We interpret social transfers broadly as a set of measures to reduce or relieve poverty, and study how well this purpose is served in the countries that participated in the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions in 2007. Motivated by the findings, we characterise a social...

Three main elements characterise the notion of sustainable development: first, a broad view of human well-being, in which environmental and social elements are important as well as economic ones; second, the view that many of the effects of today's decisions will last over time, thereby...

The Asian financial crisis and its social aftermath triggered a fundamental reappraisal of the role of social protection in Asia. Existing social protection programmes in many Asian countries were found to be insufficient and not well designed. It is now widely agreed that considerable effort is...

The present paper discusses the elements and workings of the so called "Reddito di Cittadinanza" (translatable as "Citizenship Income"), the scheme for minimum income protection that was recently adopted by the Italian government and that undoubtedly represents a turning point for the country's...

This paper looks at the effects of tax-benefit systems and social stratification determinants on the probability of poverty among mothers after childbirth and divorce/separation. The analysis was carried out for twelve EU countries, which represent a variety of welfare regimes providing...

Mozambique is a low-income, Southern African nation with an estimated population of 28 million people, 67 per cent of whom live in rural areas. Women comprise 51 per cent of the population, and 45 per cent of the population are under 15 years old (World Bank 2015). (...)

Zimbabwe is a low-income, land-locked country in Southern Africa with an estimated population of 13,061,239 people, according to the latest census (ZIMSTAT 2012). Two thirds (67 per cent) of Zimbabweans live in rural areas, and 51.9 per cent of the total population are female (ibid.). Between...