Campaign for the Extension of Social Security to All
In crisis conditions, the provision of social assistance and security benefits paid to unemployed workers and other vulnerable recipients act as social and economic stabilizers. It not only prevents people from falling further into poverty, but it also limits the fall in aggregate demand, thereby curtailing the potential depth of the recession.
While cash transfer programmes may embody help to address short-term crisis effects on poverty and insecurity, social transfers are most valuable as a systemic component of an overall national poverty reduction strategy. The Asian crisis in the 1990s has shown that the build-up of a system of basic social security also enhances the national crisis preparedness...
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