Summary (English)

This paper argues that well designed social protection can have a positive rather than a restraining impact on economic growth (and therefore on the first MDG) and can help to shape the pattern of economic growth in favour of the poor, such that the poor benefit at least as much as, if not more than, the average (reflecting on the inequality indicator for the first MDG). It states that social protection for the less active poor can be affordable even in low-income countries, and that it has significant positive economic externalities. The paper also argues that the difficulties for poor people in recovering from shocks purely or largely through their own efforts, especially when shocks are multiple or sequenced, should not be underestimated: recovery takes longer for the poor and usually benefits from external help, whether from public policy or private support. Informal protection is important and, where it is equitable in its burdens, should be facilitated.