Wednesday, May 14, 2008
[IWS] ADB: SOCIAL PROTECTION INDEX (SPI)--Wealth NOT the Issue [14 May 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Social Protection Index for Committed Poverty Reduction
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Social-Protection/default.asp
or
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Social-Protection/committed-poverty-reduction.pdf
[full-text, 582 pages]
Social Protection Index for Committed Poverty Reduction
Volume 2: Asia
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Social-Protection/Volume2/
or
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Social-Protection/Volume2/Social-Protection-Vol2.pdf
[full-text, 166 pages]
Press Release 14 May 2008
Providing Basic Social Protection Not a Question of Wealth
http://www.adb.org/Media/Articles/2008/12486-asian-social-protections/default.asp
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Even poor countries can afford basic social protection like financing health care, cash transfers to the poor, and elderly and child protection.
That is one of the most striking results of the newly developed < http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Social-Protection/Volume2> Social Protection Index (SPI) created by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its partners. The index shows that the ability to provide appropriate social protection to a nation's citizens is not only a question of the country's wealth.
The SPI will give governments and international agencies a new tool to assess and compare the social protection efforts of countries throughout Asia and the Pacific region. While social protection is growing in importance in the fight against poverty and in meeting the < http://www.adb.org/MDGs> Millennium Development Goals, there have been very few attempts to systematically quantify the overall impact of social protection activities in terms of expenditure, beneficiaries or the impact of the programs. The SPI was created to fill this void.
"The development community's commitment for alleviating poverty, and to assist our developing member countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals in the Asia-Pacific region remains the priority challenge for ADB," said Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, ADB Vice-President of Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development. "This publication on the Social Protection Index provides us with an important and so far unique tool to have a better understanding of the challenges that are ahead of us."
The SPI is measured between zero and 1.0. Even though Japan and South Korea top the list, countries considered relatively wealthy didn't always score higher than poorer neighbors. While India and Pakistan have similar levels of per capita gross domestic product, they score very differently on the SPI. India rates a 0.46 while Pakistan is at 0.07.
On average, countries in the region spend just under 5% of their gross domestic product on social protection and achieve an overall average coverage level of 35% of key target groups, which include the unemployed, elderly, poor, and disabled.
The index provides a combined measurement tool of the extent to which Asian and Pacific countries provide welfare, labor market, social security, health insurance, micro-credit, child protection, targeted education, and health support programs to their citizens, especially those living below the poverty line.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Social Protection Index for Committed Poverty Reduction
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Social-Protection/default.asp
or
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Social-Protection/committed-poverty-reduction.pdf
[full-text, 582 pages]
Social Protection Index for Committed Poverty Reduction
Volume 2: Asia
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Social-Protection/Volume2/
or
http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Social-Protection/Volume2/Social-Protection-Vol2.pdf
[full-text, 166 pages]
Press Release 14 May 2008
Providing Basic Social Protection Not a Question of Wealth
http://www.adb.org/Media/Articles/2008/12486-asian-social-protections/default.asp
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Even poor countries can afford basic social protection like financing health care, cash transfers to the poor, and elderly and child protection.
That is one of the most striking results of the newly developed < http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Social-Protection/Volume2> Social Protection Index (SPI) created by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its partners. The index shows that the ability to provide appropriate social protection to a nation's citizens is not only a question of the country's wealth.
The SPI will give governments and international agencies a new tool to assess and compare the social protection efforts of countries throughout Asia and the Pacific region. While social protection is growing in importance in the fight against poverty and in meeting the < http://www.adb.org/MDGs> Millennium Development Goals, there have been very few attempts to systematically quantify the overall impact of social protection activities in terms of expenditure, beneficiaries or the impact of the programs. The SPI was created to fill this void.
"The development community's commitment for alleviating poverty, and to assist our developing member countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals in the Asia-Pacific region remains the priority challenge for ADB," said Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, ADB Vice-President of Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development. "This publication on the Social Protection Index provides us with an important and so far unique tool to have a better understanding of the challenges that are ahead of us."
The SPI is measured between zero and 1.0. Even though Japan and South Korea top the list, countries considered relatively wealthy didn't always score higher than poorer neighbors. While India and Pakistan have similar levels of per capita gross domestic product, they score very differently on the SPI. India rates a 0.46 while Pakistan is at 0.07.
On average, countries in the region spend just under 5% of their gross domestic product on social protection and achieve an overall average coverage level of 35% of key target groups, which include the unemployed, elderly, poor, and disabled.
The index provides a combined measurement tool of the extent to which Asian and Pacific countries provide welfare, labor market, social security, health insurance, micro-credit, child protection, targeted education, and health support programs to their citizens, especially those living below the poverty line.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 7:59 AM
