Social Protection & Household Resilience
The capacity to cushion households when shock arrives: safety nets that exist before the crisis, scale in it and reach the informal economy, so that national shocks do not become family catastrophes.
- Indicators
- 3
- Leaders
- 10placeholder ratings
- Like it
- 8capabilities
- Developments
- 4
What Social Protection & Household Resilience is, and how it is measured
The capacity to cushion households when shock arrives: safety nets that exist before the crisis, scale in it and reach the informal economy, so that national shocks do not become family catastrophes.
Indicators
- Population covered by at least one social protection benefit
- Benefit adequacy relative to median income
- Time to scale support after shock
The nations that lead in Social Protection & Household Resilience
These ratings stand in until the capability is rated.
| # | Nation | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | AAA |
| 2 | South Korea | AA |
| 3 | France | AA |
| 4 | Japan | A |
| 5 | Germany | A |
| 6 | Switzerland | A |
| 7 | Canada | BBB |
| 8 | India | BBB |
| 9 | Australia | BB |
| 10 | Netherlands | BB |
The capabilities most like Social Protection & Household Resilience
Likeness, from 0 to 1, as the Atlas measures it.
How Social Protection & Household Resilience came to be
- Governance
- Economy
- Society
Historical Developments
Oldest first2nd century
Roman Emperor Trajan expanded free grain distribution and instituted public funds for poor children
Trajan widened an existing grain programme to cover more of the empire's poor citizens and created public funds supporting destitute children. It is cited as one of the earliest examples of state-provided social protection, establishing the principle that a central authority could cushion households directly.
1930s
United States introduced emergency relief during the Great Depression
Following Germany and Britain by several years, the United States created relief programmes for those hit hardest by the Depression. This extended organised state social protection to a major economy under acute crisis conditions, pioneering the use of safety nets as shock response rather than routine provision.
Recent Developments
Most recent first2019
World Bank published the 2019 World Development Report on the changing nature of work
The report examined social protection in the context of shifting labour markets, cataloguing existing schemes worldwide and presenting simulation data on their potential costs. It framed the policy debate over extending coverage beyond formal employment.
late 19th–early 20th century
Germany and Great Britain established welfare systems targeting the working classes
Organised welfare was uncommon before this period, when both states built systems of national insurance aimed at industrial workers. These schemes marked the birth of the European welfare state model of social insurance against unemployment, sickness, disability and old age.