Building for life: Why Bangladesh needs life cycle based social protection
Life cycle risks refer to vulnerabilities across phases of life, from pregnancy to old age. A life cycle based social protection system supports citizens in addressing these risks by providing cash or in-kind transfers until risk phases are over
Bangladesh's vision in social protection is articulated in the National Social Security Strategy (NSSS) adopted in 2015. It says, "Build an inclusive social security system for all deserving Bangladeshis that effectively tackles and prevents poverty and inequality and contributes to broader human development, employment, and economic growth."
To realise the vision, the NSSS committed to consolidating social protection programmes around life cycle risks. Two notable aspects are evident in the vision. First, it aims to reach all deserving Bangladeshis with programmes "that effectively tackle and prevent poverty". Second, it aims to build a social protection system around 'life cycle risks'.
What characteristics define social protection programmes that effectively combat poverty? The International Labour Organization (ILO) emphasises the importance of long duration and the regular and predictable disbursement of benefits to ensure effectiveness.
The World Bank identifies three aspects of social protection that contribute to poverty reduction: extensive coverage, targeting the right beneficiaries, and an adequate benefit amount. International evidence shows that long-term programmes that make transfers (especially cash) regularly are effective in making multiple impacts, including reducing poverty, promoting human development, increasing productivity, and promoting women's empowerment.
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Let us delve into the second aspect of our national vision in social protection: addressing 'life cycle risks'. 'Life cycle risks' refer to vulnerabilities across phases of life, from pregnancy to old age. During pregnancy, impoverished women are vulnerable to malnutrition, unsafe childbirth practices, and the likelihood of delivering low-birth-weight babies.
Following childbirth, mothers need to consume nutritious diets to be able to breastfeed. If children are undernourished in their first 1000 days, they face risks of stunting and impaired brain development, leading to lifelong consequences like low productivity and income during adulthood.
A child grant programme, such as a cash or in-kind transfer, can address these risks by promoting the nutrition of mothers and young children. As children grow and enter school, they face the risks of dropping out, low cognitive skills, and early marriage. Working-age people face risks of illness, unemployment, or underemployment. In old age, a variety of risks arise, including poor health, food insecurity, and a lack of care.
A life cycle based social protection system supports citizens in addressing all these risks through programmes that provide cash or in-kind transfers until risk phases are over. These programmes are termed life cycle programmes. A life cycle based system provides the best framework for establishing an inclusive social protection system.
The other comparable approach is poverty-targeted social protection, where the poorest families are provided social protection transfers instead of life cycle groups. A critical challenge associated with this approach involves bringing in all vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and persons with disabilities, under one support framework. Thus, this approach lacks inclusivity.
Bangladesh has made significant progress towards establishing a life cycle based social protection system, which gives it a reason to boost over other countries. At least nine large (reaching over one million recipients) programmes in Bangladesh can be mentioned here that serve as the building blocks of a life cycle based social protection system.
They are the Mother and Child Benefit Programme (MCBP), Primary School Stipend programme, Stipend for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Education Stipend for Physically Challenged Students, disability allowance, widow allowance, Food Friendly programme, Vulnerable Women's Benefit (VWB), and Old Age Allowance (OAA).
Each of these programmes provides monthly cash or food transfers to 1 to 6 million people for multiple years. For example, the MCBP provides Tk800 per month for pregnant women and newborn babies for three years, while the OAA provides BDT 600 per month to eligible elderly citizens until death. The widow and disability allowance programmes provide Tk500 and Tk850 per month to eligible persons until death.
The above life cycle programmes are complemented by some other small programmes and short-term relief and price stabilisation programmes such as vulnerable group development (VGF), test relief (TR), and open market sales (OMS). These programmes play an important role in supporting poor families in coping with shocks, including natural disasters and food price inflation, and preventing them from falling into deeper poverty.
However, these programmes differ from life cycle programmes in terms of objectives, duration, transfer size, and transfer modalities. The objective of these programmes is not long-term poverty reduction or addressing life cycle risks. Let us consider examples of the VGF and OMS programmes. The VGF programme provides 10 kg of rice per family occasionally, e.g, following natural disasters or around Eid festivals, while the OMS programme sells essential food items at a subsidised rate, which one may access once or a few times a year.
Combining the coverage data of vulnerable group feeding and open market sales with that of life cycle programmes makes it difficult to clearly determine the proportion of people benefiting from long-term programmes that address poverty and life cycle risks.
As a result, the publicly shared data from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) falls short of providing insights into the existing gaps and areas that need focus in the coming years.
This issue could be resolved by presenting separate data for life cycle based programmes and short-term initiatives within the HIES reports. Additionally, forthcoming analyses on exclusion and inclusion errors should be based on dedicated data for life-cycle programmes. This matter requires attention from stakeholders and related policymakers.
Fazley Elahi Mahmud is a Social Protection Specialist and International consultant on social protection.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
