CPRC Research themes

Vulnerability and insecurity keep people poor and drive others into chronic poverty. Many chronically poor poeple confront vulneraibility that occurs through shocks, lack of buffers against shocks, and the ways in which households respond to insecurity. Reducing vulnerability should be central in policies to reduce chronic poverty - and can be done through social protection.

Research

Research on vulnerability has focused on how and when vulnerability and insecurity push people into poverty, and how social protection - particularly social assistance - offers an important solution to vulnerability. 

CPRC work on reducing vulenrability also highlights the importance of building and improving returns on assets, transformative societal change, eliminating discrimination, and improving social and economic relationships.  The Chronic Poverty Report 2008-09 ‘Escaping Poverty Traps details much of CPRC work on vulnerability and social protection; and the Social Assistance in Developing Countries Database summarises the effectiveness of social assistance interventions in developing countries and focuses on the reduction and mitigation of poverty.

Key resources

Vulnerability and chronic poverty

• The Chronic Poverty Report 2008-09: Escaping poverty traps
  ^{Chronic poverty report}
• Insecurity, risk and vulnerability
  ^{Research summary 5}
  
• Does vulnerability create poverty traps?
  ^{CPRC Working paper 76}
  

Social protection to address vulnerability

• Just Give Money to the Poor: The development revolution from the South
  ^Book
• Social Assistance in Developing Countries Database
  ^{CPRC database}

Household dynamics and informal work

• Social transfers: stimulating household-level growth
  ^{CPRC Policy brief 14}
  
• Poverty and vulnerability in rural China: effects of taxation 
  ^{CPRC Working paper 156}
  
• Extending labour inspections to the informal sector and agriculture
  ^{CPRC Working paper 154}
  
• Poverty, undernutrition and vulnerability in rural India: public works versus food subsidy
  ^{CPRC Working paper 135}
  

 View more resources on Insecurity, risk and vulnerability, and on social protection