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66 Women in the Economy (MWG-011)
limiting its scope to marginal and deserving social groups. In contrast, the European Welfare State
assumes responsibility for a broader spectrum of social services and plays a highly organized role in
distributing these services as entitlements to all its citizens.
But, in the present context of economic globalization, decentralization, deregulation and privatization,
there has been a gradual withdrawal of the welfare state. Governments and corporations have
prioritized budgets, taxes and profits, focusing less on social protection and social expenditure. The
impact of this is felt particularly by vulnerable groups such as women, children, the elderly and
migrant workers. The poor suffer hunger and malnutrition, homelessness, humiliation from
unemployment, sometimes leading to even suicide. Children are deprived of education and forced into
child labor, crime, prostitution and trafficking. Migrant workers, without any social security and
welfare protection in the best of times both at home or abroad, face exploitation and deportation. The
framework of social protection is thus, capable of holding the state responsible to provide for the
poorest sections by regulating both state and non-state agencies.
In developing countries, the state’s capacity to reach out to the vast majority of the underprivileged
population may be limited because of its limited resources. Evidence suggests that the poorest
households in poor countries scarcely ever benefit from direct state support, relying instead on
transfers from a range of non-state sources (kin, community, religious organizations etc.). In such a
context, multiple agencies that could provide for social protection, include governmental and non-
governmental sources, market, civil society and households. Social protection can also be carried out
informally through community or inter- and intra-household support networks.
Types of social protection: According to Barrientos and Hulme (2008, pp.1-18), most social
protection programmes consist of one or more of the three broad sets of policy and action:
• Social assistance: These programmes are designed to support poor households by
transferring resources to the groups that are deemed eligible due to deprivation. Such
programmes cover non-contributory, tax-financed benefits, in cash or kind. While this is
sometimes universal, it is usually targeted at certain categories of people identified as
vulnerable. Social assistance may also be used as a means to other social policy ends. The
provision of free school meals, for example, may be used to encourage poor families to keep
their children (and especially girls) in education and to discourage child labor.
Insurance programmes: These aim to provide protection against contingencies such as
unemployment, maternity, sickness or old age. It can be in the form of social insurance, crop
insurance and health insurance. Crop insurance is for those who have agro-based livelihoods
and may play the same function as social insurance does for waged labor, by guaranteeing a
minimum income. Health insurance has the potential for immense benefit, to address the
issue of unexpected medical expenses.
• Residual category: Consists of labor market regulations, which facilitate fuller and more
rewarding employment. These regulations enforce minimum wages for work, labor
exchanges, prudent labor standards and basic standards for working conditions. State
intervention to support the prices of the goods produced by the poor or the commodities they
require for subsistence (e.g. food staples) that can smoothen income and consumption
respectively are examples of residual category of social protection. Microfinance services also
contribute to social protection by encouraging the poor to save and to access loans that can be
used to invest in an income-generating activity. Employment support in the form of public
works is widely used in this category of social protection.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO, 1997), social protection is conceived
as having four components:
• social security systems (statutory employer-related benefits);
• universal social benefit systems (benefits for all);
• social assistance systems (poverty alleviation in cash and in kind for all in special need)
and
• Private benefit systems (employer-related or individual benefits). Social security protects
members of society through public measures against economic and social distress, the
provision of medical care and the provision of subsidies to families with children. Social
security includes social insurance, social assistance, benefits financed from general
reserves of a country, family benefits, provident funds and employer provisions, notably
workers’ compensation and other complementary programmes. A social safety net
ensures that each member of society facing destitution is provided with the minimum
level of cash income, health and social services needed to lead a socially meaningful life
(ILO, 1997).