Social Protection and Children
description
Transcript of Social Protection and Children
Social Protection and Children
Enrique DelamonicaUNICEF
Mexico, August 2012
Overview and objectives
• Why children and social protection?• Child Sensitive Social Protection• Limits of CCTs• Universal, integrated systems• Progressive realization
Three Facts
• Convention of the Rights of Child• CCTs in most countries• Needs
CRC Article 26
“States Parties shall recognize for every child the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance, and shall take the necessary measures to achieve the full realization of this right in accordance with their national law.”
Coverage of CCTs(% of monetary poor)
Juntos (Peru) Red de Opor-tunidades (Panama)
Mi Familia Progresa
(Guatemala)
Programa Soli-daridad (Dom-
incan Republic)
Chile Solidario (Chile)
Oportunidades (Mexico)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Region-wide about half of the monetary poor population is covered
Monetary and Child Poverty
16%
37%18%
29%
Only Monetary Poverty Monetary Poverty and Child PovertyOnly Child Poverty Neither Monetary nor Child Poverty
% of Children
Source: CEPAL/UNICEF, 2010
Total Child Poverty: 45%
AIncome poor
BC
Combining different groups of people who could be eligible for social protection
Excluded
Vulnerable TO..
Non-Income poor (rights)
But would this be all? .
What about the…• Elderly• Unemployed• Widow(er)s• Sick• Orphans • And those who could eventually fall in
these categories?• Universal, integrated systems of protection
Child Sensitive Social Protection
•Social TransfersCash or in kind support•Social Insurance/Access to services
•Social Support & Care Services•Policies, legislation and regulations
Cash transfers and children
• Birth grants • Universal child allowances• Disability benefits• Maternal or parental benefits • Sick leave • Housing allowances• Unemployment benefits • Support children left behind by migrant parents
(e.g. within pensions system for grandparents)
Non cash transfers for children• Fee waivers for health or education
services• Interventions to prevent adolescents from
dropping out of school NINIs• School feeding programmes• Therapeutic food and other high impact
health/nutrition interventions • Food vouchers, food aid or other in-kind
livelihood supports
Scenarios of child poverty reduction through nutrition interventions
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
El Salvador Guatemala Nicaragua Honduras Panama Rep. Dominicana Costa Rica
Pobreza Infantil Pobreza Infantil: Escenarion #1 Pobreza Infantil: Escenario # 2Child poverty Child poverty if under-nutrition cut in half
Child poverty ifunder-nutrition at 5%
Other social protection policies affecting children
• Social care services (e.g. family and community support)
• Early childhood development programmes• Programmes for children with special needs• Inheritance rights • Anti-discrimination legislation• Breastfeeding and parental leave laws
Maternity and Paternity Leave
Argenti
na
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Ecuad
or
Urugua
y
Hondu
ras
Mexico
Dom R
ep
Jamaic
a0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Maternity Paternity
(# o
f day
s)
Breastfeeding: 1 to 2 hours for 6 to 12 monthsBut all of this only applies to formal work!
Some limitations of CCTs• Cash in exchange for behavioral change• Targeted, not universal• May imply punishing the needy (punitive)• Low efficiency (e.g. high monitoring costs)• May perpetuate gender stereotypes• Unintended consequences (e.g.
discrimination, clientelism)• Ethical issues (e.g. paternalistic/top down)
Methodological issues in assessing conditional cash transfers
• Reduce poverty now or in the future?
• Income or condition? (No really good and systematic evidence that conditionality works)
• Condition or (previous) investment in services?• Even if they “work” in a carefully selected trial
experiment, would they work in a different context?
• Are we sure people did not want to satisfy condition?
Progressive realization in practice
Means testing, targeting and conditionalities: Partial and transitory
0
20
40
60
80
100
period 1 period 2 period 3 period 4 period 5
0-5 '6-12 13-18
Integrated systemsA B C D E
Program 1 ٧ ٧ Not neededProgram 2
Program 3 ٧ ٧Program 4 ٧Program 5
Progressive realization:• Start with C who is completely excluded• Then E for political buy-in?• Or A who is also as needy as C?
Examples of UNICEF and Social Protection
• Integrated ECD respecting indigenous values and traditions (●)• Integrated packages of education, health and WASH at municipal level (●)• Single database of beneficiaries (●)
•Assessment of Social Safety Nets (●)
• Other integrated approaches (●)
Conclusions
• Social protection well beyond CCTs or “economic insurance”
• Broad and integrated view of social protection (shared by ILO, UNDP, others)
• Menu of UNICEF experiences • Crucial piece of a strategy to eliminate child
poverty in one generation
Thank you!