Towards a typology of social protection for migrants and refugees in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 health crisis has put to the test Latin America’s already precarious social protection systems. This paper comparatively examines what type of social protection has been provided, by whom, and to what extent migrant and refugee populations have been included in these programmes in seven countries of the region during the COVID-19 pandemic, between March and December 2020. We develop a typology of models of social protection highlighting the assemblages of actors, different modes of protection and the emerging migrants’ subjectification in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay in relation to Non-Contributory Social Transfer (NCST) programmes and other actions undertaken by state and non-state actors. The analysis is based on 85 semi-structured interviews with representatives of national and local governments, International Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, and migrant-led organisations across 16 cities, and a systematic review of regulatory frameworks in the country-case studies. The proposed typology shows broad heterogeneity and complexity regarding different degrees of inclusion of migrant and refugee populations, particularly in pre-existing and new NCST programmes. These actions are furthering notions of migrant protection that are contingent and crisis-driven, imposing temporal limitations that often selectively exclude migrants based on legal status. It also brings to the fore the path-dependent nature of policies and practices of exclusion/inclusion in the region, which impact on migrants’ effective access to social and economic rights, while shaping the broader dynamics of migration governance in the region.

Social protection and informality in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic

Latin American governments swiftly implemented income assistance programs to sustain families’ livelihoods during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. This paper analyzes the potential coverage and generosity of these measures and assesses the suitability of current safety nets to deal with unexpected negative income shocks in 10 Latin American countries. The expansion of pre-existing programs (most notably conditional cash transfers and non-contributory pensions) during the COVID-19 crisis was generally insufficient to compensate for the inability to work among the poorest segments of the population. When COVID-19 ad hoc programs are analyzed, the coverage and replacement rates of regular labor income among households in the first quintile of the country’s labor income distribution increase substantially. Yet, these programs present substantial coverage challenges among families composed of fundamentally informal workers who are non-poor, but are at a high risk of poverty. These results highlight the limitations of the fragmented nature of social protection systems in the region.

Adaptive, but not by design: cash transfers in Latin America and the Caribbean before, during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic

The socioeconomic crisis associated with the pandemic put cash transfer programs back at the top of the policy agenda. It showed that the Latin American and Caribbean regions income support systems were both fundamental and insufficient. In this paper, we present novel estimates of the coverage and beneficiary distribution of all non-contributory cash transfers both before and during the COVID-19 crisis. The former is useful to show the degree of preparedness of the region. The latter analyzes the magnitude of the policy response. While the literature presents estimates of coverage and leakage of conditional cash transfers and non-contributory pensions, our results are novel because they are the first to analyze coverage and leakage implemented in response to the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, we are the first to expand the focus to all non-contributory cash transfer programs, including those that are quasi-universal and/or unconditional. This is the most appropriate focus when the goal is to assess the ability to provide protection to larger population groups (including the vulnerable) and against transitory poverty caused by systemic shocks (such as pandemic or extreme weather events, which may become more and more frequent due to climate change). Using data from the Inter-American Development Bank “Harmonized Household Surveys from Latin America and the Caribbean”, which now provide a more comprehensive coverage of Caribbean countries, we show that before the pandemic non-contributory cash transfers covered 26% of the population of 17 countries with available data. Average coverage of the extreme poor, moderate poor and vulnerable population was 56%, 43% and 28% respectively. During the crisis, LAC governments implemented 111 new cash transfer interventions, increasing coverage to 34% of the population in 12 countries with available data. Average coverage increased among the moderate poor (50%) and vulnerable population (37%), while it remained unvaried amongst the extreme poor. Moving forward, the countries of the region are called to reform their social protection systems to make them more flexible, efficient, and sustainable, and including strategies that provide protection against shocks. In this way, resilient and responsive social protection systems can contribute to the fight against climate change and support a just transition towards net-zero emission societies. These efforts must also include measures to close the historical coverage gap amongst the poorest.

European social protection standards

The article addresses European social protection standards from the perspective of the existence of several models of national social protection systems throughout the European Union and the need to develop general principles for all European countries in order to ensure the well-being of citizens. Thus, on the basis of the development of those standards, the balance between the interests of society in general and the rights of the individual were respected, taking into account economic development and levels of social protection. As a result, the European social model has been created which provides a high level of social protection and covers activities vital to social cohesion, being structured by a series of legal rules.

The effect of social benefit reform on educational inequality

Cross-country research argues that the design of welfare states and social protection systems shapes the intergenerational transmission of inequality. Studies that examine this relationship within a country are however lacking from the literature. Using difference-in-differences estimation and data from the Socio-Economic Panel, I analyse whether children of unemployment assistance recipients have lower educational attainment after changes to eligibility criteria, benefit levels and conditionality were introduced in Germany in 2005. I find that differences in the probability to attend the academic secondary school track between children of unemployment assistance recipients and children living in families, where no benefits are claimed, increased by 13 percentage points. In part, this was driven by the introduction of means-testing that changed the composition of unemployment assistance recipients towards the more disadvantaged. However, a further worsening in the financial conditions of these already disadvantaged families following reductions in benefit criteria appear as the main driver of the observed effect. By contrast, changes in parental subjective wellbeing due to increased benefit conditionality and stigma do not appear to play a significant mediating role.

SISTEMAS DE PROTEÇÃO SOCIAL LATINO-AMERICANOS E RESPOSTAS À PANDEMIA DE COVID-19: Argentina, Brasil e México

O artigo analisa como sistemas de proteção social na América Latina têm respondido à grave situação social decorrente da pandemia de COVID-19. Pautado em estudo exploratório, o artigo toma como foco as experiências da Argentina, Brasil e México. A perspectiva de análise considera que as respostas produzidas por esses três casos às demandas sociais postas pela pandemia decorrem da interseção entre o legado prévio e estrutura institucional dos sistemas de proteção social existentes em cada país, a orientação política dos governos em exercício e a dinâmica social e política diante do contexto da crise sanitária. Verifica que nos três países, a despeito de medidas protetivas de maior ou menor abrangência e magnitude, que reforçam a proteção social existente ou introduzem novos mecanismos – todos eles temporários – a crise social própria às formações sociais latino-americanas se agravou.LATIN AMERICAN SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND RESPONSES TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: Argentina, Brazil and MexicoAbstractThe article analyses how social protection systems in Latina America have responded to the serious social situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by an exploratory study, the paper focuses on the experiences of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. The analysis considers that the responses produced by the three cases results from the intersection between the institutional structure’s previous legacy of the social protection systems existing in each country, the political orientation of the governments in exercise and the social and political dynamics in the sanitary crisis context. It seems that, despite protective measures of greater or lesser scope and magnitude, which either reinforce the existing social protections or introduce new mechanisms – all of them temporary – the social crisis specific to Latin American social formations has worsened in the countries studied.Keywords: Social protection. COVID-19. Brazil. México. Argentina

Mainstreaming Institutional Resilience and Systems Strengthening in Donor Policies and Programming

This rapid review synthesises evidence on key aspects of mainstreaming institutional resilience and systems strengthening in donor policies and programming in FCAS (Fragile and Conflict-affect States) contexts, particularly in nutrition (food security), health, WASH and the economic sector. Institutional resilience is the ability of a social system (society, community, organisation) to absorb and recover from external shocks, while positively adapting and transforming to address long-term changes and uncertainty. Investing in strong, well-functioning and adaptable social systems, such as health, education and social protection systems, can build resilience, as this help to cushion the negative economic and social effects of crises. While development actors have established guidance on how institutions can be made more effective, inclusive and accountable, there is much less literature on institutional resilience and how development actors can help to foster it. Much of the literature notes a lack of systematic evidence on applying the concept of resilience. These gaps extend to a dearth of guidance on how development actors can mainstream institutional resilience and systems strengthening into their policies and programmes. This rapid review draws on common factors discussed in the literature that are considered important to the strengthening of resilience and particular systems. These may, in turn, provide an indication of ways in which to mainstream institutional resilience and systems strengthening into development policy and programming

Urban-Sensitive Social Protection: How Universalized Social Protection Can Reduce Urban Vulnerabilities Post COVID-19

Experience with urban social protection programmes is relatively limited in the Global South. Extensions or duplicates of rural social assistance programmes do not reflect the distinct vulnerabilities of the urban poor, who face higher living costs and more precarious employment, and are not reached by social insurance schemes that are designed for formally employed workers. Neither the Sustainable Development Goals nor the New Urban Agenda reflect a specific focus on urban social protection. COVID-19 has exposed this major gap in coverage, given the disproportionate impact of lockdowns on the livelihoods of the urban poor. To ‘build back better’ post COVID-19, we propose rights-based national social protection systems with two components: categorical social assistance for non-working vulnerable groups (children, older persons, persons with disability) and universal social insurance for all working adults (formal, informal or self-employed), financed out of general revenues rather than mandatory contributions by employees and employers. These ideas are explored in the case of South Africa, which has comprehensive social assistance but inadequate social insurance for urban informal workers.

Influence of Fiscal Policies and Labor Market Characteristics on Sustainable Social Insurance Budgets—Empirical Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries

Social protection systems are a key factor for ensuring the long-term sustainability and stability of economies in the European Union, their reform being nowadays present in the political agenda of member states. Aging and the dependence on mandatory levies applied to the employed population on the labor market represent a threat for the sustainability of public social protection systems. In terms of sustainability, our purpose was to highlight the factors influencing social insurance budgets, considering the fiscal policies implemented in six countries of Central and Eastern Europe and their particular labor market characteristics. Therefore, a panel study based on a regression model using the Ordinary Least Squares method (OLS) with cross section random effects was used to determine the correlations between funding sources and labor market specific indicators. The data analyzed led to relevant results that emphasize the dependence of social insurance budgets on positive factors such as the average level of salaries, the share of compulsory social contributions, the unemployment rate, and the human development index, suggesting the continuing need for professional and personal development of the workforce.