An Index to Measure Progress Towards Universal Social Protection with Application to India

Abstract

This article develops an index to measure the progress towards universal social protection which is based on the three core dimensions of social protection—household income security; household resilience to external shocks; and social inclusion. The index is based on the concept of social protection space. Application of the index to India suggests that the country will have to go a long way to achieve the goal of universal social protection. The article also reveals significant diversity in the progress towards universal social protection across states/union territories. The analysis suggests that a decentralised, state/union territory-specific approach is needed to achieve universal social protection in the country.