Kosovo Social Assistance Scheme Study : Assessment and Reform Options
The Social Assistance Scheme (SAS) is the main social assistance program in Kosovo and the sole program targeted at poverty reduction in Kosovo and, importantly, the only program in which household income and assets are used to identify beneficiari...
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Format: | Report |
Language: | English |
Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/994991557470271998/Kosovo-Social-Assistance-Scheme-Study-Assessment-and-Reform-Options http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31718 |
Summary: | The Social Assistance Scheme (SAS) is
the main social assistance program in Kosovo and the sole
program targeted at poverty reduction in Kosovo and,
importantly, the only program in which household income and
assets are used to identify beneficiaries. In the absence of
SAS, the overall poverty gap would have been 1.8 percentage
points higher in 2016, and the poverty rate would have been
1.5 percentage points higher. Yet, the importance of SAS in
Kosovo’s social protection system has declined; decreases in
spending on targeted social assistance in Kosovo goes
against a worldwide trend. The Government of Kosovo seeks to
reform the SAS to eliminate discrimination in program
design, promote inclusion and reduce poverty. This report
reviews the main design criteria of the SAS, its performance
in international comparison, and provides directions for
reform based on simulations with household survey data. |
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