Poverty Relief Programs in Postcommunist Countries: A Case Study on the Albanian and Chinese Programs

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110278
Author(s):  
Gentian Qejvanaj
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Means Testing ◽  
Poverty Relief ◽  
Private Expenditure ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Working Age Population ◽  
The Cost

Social assistance is a cash transfer program targeting the poorest households. China has created the Dibao (DB), meaning minimum livelihood guarantee, the most extensive unconditional cash transfer program globally with over 70 million people covered, whereas in Albania, the Ndhime Ekonomike (NE) meaning financial help covers around 15% of the total working-age population. Both programs are means-tested, have strict requirements for eligibility, and have been enlarged and modified in time to improve targeting and tackling leakage. In this article, we will look at similarities and common issues first, and then calculate the cost of enlarging both programs to all working-age population with no means-testing. We argue that a UBI (universal basic income) can increase private expenditure in health and education while costing less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in both countries’ rural areas. We will conclude by looking at how the COVID-19 outbreak is pushing developing countries toward a UBI by first adopting a temporary basic income (TBI).

scholarly journals Is There Empirical Evidence on How the Implementation of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) Affects Labour Supply? A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9459
Author(s):  
Manuela A. de Paz-Báñez ◽  
María José Asensio-Coto ◽  
Celia Sánchez-López ◽  
María-Teresa Aceytuno
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Labour Supply ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Working Age Population ◽  
Detailed Search ◽  
Maximum Reliability

The objective of this article is to determine, as conclusively as possible, if the implementation of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) would lead to a significant reduction in the working age population labour supply. If this were true, implementation of a UBI may not be sustainable. To do this, we will compile empirical evidence from studies over the last few decades on the effects of implementation of a UBI on employment. We apply the PRISMA methodology to better judge their validity, which ensures maximum reliability of the results by avoiding biases and making the work reproducible. Given that the methodologies used in these studies are diverse, they are reviewed to contextualize the results taking into account the possible limitations detected in these methodologies. While many authors have been writing about this issue citing experiences or experiments, the added value of this article is that it performs a systematic review following a widely tested scientific methodology. Over 1200 documents that discuss the UBI/employment relationship have been reviewed. We found a total of 50 empirical cases, of which 18 were selected, and 38 studies with contrasted empirical evidence on this relationship. The results speak for themselves: Despite a detailed search, we have not found any evidence of a significant reduction in labour supply. Instead, we found evidence that labour supply increases globally among adults, men and women, young and old, and the existence of some insignificant and functional reductions to the system such as a decrease in workers from the following categories: Children, the elderly, the sick, those with disabilities, women with young children to look after, or young people who continued studying. These reductions do not reduce the overall supply since it is largely offset by increased supply from other members of the community.

scholarly journals Maximizing the impact of the Canada Child Benefit: Implications for clinicians and researchers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian Pentland ◽  
Eyal Cohen ◽  
Astrid Guttmann ◽  
Claire de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Child Poverty ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Application Process ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
Transfer Programs ◽  
Previous Child ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Child Benefit

Abstract Child poverty remains a persistent problem in Canada and is well known to lead to poor health outcomes. The Canada Child Benefit (CCB) is a cash transfer program in effect since 2016, which increased both the benefit amount and number of families eligible for the previous child benefit. While the CCB has decreased child poverty rates, not all eligible families have participated. Clinicians can play an important role in screening for uptake of the program and helping families navigate the application process through several free resources. While prior research on past programs has shown benefit of similar cash transfer programs to both child and parental outcomes (both health and social), the CCB has not yet been extensively studied. Research would be valuable in both assessing the cost effectiveness of the program, especially across different income groups, and improving implementation in hard-to-reach populations.

scholarly journals Efficiency, Legitimacy, and Impacts of Targeting Methods: Evidence from an Experiment in Niger

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Premand ◽  
Pascale Schnitzer
Keyword(s):  
Program Effectiveness ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Means Testing ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Roll Out

Abstract The methods to select safety net beneficiaries are the subject of frequent debates. Targeting assessments usually focus on efficiency by documenting the pre-program profile of selected beneficiaries. This study provides a more comprehensive analysis of targeting performance through an experiment embedded in a national cash transfer program in Niger. Eligible villages were randomly assigned to have beneficiary households selected by community-based targeting (CBT), proxy-means testing (PMT), or a formula to identify the food-insecure (FCS). The study considers targeting legitimacy and the impact of targeting choice on program effectiveness based on data collected after program roll-out. PMT is more efficient in identifying households with lower consumption per capita. Nonbeneficiaries find formula-based methods (PMT and FCS) more legitimate than CBT. Manipulation and information imperfections affect CBT, which can explain why it is not the most legitimate. Program impacts on some welfare dimensions are larger among households selected by PMT than CBT.

Targeting within universalism

2020 ◽  
pp. 095892872091897
Author(s):  
Olivier Jacques ◽  
Alain Noël
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Pension System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Means Testing ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Working Age Population ◽  
The Welfare State

The idea of targeting within universalism has been evoked frequently, usually as a best of both worlds’ strategy. The approach remains difficult to identify, however, because targeting is usually measured as the opposite of universalism. This article proposes to consider targeting and universalism as two distinct dimensions of the welfare state, the opposite of universalism being more usefully understood as residualism, and not as pro-poor targeting. Four welfare state possibilities then emerge, combining a position on the universalism/residualism axis and one on the pro-poor/pro-rich axis: universalism (France, for instance), targeting within universalism (Denmark), targeting within residualism (the United States) and pro-rich residualism (Japan). We show that targeting within universalism entails pro-poor targeting without means testing, a combination that can be achieved with limits on the earnings-relatedness of the pension system and generous transfers to the working age population. Thus understood, targeting within universalism proves to be an effective redistributive strategy, better to redistribute than mere targeting, and less costly than universalism pure and simple.

Chronic poverty: What affects its level and severity?

2020 ◽  
pp. 24-40
Author(s):  
T. M. Maleva ◽  
E. E. Grishina ◽  
A. Y. Burdyak
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Chronic Poverty ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer Program ◽  
Main Factors

The study focuses on the chronic or long-term poverty of the Russian population in the 2010s. To estimate the chronic poverty, Eurostat modified definition is applied. The level and factors of chronic poverty are estimated at the balanced panel data of the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey subject to sample attrition effect. The main factors of falling into a long-term poverty trap are the presence of children, unemployment, living in rural areas, and frequent alcohol consumption. The risk of chronic poverty is lower if family members have tried to start their own business. The presence of retirement age persons in the family and children growing up reduce the risk of poverty. Extreme poverty, with all other things being equal, makes it harder for families to escape from chronic poverty. The main factors of chronic poverty severity are similar to those of chronic poverty. Some differences in the effects on chronic and transitory components of poverty severity are identified. It is noted that the increase in the coverage of the chronic poor with multiple deprivations by the conditional cash transfer program with the extended period of support and the increased assistance granted to these persons could contribute to the chronic poverty reduction.

CERTAIN TRENDS IN DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS IN THE XXI CENTURY

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 8-8
Author(s):  
A.Yu. Senchenko ◽  
◽  
V.F. Kapitonov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Birth Rate ◽  
The State ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
Demographic Development ◽  
Krasnoyarsk Region ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Working Age Population

Implementation of the "Concept of demographic policy of the Russian Federation for the period until 2025" and Priority national projects in health and demography helped to reduce mortality and increase birth rate. However, these processes in rural areas had their own characteristics due to the long-term systemic crisis. Purpose: to assess the state and trends in demographic development of the rural district of the Krasnoyarsk region. Material and methods. The paper uses data of the State statistics for the period 2010-2018. The main demographic indicators of the Nizhneingashsky district of the Krasnoyarsk region were studied: population size, population structure by age and gender, birth and death rates. Results. The district population has a long-term sustainable tendency towards decreasing (15.9% during the study period). It is mainly due to the migration outflow of the working – age population, the size of which decreased by 24.6 %. The district mortality rate is high (16.7‰), however, during the study period it has dropped by 30.3 %. There is an ongoing tendency towards reduction in the share of people of working ages (up to 55.9%) in the population structure, primarily due to moving to other territories, and increase in the share of the elderly and senile (up to 23.9%), which makes it possible to classify this area as the one with a very high level of demographic old age population. Analysis of indicators of the special birth rate F allows us to characterize it as low (˂ 64‰). The growth rate of this indicator added up to 20.9 % in 2013 compared to 2010, while it decreased by 45.9% from 2013 to 2018. From 2010 to 2017, the total birth rate in the Nizhneingashsky district decreased by -1.02‰ (∆b), or 7.5 %. Conclusion. The ongoing decline in the share of fertile females is the main demographic factor that has spurred the decline in the birth rate since 2013. Opening new jobs in the district will stimulate the influx of people from other territories as well as reduce the migration outflow of the working-age population, rather increasing the population then just preserving its size. Increase in the share of the working-age population of reproductive age will contribute to the increased birth rate, because it is traditionally higher in rural areas. Improving demographic situation in the district requires development of socio-economic measures aimed at stimulating the birth of the third and subsequent children.

scholarly journals Epidemiological analysis of the malignant tumors of the larynx in Belarus over 2000–2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 83-92
Author(s):  
I. D. Shlyaga ◽  
Zh. V. Kaliadzich ◽  
S. A. Ivanov ◽  
A. A. Yaumenenka
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Rural Population ◽  
Malignant Tumors ◽  
Morbidity Rate ◽  
Slow Increase ◽  
Maximal Increase ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Working Age Population ◽  
The Republic

Objective. To analyze basic medico-statistical indices of the morbidity rates of the malignant tumors of the larynx in the Republic of Belarus.Materials and methods. Data of the Belarusian Cancer Register on all detected cases of the malignant tumors of the larynx in the Republic of Belarus over 2000-2019 served as the material of the study. The following rates were studied: age standardized morbidity, gross intensive morbidity, morbidity separately in the general population and working age population, in urban and rural population, males and females. All epidemiological indices for the periods 2000-2005 and 2015-2019 in the country and across the regions of the Republic of Belarus were compared.Results. The age standardized morbidity rate in Belarus increased from 4.2 cases/year per 100,000 population in 2000 to 5.8 in 2019. The gross intensive morbidity rate increased from 5.5 to 7.3, respectively. An increase in the morbidity rate from 4.0 in 2000 to 4.3 in 2019 was noted in the working age population. The gross intensive morbidity rates in males were on average 33.9 times higher than in females, and in the urban population – 1.7 times lower than those in the rural population. The maximal increase in the morbidity rate was registered in the working age population of rural areas – by 60.3% during the monitored period. A statistically significant increase in the morbidity rate was noted in the city of Minsk. The morbidity rates registered in Minsk were statistically significantly lower than those in the republic. In other regions, there was no significant difference in the morbidity rates and growth dynamics from the indices in Belarus as a whole.Conclusion. Malignant tumors of the larynx are characterized by a slow increase of the morbidity rate for the last 20 years in Belarus. The observed epidemiological trends deter

scholarly journals Impacto del programa Asignación Universal por Hijo en los resultados educativos y las tareas de los estudiantes en Argentina

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Monserrat Serio ◽  
Martina Herrera
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Average Treatment Effect ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
The Impact ◽  
School Tasks

This paper explores the effect of the principal conditional cash transfer program known as Asignación Universal por Hijo (AUH) of Argentina on educational outcomes such as attendance, performance in reading and mathematics, and grade repetition. Also, we analyze the impact on non-school tasks that students performed which can replace the time dedicated to studying and permanence in the school. We use the Aprender 2016 assessment database focusing on data of students from primary and high school. We use non-experimental data exploiting the question about if the student’s family is a beneficiary of the AUH. We perform a Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) and estimate the average treatment effect on the treated of the program. The results show that the AUH had a positive impact on attendance augmenting the probability of not being absent from class fewer than eight and seventeen days in 1.3 p.p and 1 p.p., respectively. However, positive effects on educational performance and conducting of non-school tasks are not found. We also found heterogeneous effects, for male students the program increases the probability of missing fewer classes at all levels between 0.4 p.p. and 1.5 p.p. and students from rural areas and public schools have reassigned non-school tasks.

SOCIAL SERVICES AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR THE CONSERVATION OF HUMAN CAPITAL OF RURAL TERRITORIES

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. 106-111
Author(s):  
E. S. OGORODNIKOVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Drug Addiction ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Labor Process ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Working Age Population

The relevance of the study is due to the existence of the problem of excluding a significant proportion of the working-age population from the labor process for reasons of disability, the presence of chronic diseases, alcohol and drug addiction, and care for disabled family members. Losses of human capital for this reason exceed the indicators of migration of the working-age population to cities. The purpose of the article is to obtain a holistic view of the role of social services in preserving the human capital of rural areas. The analysis showed that the Standards and procedures for the provision of medical care and social services do not take into account the specifics of rural areas.

scholarly journals Inclusive Financial Development and Multidimensional Poverty Reduction: An Empirical Assessment from Rural China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanlin Yang ◽  
Chenyu Fu
Keyword(s):  
Financial Development ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Multidimensional Poverty ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Financial Exclusion ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Working Age Population

Inclusive finance is often considered to be a critical element that makes growth inclusive, as access to finance can enable the poor to lift themselves from income poverty. However, can it play such a role when the poor are in multidimensional poverty? Why does financial exclusion and poverty still exist in countries with vigorous development of inclusive finance? We build an evolutionary game model to analyze the equilibrium strategies of inclusive financial institutions and the poor in poverty reduction activities to find the answers. As there is a high incidence of poverty and serious financial exclusion in rural areas of China, we test the poverty reduction effectiveness of inclusive financial development on the poor with different labor capacity in rural China from 2010 to 2016 based on survey data of China Family Panel Studies and relevant statistics collected from 21 provinces. Our study finds there are differences in poverty alleviation effects of inclusive financial development among the poor with different labor capacities; if financial institutions target the service precisely to the working-age population in rural areas, they will achieve the dual goals of maintaining institutional sustainable development and alleviating poverty; And the development of inclusive finance in aspects of permeability, usability, and utility can significantly reduce multidimensional poverty. Therefore, to further improve the multidimensional poverty reduction performance and stimulate the endogenous motivation of the poor, it is necessary to strengthen the support for financial resources served to the working-age population, and to improve the development of rural inclusive finance in aspects of quality and affordability.

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