Rethinking Social Protection in South Asia: Toward Progressive Universalism

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Though countries in South Asia have witnessed substantial reductions in poverty in recent decades, a large share of households remains poor. Multiple recent shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crises and climate-related disasters are estimated to have pushed millions more into poverty, hitting hard those who are already the most vulnerable - women, youth and children.These impacts have been further amplified by megatrends, including for example demographic shifts and technological disruptions, which if adequately managed, can translate into significant opportunities for countries in the region.

The region has fallen short of creating enough jobs for its rapidly increasing working-age population. Between 2000 and 2020, around 386 million South Asians entered the working-age population, whereas only 81 million jobs were added to the economies.Many workers, especially women and youth, remain locked in informal and low-productivity jobs that do not allow them to escape vulnerability and improve economic mobility.

Is South Asia prepared to help its citizens adequately cope with shocks as well as capitalize on opportunities brought about by megatrends?

The report Rethinking Social Protection in South Asia: Toward Progressive Universalismargues that while the region has made significant progress in the delivery of social protection over the past decades, it still has a long way to go. Many countries still lack a comprehensive social protection strategy. The region has one of the lowest social assistance expenditure relative to GDP in the world, with programs covering a relatively small share of the region's poor and providing inadequate assistance levels. Too much public resources are spent on poorly targeted social benefits like energy subsidies as well as public sector pensions, both of which have limited coverage.

Social protection systems also lack robustness and are ill-equipped to deliver adaptive social protection in the aftermath of shocks. And the region spends a negligible share of its budget on labor market programs and services to help improve worker employability and connect workers to productive employment.

How can South Asia successfully facilitate employment and provide adequate social protection for its citizens, especially given the region's fragile fiscal situation and suboptimal social protection governance and institutional structures?

The report calls for South Asian governments to engage in progressive universalism while considering the adoption of universal social protection (USP) as an ultimate strategic objective.

Progressive universalism is a phased approach that starts with the poor and continues with the economically vulnerable, and pays particular attention to the needs of children, youth and women.This will help the region focus on cost-effective, high impact approaches, while ultimately moving towards universal social protection, or adaptive systems that ensure access to social protection for all whenever and however they need it. A large majority of people in South Asia is working in the informal sector. Therefore, progressive universalism of social protection in South Asia is intrinsically linked to the specific needs of informal workers.

To inform the achievement of progressive universalism, the report puts forward a 4-pillar framework with a set of recommendations that are fiscally sensitive and in line with countries' capabilities.

Equity: Reducing poverty and inequality, promoting equality of opportunity, investing in human capital and addressing exclusion

Resilience: Providing insurance against life-cycle risks, and building the capacity to manage shocks

Opportunity: Promoting increased access to productive work for all, especially for women and youth.

Social Protection Systems and Financing: Developing robust and adaptive delivery systems underpinned by integrated strategies/policies and expanded public financing for social protection.

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