Transcript United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

United Nations Research Institute
for Social Development
Inequality and Social Policy:
Universal Access vs. Targeted
Interventions
Katja Hujo
10 May 2012
NORAD
Exploring the Policies on Equity
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Presentation
• Why inequalities matter for social development
and poverty reduction
• Social policy – universalism vs. targeting
• The Unicef equity approach
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Inequalities are an obstacle to poverty
reduction
 Poverty is closely related to inequalities based on class,
gender, ethnicity, location
 Interlocking inequalities reinforce each other and may be
reinforced by market processes
 make it harder to incorporate the poor in the growth
process;
 May encourage the emergence of institutions that lock
the poor into poverty traps
 limit the size of the domestic market and prospects for
sustained growth;
 may contribute to crime, social unrest and conflict and
undermine social cohesion and stability
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Addressing inequalities
Countries can adopt a number of redistributive policies to
tackle the multiple dimensions of inequality, for example:
 provide the poor with greater access to productive assets and
credit
 strengthen legal rights (eg tenure)
 pursue affirmative action policies within a universal framework;
 invest in social infrastructure and basic services that can reduce
the drudgery of domestic work;
 stimulate investment in rural infrastructure and creating public
works programmes;
 improve tax administration, prevent tax evasion, and limit opposition
to progressive taxation;
 create a stable global economic environment that responds to
the needs of low-income countries.
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Social policies
Comprehensive social policies are essential
for successful poverty reduction.
 The most significant reductions in poverty have occurred
in countries with comprehensive social policies that lean
towards universal coverage.
 Such policies also reduce inequality, generate social
cohesion and solidaristic links between different groups
(income, ethnic, gender, generations), increase
accountability and contribute to economic development
 Important: progressive financing instruments, quality of
public services and benefit adequacy for income
transfers, additional targeted interventions for groups
without access to schemes (within universal framework)
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The shortcomings of targeting
• « It is not rational to target the poor where a majority of
the population is poor and administrative competencies
weak»
• Targeting « Technology »: costly, difficult to implement,
inclusion/exclusion errors, under-coverage, stigma,
distortion of incentives, segmentation of systems,
separation of poor from other social classes (negative for
political, budgetary support, accountability), risk of
corruption etc.
• Challenges of community involvement: power relations,
sustainable resources, quality of services,
sustainability….
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The Unicef equity approach – which role
for social policy?
• Unicef mandate grounded in rights-based framework (Convention
of the Rights of the Child, Human Rights conventions)
• Useful to emphasize the intrinsic and instrumental value of SP
and child-oriented policies
• What are the key ingredients of an equity-focused approach?
Equity focuses more on opportunities (fairness) than on equality of
outcomes – primary concern regarding children is with outcomes!
• Challenge of getting the balance right: targeted interventions (often
aid financed) part of universal, comprehensive framework (largely
state financed)?
• Who guarantees long-term investments in poverty reduction:
donor community, UN organizations, national governments?
• Combine project interventions with advocacy, rights-based
approach at the policy level
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About UNRISD
UNRISD is an autonomous research institute within the UN
system, established in 1963, and located in Geneva.
Its mandate is to undertake policy-relevant research on
issues of contemporary social concern and aligned with
UN priorities.
Follow UNRISD work on www.unrisd.org and on
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