Social Protection for Equity and Growth (Inter-American Development Bank)

Poor people are among the most vulnerable when a country is hit by a shock such as a macroeconomic crisis or a natural disaster. In Latin America, the poor have been buffeted by a series of shocks over the past 20 years that have reduced incomes and exacerbated persistent and chronic poverty in the region.

Social Protection for Equity and Growth provides policy recommendations to reduce the economic vulnerability of the poor to adverse shocks and help them cope with downturns in income. Social protection refers to public interventions -- including labor market measures, social safety nets, pension systems and calamity funds -- that can lessen the impact of these sudden events. They target persons with precarious employment conditions or limited access to social security or other insurance systems, as well as the elderly and disabled. Often living at or near the subsistence level, these groups generally lack the economic or political power to push for policies that respond to their needs during times of crisis.

The book argues that assisting and insuring those in need boosts a country's economic efficiency by reducing the exposure of the poor to economic risk and enabling them to participate in economic activities with higher returns.