Gender and Social Protection in the Developing World

Rebecca Holmes is a Research Fellow in the Social Protection Programme at the Overseas Development Institute. Her research and policy work focuses on the linkages between social protection and social policy, and she has particular expertise in gender analysis. With a geographical focus on South and South-East Asia, her research includes studies on gender and social protection effectiveness, social protection and social inclusion, and social protection in fragile and post-conflict states. She has published widely for a range of governmental, nongovernmental and donor audiences on social protection, and has spoken at a variety of public events and conferences on social protection.Nicola Jones has a PhD in political science and is a Research Fellow in the Social Development Programme at the Overseas Development Institute. Her research, advice and public affairs work focuses on gender analysis, social protection and poverty reduction policies, child well-being, and the linkages between knowledge, policy and power. Since 2007 she has led a number of multi-country studies on the intersection between social justice and social protection in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. She is currently a lead researcher in a cross-country study on citizen perceptions of cash transfers in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, and is managing a regional review of gender-responsive social protection in Southeast Asia for UN Women. Nicola has published widely for a range of academic, policy and practitioner audiences, including six co-authored books. The most recent are: Knowledge Policy and Power in International Development: A Practical Guide (2012) and Children in Crisis: Seeking Child-sensitive Policy Responses (2012).

Holmes and Jones convincingly demonstrate that only social protection policies developed with a gender lens can alter the causes of poverty and vulnerability. Their prescriptions for programme change have the potential to transform lives on the ground. This book should be required reading for academics and practitioners alike.

• Introduction: why social protection needs a gender lens1. Key concepts in gender and social protection2. The gendered patterning of vulnerability, risk and resilience3. Transferring income and assets: assessing the contribution to gender-sensitive poverty reduction4. Working one's way out of poverty: public works through a gender lens5. Insuring against shocks: the gendered dimensions of insurance6. Ensuring access to state provision: towards more gender-sensitive subsidy schemes7. Why politics matters: a gendered political economy approach to social protection8. Conclusions and recommendations: advancing gender-sensitive social protection