Customizing Safety Nets For Different Contexts
There is a recognized need to adapt social safety nets programs to local contexts. Both the program mix and shape of individual programs should vary from place to place.
Safety nets in low-income countries are increasingly being recognized as effective tools to reach out to the most vulnerable. At their worst, they protect households facing hard times from falling into deeper poverty and help them manage risk by allowing them to maintain assets on which their livelihoods are based. At their best, they can provide households with a cushion to invest resources more efficiently and effectively in human capital. Common interventions vary from public works and food-based interventions to more recently cash and conditional cash transfer programs. Low-income states may face institutional capacity and financial constraints.
Safety nets in middle-income countries may aspire to cover all target groups although they tend to focus on helping the chronically poor. Individual programs may be sophisticated, but sophistication may not have spread to all programs in the country. Evidence suggests that they possess strong track record progress in design and implementation.
Safety nets in crisis contexts attempt to protect incomes and avoid irreversible losses of physical assets and human capital. They also help maintain political consensus around the policies needed to resolve crises (financial, fuel, food). Scaling up programs quickly is difficult, so some compromises with respect to targeting, incentive compatibility, and accountability may be needed.
Safety nets after natural disasters help households avoid irreversible losses that could ensue. Effective safety nets should be seen as a complement to larger efforts to protect livelihoods and undertake reconstruction and recovery. Countries with existing programs that they can modify will be better placed to deliver safety nets after natural disasters. They may need to adjust procedures during the response.
Safety nets to facilitate reforms can help compensate the poor for any losses suffered as a result of reforms such as abolishing subsidies. These may also promote the political tolerance required for reforms to take place. Some programs with a temporary political goal may be at a scale that is too large to sustain. Others with a clearer poverty focus may be meant to be permanent, and so must be designed to be sustainable.
Safety nets in fragile states are increasingly recognized as helping endangered and/or displaced households cope in post conflict or complex settings. Selected safety nets interventions, integrated with other actions, may assist in rebuilding societies and preventing future conflict. A critical issue is how and when to transition from primarily humanitarian relief efforts to more strategic sustained development.
Safety nets in developed countries have resulted in a much lower crime rates and generally lower poverty levels. One example is Canada's universal healthcare, known as Medicare, which was first proposed by Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas (called one of the "fathers of medicare"); in 2004 Douglas was voted the Greatest Canadian for his achievements and contributions to Canada, including working towards Medicare.
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