Pension fund charges reduce the rate of return on pension accounts in some countries by up to by two percentage points. Do charges of this scale undermine the case for funded pension provision? How can governments hold back costs and charges? This paper looks at evidence from thirteen coutries,...

This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of demand-side subsidy approaches for improving poor households'access to housing services. It begins with a discussion of the rationale for stand-alone housing assistance programs, and a description of the ongoing transition away from traditional...

The Pantawid Pamilya is a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program which provides cash to beneficiary households, subject to compliance with program conditionalities. The Pantawid Pamilya is targeted at chronic poor households with children aged 0-14 years who are located in poor areas. The...

This paper presents an assessment of the first phase (2008?2009) of Sierra Leone's cash for work program based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis examining program design features, mainprocesses and impact. The assessment highlights that while cash for work was an appropriate crisis...

This paper reviews the main challenges facing countries in attempting to improve labor market outcomes among youth, focusing on the issues that became starkly visible during the recent financial crisis. In order to better identify and set uphuman development interventions, the paper proposes an...

Together with reductions in indirect taxes on food imports, cash for work programs were one of the main responses implemented by African governments following the food, fuel, and financial crisis of recent years. The main objective of those programs was to help the poor cope with the various...

As Latin American and the Caribbean countries face rapid aging transitions, the economic contribution of older workers will need to be strengthened. This paper uses household data from Brazil and Mexico to characterize labor market behavior of older workers, such as participation, sectoral and...

This report examines the various challenges and opportunities of mainstreaming gender issues in social fund projects and offers five good practice examples of gender integration in social fund projects in Ethiopia, Honduras, Malawi, Moldova, and Romania. Each case study takes gender into...

Using household level panel data from Nicaragua, this paper explores the impact of the recent coffee crisis on rural households engaged in coffee production, and coffee labor work. Taking advantage of the panel structure of the data, a number of findings emerge: a) while overall growth between...

This report studies the social protection for migrants from the Pacific Islands in their host countries of Australia and New Zealand. The report focuses on the access for migrants to social services in the host countries and provisions for the portability of entitlements, particularly...