Social Protection: The Impact on Inequality in Ethiopia, India, and Peru

Three large-scale social protection schemes - the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) in Ethiopia; the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in India; and the Juntos conditional cash transfer program in Peru – contribute to reduced consumption inequality between and within socially and culturally constructed groups. New research that analyzes data from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of the changing nature of childhood poverty, also finds a strong correlation between living standards and the coverage of these social protection programs, suggesting that the schemes are generally well targeted at the most needy. Further analysis shows that within-group inequality accounts for a large proportion of total inequality.