世界银行-叫醒社会援助_一项未完成的扶贫任务_2025年社会保护状况报告背景文件_3（英）-2025_78页_3mb

Summary of World Bank's State of Social Safety Nets 2025 Report

Introduction

Social assistance is a critical pillar of social protection systems, focusing on non-contributory benefits for the poor and vulnerable. This report examines global trends in coverage, spending, adequacy, and poverty reduction impact, highlighting progress and persistent challenges.

Coverage Findings

• Global social assistance coverage reached 42% of the population in 2022, with 58% of the poorest quintile beneficiaries.
• Significant gaps remain, especially in low-income countries (LICs) and fragile, conflict, and violence (FCV) settings, where coverage is lower due to limited resources and higher needs.
• Cash transfers have a higher female share (63-75%), and rural areas show higher likelihood of receiving assistance, but urban areas have more beneficiaries due to population density.
• Coverage varies by region, with Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia having some of the lowest rates, while Latin America and the Caribbean lead in reach.

Spending and Adequacy

• Global social assistance spending stagnated at 1.5% of GDP since 2010, though it increased countercyclically during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Financing relies primarily on domestic resources in high-income countries (HICs), but external grants dominate in LICs and FCV settings.
• Benefit adequacy is low, averaging 11% for all beneficiaries and 18% for the poorest quintile, indicating insufficient support for poverty reduction.
• Different instruments show varied adequacy: social pensions are highest, while cash transfers and public works are lower, affecting their poverty-reducing potential.

Poverty Impact

• Social assistance reduces extreme poverty for 37% of extremely poor individuals and relative poverty for 11% of the poorest quintile, but impacts are limited in LICs due to program scale and adequacy.
• Effects are greater in rural areas compared to urban areas, and larger in higher-income countries.
• Poverty reduction benefits are more pronounced in countries with better-targeted programs, but many programs do not prioritize eliminating poverty.

Conclusion and Recommendations

• Social assistance has expanded but faces coverage, financing, and adequacy gaps, requiring sustained investment.
• Priorities for improvement include:
  • Leveraging technology to enhance delivery systems and targeting.
  • Strengthening referral mechanisms to link beneficiaries with complementary services like economic inclusion programs.
  • Reforming fiscal policies to increase progressive spending and support subsidy reforms.
  • Scaling up adaptive and integrated social protection systems to address shocks and support broader populations.
    Without accelerated action, achieving universal coverage by 2030 remains elusive, particularly in vulnerable contexts.