capacity4dev.europa.eu (28.02.2024) In examining data for 106 countries from the 1980s onwards, it transpires that social protection is the most countercyclical type of public expenditure and that social assistance spending has typically been more responsive during economic contractions.

oecd (11.03.2024) Increasingly, countries are integrating personalised public services to enhance access to, and the experience of those services to significantly improve outcomes for service users. Integrated services are particularly valuable for those with multiple and complex needs who require a range of tailored and, in some cases, specialised supports and services from more than one agency or service provider. Service specialisation can make it difficult for these service users to get the right mix of services and at the right time that best meet their needs.

oecd (14.03.2024) This report analyses the sequence of labour market support that individuals receive and evaluates two large public works programmes. It uses rich administrative data and finds positive labour market impacts of the Community Employment and Tús employment programmes. Building on the results of the analyses, the report makes recommendations on how Ireland can further adapt its active labour market policies (ALMPs) to better support its current and future jobseekers.

ilo.org (31.12.2023) This paper discusses the expansion or penetration of digital economic activity in the context of developing economies, and what this may mean for economic or structural transformations for countries in the global South. We ask what possibilities new jobs and forms of work in the digital economy hold – in particular platform work – for the productive transformation of economies in ways that contribute to achieving the goals of human, inclusive and sustainable development. What are the impacts on work and workers in this process?

cornell.edu (05.02.2024) The Future of India’s Social Safety Nets: Focus, Form, and Scope explains how an array of social welfare programs (comprising the safety net) have emerged as a leitmotif of social policy in independent India and explores the key challenges and scope for innovations in redesigning India’s social safety net system for the future. This open-access book provides a comprehensive analysis of India’s safety net by combining insights from a wealth of interdisciplinary scholarship on economic development, social protection, and the social policy process.

ILO Working paper 108 (19.02.2024) Youth employment challenges are always a critical concern for policymakers. There is recurring and mounting evidence that labour market challenges, such as unemployment, informality, lack of social protection and inactivity, disproportionately affect youths.

OECD (19.02.2024) In many countries, public expenditure, including transfers, plays a major role in reducing income inequality. The report reviews the various ways that budgeting can be used to this end. A first includes taking a broad approach to results-based budgeting, taking social and distributional goals into consideration. A second relies on integrating distributional impact analysis directly into the budget process.

ILO Working Paper 103(20.02.2024)  The objective of this paper is to provide a panoramic description and analysis of the diversity of the new forms of employment that have been emerging in China, with the focus on their background, the main types, the status quo of labour rights protection, and the government's responses to the challenges of labour regulations brought by NFE. Finally, on the basis of the above, the paper puts forward corresponding policy recommendations on how to improve workers' protection in new forms of Employment.

oecd (07.02.2024) Digital technologies are having a profound impact on economies, labour markets and societies. They also have the potential to transform government, by enabling the implementation of more accessible and effective services. To support a shift towards digital government, investment is needed in developing the skills of civil servants. This paper reviews good practices across OECD countries to foster skills for digital government. It presents different approaches in public administration to organising training activities as well as opportunities for informal learning.

Development Pathways (February 2024) Challenging the misconception that universal social security is only viable in high-income countries, this paper compiles examples of ongoing universal coverage schemes in low- and middle-income nations, focusing on old age, disability, and child benefits. With sufficient political backing, these countries have gradually introduced one or multiple universal schemes, constructing comprehensive, affordable, and sustainable lifecycle social security systems over time.