This study brief on "Social Assistance Programs and Household Welfare in Eswatini" examines the performance of Eswatini's main social assistance programs. These programs employ varying combinations of categorical and self-targeting to reach the poor and vulnerable

Undeclared work and incomes are a serious concern for the Government of Hungary, primarily because of the negative consequences for the country's already difficult fiscal situation. The Government has already introduced a number of reforms intended to reduce undeclared economic activity. Much of...

This report presents the final results and conclusions of a two-year program developed by a World Bank team in Argentina, to analyze the determinants of informality and its impact on poverty and equity. Informality in the labor market has become a central concern for policy makers and the...

"Lack of access to electricity is one of the major impediments to growth and development of the rural economies in developing countries. That is why access to modern energy, in particular to electricity, has been one of the priority themes of the World Bank and other development organizations....

"Seasonal poverty in Bangladesh, locally known as monga, refers to seasonal deprivation of food during the pre-harvest season of Aman rice. An analysis of household income and expenditure survey data shows that average household income and consumption are much lower during monga season than in...

"Does child labor decrease as household income rises? This question has important implications for the design of policy on child labor. This paper focuses on a program of unconditional cash transfers in Ecuador. It argues that the effect of a small increase in household income on child labor...

"This paper investigates the relationship of household income with child labor. The analysis uses a rich dataset obtained in the context of a conditional cash transfer program in a poor region of Nicaragua in 2005 and 2006. The program has a strong productive emphasis and seeks to diversify the...

"This paper assesses the impact that a potential liberalization of sugar regimes in OECD countries could have on household labor income and poverty in Brazil. The authors first estimate the extent of price transmission from world markets to 11 Brazilian states to capture the fact that some local...

"Strategies to help the one billion people worldwide who live in informal settlements have mainly focused on slum upgrading, sites and services programs, and tenure security. In contrast, there has been less attention on what enables slum dwellers to transition into the formal housing sector,...