Social Security and the Growth of the Precariat
Guy Standing makes a lot of sense in a recent article he wrote for The Guardian. He argues that successive British governments have created a precariat, a growing sector of the population with minimal job security and inadequate access to social benefits. A growing commitment by government to means-test social security benefits...
The Graduation Pilot in Ethiopia – The sought after dream of ‘sustainable livelihoods’
With a small number of 500 participants, REST tested the approach in Ethiopia as an effort to find pathways – not just out of extreme poverty – but out of what the state considers indefinite dependency on the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), one of the largest national safety nets in...
From Oliver Twist to Ethiopia’s PSNP: How did workfare become so productive?
“Productive” safety nets seem to be all the rage, with Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net (PSNP) spawning a crop of “wannabes” – such as the PSNPs of Mozambique and Tanzania – and significant enthusiasm among donor agencies. In fact, so popular are “productive” safety nets that low-income countries have been persuaded...
Social Protection and Disability in South Africa
This working paper launches a new series of publications that identify good practice in enabling the inclusion of persons with disabilities in social protection systems and programmes. It finds that...
Leaving No-one Behind: Building Inclusive Social Protection Systems for Persons with Disabilities
This report examines how to make social protection systems and schemes more inclusive of persons with disabilities. Social protection can play a key role in empowering persons with disabilities by...
How can the first Global Disability Summit be a catalyst for change?
On 24th of July 2018, the UK government will co-host the first ever Global Disability Summit (GDS18) with the International Disability Alliance and the Government of Kenya. The Summit and preceding Civil Society Forum will form a major gathering of 700 activists, governments and companies from across the world. Delegates...
Questioning women’s role as the sole recipients of benefits: contrasting evidence on gender-sensitive social protection programming
Juan Gonzalo Jaramillo Mejia In the midst of speaking to families benefitting from various social assistance schemes in rural Mexico, an on-line conversation has made me question again the assumption that it is best to target women as the main recipient of benefits. On International Women’s Day, can we further delve into that discussion, interrogate the prevailing narratives on gender and...