Citizens’ Grant: A success story from the heart of Africa
In this paper Development Pathways’ Stephen Kidd discusses the success of Uganda’s Senior Citizens’ Grant (SCG), with evidence from the evaluation of the programme. The SCG, a Government of Uganda...