Summary

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) developed a methodology for assessing the coverage and effectiveness of social protection systems. Its purpose is to help compare the scale and structure of public expenditure with the actual results of programmes and their impact on people’s quality of life. The assessment covers six areas: support for older persons, families with children, persons with disabilities, unemployed and underemployed people, poor and vulnerable groups, and protection against financial risks in healthcare. Programmes are also classified by funding source, form of assistance, duration of benefits and targeting of low-income groups. The methodology comprises three levels of indicators. The first measures the volume and composition of expenditure on social insurance, social assistance, employment programmes and healthcare. The second assesses population coverage, average expenditure per beneficiary and the distribution of support across different groups. It also examines the protection of workers in formal and informal employment and the readiness of social protection systems to respond to economic, natural and climate-related shocks. The third level models the contribution of public programmes to reducing poverty and inequality and strengthening food security. The common methodology is intended to support the preparation of national profiles and cross-country analysis in Asia and the Pacific. At the same time, it remains flexible and can be adapted to national priorities, institutional conditions and data availability.