Investments In Social Protection Research Articles

Vulnerable children aiding visually challenged beggars in Nigeria: Need for social work intervention

AbstractThe increasing phenomenon of street children aiding visually challenged beggars and the risk factors involved in such activity is of much concern to social workers in Nigeria. With low investment in social protection for vulnerable children, a large number of children are constantly involved in income‐generating activities on the street. This study through in‐depth interviews explored the experiences of children who aid visually challenged beggars in a semi‐urban city in Nigeria. Findings based on lived experiences are thematically discussed in this study. Well‐coordinated social protection measures can keep vulnerable children off the street and within the safety net of their family.

Food insecurity in South Africa: Evidence from NIDS-CRAM wave 5

ABSTRACT This article presents the results of the five waves of the National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) on food security between May 2020 and May 2021. Despite significant investments in social protection, food insecurity and household and child hunger remained stubbornly high. We conclude that given the protracted nature of the pandemic, slow economic recovery, household and child hunger have stabilised at higher levels than before the pandemic. The phasing out of emergency relief coupled with the constrained economic situation, are some of the reasons why levels of food insecurity and hunger are likely to remain high in the near future. Strict lockdown regulations also reduced employment and income from informal economic activities. Social support for vulnerable individuals and households remain an urgent priority. Continuing support targeted at households with children is particularly important given the dire consequences of enduring hunger for stunting, and on children’s long-term development.

Equality and poverty: views from managers and professionals from public services and household heads in the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Area, Brazil

BackgroundTackling poverty requires reconsideration of quantitative factors related to “who” is poor and by “how much” and qualitative factors addressing “what poverty means in these individuals’ lives”. Greater understanding is required concerning the types of access actually used by families in poverty in attempts to meet their basic needs. Poverty must be addressed based on the question: “Inequality of what?” It is in reflecting on the realities of such groups when their basic needs are not met that public policies can be improved and implemented with legitimate priorities. Objective: Describe coverage and access to public health, education and social assistance services and the related effects on the quality of life of families in extreme poverty.MethodsAn exploratory mixed methods study was conducted applying Amartya Sen’s “Basic Capability Equality” framework, with: 1) 27 interviews with managers and professionals from public services serving territories with extreme poverty; 2) Survey with a systematic proportionate stratified sample of 336 heads of households in extreme poverty from a total 2605 families. The resulting data was analyzed with thematic content analysis and descriptive statistics, respectively.ResultsThe managers and professionals described the lives of families in extreme poverty with phrases such as, “These people suffer. Sadness weighs on their lives!” and “Depression is the most common illness”. Their precarious circumstances and inadequate access were cited as causes. Quality of life was considered bad or very bad by 41.4% of heads of households. A total income of less than one-third of the minimum wage was received by 56.9% of the sample. One or more people were unemployed in the family in 55.8% of cases. For 53.3% of heads of households, public services “did not meet any or few of their needs”. The main social determinants of health were described as: alcohol and drugs (68.8%); lack of good health care (60.7%); and absence of income/work (37.5%). The following were identified as solutions to improve their quality of life: (1) health (40.5%); (2) education (37.8%); and (3) employment (44.6%).ConclusionsThe social determinants of poverty and health must be addressed jointly through intersectoral public policies and egalitarian mechanisms that promote investment in social protection.

Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Food Security and Social Protection in India

The COVID-19 pandemic is considered to have already negatively impacted upon all four dimensions of food security as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The subsequent lockdown in India to restrict social contact and spread of the disease has caused disruption to economic activity and has created widespread unemployment in the informal sector. It is anticipated to give rise to the adoption of coping strategies by the most vulnerable, which is likely to be accompanied by a decline in nutritional status. The bailout package announced in this context is insufficient to meet the needs of Indian citizens. Furthermore, without adequate government support, existing social protection programmes have struggled to adapt to lockdown restrictions. This commentary concludes by advocating extensive investment in social protection in line with other nations, and a shift in focus from feeding schemes and cash transfers to equity, empowerment and defined rights for marginalised groups.

Media Freedom is the Primary Culprit for Depressive Disorders: A Cross-National Analysis

Abstract Background There has been much speculation about social environments causing an epidemic of depression. The objectives of this study are to examine how media freedom influences prevalence of depressive disorders. A direct effect of free media is great levels of information complexity causing poor mental health. Two indirect effects are that media freedom facilitates modernization, which is associated with competition-related stress, and government investment in social protection, which impedes the person’s ability to manage stress. Methods The study used a cross-sectional analysis on determinants of prevalence of depressive disorders in 2015 covering 98 democratic countries. Media freedom was measured as the degree to which a country allows the freedom of news and information of print media, television, and radio broadcasting (0-100: least to most free). Control variables were then added, including GDP per capita growth, population density, country latitude, and religious affiliations. Further, a mediation analysis was applied to test if there is a causal pathway that links the degrees of media freedom and the levels of economic development or/and social protection to prevalence of depression. Results We found that an increase in the score of media freedom by 10 resulted in a 0.20 percentage point increase in prevalence of depressive disorders (%) (0.20, CI = 0.10-0.30). Our theoretical expectations were still confirmed when this study examined the relationship for each year between 2011 and 2014 (e.g. in 2014, 0.19, CI = 0.09-0.29), used an alternative index of media freedom from a practitioners’ view (0.17, CI = 0.02-0.32), or measured each country’s level of internet and digital media freedom (0.30, CI = 0.10-0.49). Further, a mediation test showed that 39.88% and 21.38% of the total effect was mediated through the economic and social pathway respectively. Conclusions The findings suggest that great levels of media freedom matter in increasing prevalence of depression. Key messages Great levels of media freedom matter in increasing prevalence of depression. There are direct and two indirect effects of media freedom on prevalence of depression.

Mitigating the financial effects of tuberculosis requires more than expansion of services.

Mitigating the financial effects of tuberculosis requires more than expansion of services.

Social protection spending and inequalities in depressive symptoms across Europe.

PurposeCommon mental disorders are an increasing global public health concern. The least advantaged in society experience a greater burden of mental illness, but inequalities in mental health vary by social, political, and economic contexts. This study investigates whether spending on different types of social protection alters the extent of social inequality in depressive symptoms.MethodsData were obtained from the 2006 and 2012 cross-sectional waves of the European Social Survey, which included 48,397 individuals from 18 European countries. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D 8). Statistical interactions between country-level social protection spending and individuals’ education level, employment and family status were explored using multilevel regression models.ResultsHigher spending on active labour market programmes was related to narrower inequality in depressive symptoms by education level. Compared to men with high education, the marginal effect of having low education was 1.67 (95 % CI, 1.46–1.87) among men in countries with lower spending and 0.85 (95 % CI, 0.66–1.03) in higher spending countries. Single parents exhibited fewer depressive symptoms, as spending on family policies increased. Little evidence was found for an overall association between spending on unemployment benefits and employment-related inequalities in depressive symptoms, but in 2012, unemployment spending appeared beneficial to mental health among the unemployed.ConclusionsGreater investment in social protection may act to reduce inequalities in depressive symptoms. Reductions in spending levels or increased conditionality may adversely affect the mental health of disadvantaged social groups.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00127-016-1223-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Association between spending on social protection and tuberculosis burden: a global analysis

The End TB Strategy places great emphasis on increasing social protection and poverty alleviation programmes. However, the role of social protection on controlling tuberculosis has not been examined fully. We analysed the association between social protection spending and tuberculosis prevalence, incidence, and mortality globally. We used publicly available data from WHO's Global Tuberculosis Programme for tuberculosis burden in terms of yearly incidence, prevalence, and mortality per 100,000 people, and social protection data from the International Labour Organization (ILO), expressed as the percentage of national gross domestic product (GDP) spent on social protection programmes (excluding health). Data from ILO were from 146 countries covering the years between 2000 and 2012. We used descriptive assessments to examine levels of social protection and tuberculosis burden for each country, then used these assessments to inform our fully adjusted multivariate regression models. Our models controlled for economic output, adult HIV prevalence, health expenditure, population density, the percentage of foreign-born residents, and the strength of the national tuberculosis treatment programme, and also incorporated a country-level fixed effect to adjust for clustering of datapoints within countries. Overall, social protection spending levels were inversely associated with tuberculosis prevalence, incidence, and mortality. For a country spending 0% of their GDP on social protection, moving to spending 1% of their GDP was associated with a change of -18·33 per 100,000 people (95% CI -32·10 to -4·60; p=0·009) in prevalence, -8·16 per 100,000 people (-16·00 to -0·27; p=0·043) in incidence, and -5·48 per 100,000 people (-9·34 to -1·62; p=0·006) in mortality. This association was mitigated at higher levels of social protection spending, and lost significance when more than 11% of GDP was spent. Our findings suggest that investments in social protection could contribute to a reduced tuberculosis burden, especially in countries that are investing a small proportion of their GDP in this area. However, further research is needed to support these ecological associations. National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Science (University of California, Los Angeles [CA, USA] Clinical and Translational Science Institute).

Understanding the impact of the economic crisis on child health: the case of Spain.

IntroductionThe objectives of the study were to explore the effect of the economic crisis on child health using Spain as a case study, and to document and assess the policies implemented in response to the crisis in this context.MethodsSerial cross-sectional data from Eurostat, the Spanish Health Interview Survey, and the database of childhood hospitalisation were analysed to explore impacts on child health, and key determinants of child health. A content analysis of National data sources/government legislation, and Spanish literature was used to describe policies implemented following the crisis.ResultsUnemployment rates in the general population (8.7 % in 2005 and 25.6 % in 2013), and children living in unemployed families (5.6 % and 13.8 %) increased in the study period. The percentage of children living under the poverty line, and income inequalities increased 15–20 % from 2005 to 2012. Severe material deprivation rate has worsened in families with Primary Education, while the number of families attending Non-Governmental Organisations has increased. An impact on children’s health at the general population level has not currently been detected; however an impact on general health, mental health and use of healthcare services was found in vulnerable groups. Investment in social protection and public policy for children showed a reduction as part of austerity measures taken by the Spanish governments.ConclusionsDespite the impact on social determinants, a short-term impact on child health has been detected only in specific vulnerable groups. The findings suggest the need to urgently protect vulnerable groups of children from the impact of austerity.

Food crisis, food production and poverty

There is a sufficient global potential to produce the food required to feed the world population on the global level. Despite this, the number of hungry people worldwide was 925 million in 2010. Developing countries account for 98% of the world undernourished people and have a prevalence of undernourishment of 16%. Food security increasingly depends on non-agricultural factors like energy, trade and finance. The negative economic and social impacts of food, energy and the global economic and financial crises showed the vulnerability to poverty. High and rising food prices further undermined the food security and threatened the livelihoods of the most vulnerable by decreasing their already limited purchasing power. The main step in reducing poverty and hunger in developing countries is to invest in agriculture and rural development. Scaled-up investments in social protection that focus on nutrition and health are also crucial for improving the lives of the poorest people.  

053 Protection and public health: population evidence from the EU, 1980–2003

ObjectivesTo assess the effect of social spending on population health.DesignMultivariate regression analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between age-standardised cause-specific mortality rates and social spending. Mortality data were collected...