Gender and Social Protection in the Developing World Beyond Mothers and Safety Nets

by Holmes, Rebecca; Jones, Nicola

• ISBN13: 9781780320410
• ISBN10: 1780320418
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-04-23
• Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

Summary

This book aims to introduce a much-needed gender lens to debates around social protection. Millions of pounds in international development funding are being invested annually in social protection policies and programmes to address high levels of poverty and vulnerability in the developing world. Poverty is perpetuated by risks and vulnerabilities, many of which are gendered. Time poverty, gender-based violence, discriminatory labour markets and unequal intra-household decision-making power all serve to exacerbate gender inequalities and vulnerability. Despite this, little attention has been paid to social protection's role in tackling gendered experiences of poverty and vulnerability. The book argues that gender-sensitive policy and programme design and implementation are essential to maximise the effectiveness of social protection and that understanding the ways in which gender dynamics across the lifecycle shape policy and programme impacts - both intended and unintended - is a complex endeavour. Drawing on empirical evidence from poor households and communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the book provides rich insights into the effects of a broad range of social protection instruments. It concludes that with relatively simple design changes and investment in implementation capacity there is potential for social protection to contribute to transforming gender relations at the individual, intra-household and community levels.

Author Biography

Rebecca Holmes is a Research Fellow in the Social Protection Program at the Overseas Development Institute. Her policy research work focuses on the linkages between social protection and social policy and she has particular expertise in gender analysis and social protection instruments. She is currently co-leading a multi-country study on gender and social protection effectiveness with a focus on South and South East Asia. She has also worked in Sub-Saharan Africa on issues of social protection and agricultural growth and on social protection in fragile (and post-conflict) states. She has published widely for a range of academic and policy audiences on social protection and has spoken at a variety of public events and conferences.

Nicola Jones has a PhD in Political Science and is a Research Fellow in the Social Development Program at the Overseas Development Institute. Her research, advice, and public affairs work focuses on gender analysis, social protection, and poverty reduction policies, child wellbeing, and the linkages between knowledge, policy, and power. Since 2007 she has led a number of multi-country studies on child- and gender-sensitive social protection in Africa, Asia, and Latin America for AusAID, DFID, and UNICEF. Prior to joining ODI she worked with a range of GO, NGO and academic agencies in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific on issues of gender, childhood, intra-household dynamics and poverty reduction policies. Nicola has published widely for a range of academic, policy, and practitioner audiences, including two books: Gender and the Political Opportunities of Democratization in South Korea (2006) by Palgrave New York, and Child Poverty, Evidence and Policy: Mainstreaming Children in International Development (2010) with A. Sumner by Policy Press.

Table of Contents

Introduction. Why social protection needs a gender lens * 1. Key concepts in gender and social protection * 2. The gendered patterning of vulnerability, risk and resilience * 3: Transferring income for gender-sensitive poverty reduction: cash is only part of the solution * 4. Working one's way out of poverty: public works through a gender lens * 5. Insuring against shocks: the gendered dimensions of insurance * 6. Ensuring access to state provision: towards more gender-sensitive subsidy schemes * 7. Why politics matters: a gendered political economy approach to social protection * Conclusions and recommendations