Social Policy after the Arab Spring: States and Social Rights in the MENA Region

Karshenas, Massoud; Moghadam, Valentine M.; Alami, Randa

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.07.002

Cited by 59 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Social justice!” (“! عدالة !اجت !ماعيةحريةعيش”) and hence for a new kind of social contract providing for either more socioeconomic equality or for better political participation and government accountability or – even better – for both (Karshenas, Moghadam and Alami, ).…”

Section: Genesis Of Social Protection Schemes In Mena Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing social protection in the Middle East and North Africa: Prospects for a new social contract?

Loewe

Jawad

2018

Int Social Security Review

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The introductory article of this special issue looks at the genesis, characteristics and challenges of social protection schemes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It argues that social protection policies in the MENA should be seen as a key ingredient of the social contract that governments offered to their citizens after independence. To compensate for the lack of political participation and accountability, free public health and education systems, generous food, energy and water subsidies, social insurance and assistance schemes and mass public‐sector employment were established. This was possible because MENA countries benefitted from substantial windfall profits (from the export of oil, gas and minerals; Suez Canal user fees), as well as from income from remittances from migrant workers and income from politically motivated aid. The decline of income from some of these sources and population growth has led MENA governments to focus more closely their social protection spending on strategically important social groups: typically, the urban upper middle class. As a result, social protection systems in MENA countries currently suffer from severe weaknesses in terms of social fairness, efficiency and sustainability. Although MENA countries still spend a very considerable share of gross domestic product on their social protection schemes, these have only very limited effects on the reduction of poverty, vulnerability and inequality – and some even exhibit perverse “bottom‐up” redistributive outcomes. The articles that comprise this special issue selectively spotlight a number of opportunities and challenges for the development of sustainable social protection in the MENA countries.

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Section: Genesis Of Social Protection Schemes In Mena Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing social protection in the Middle East and North Africa: Prospects for a new social contract?

Loewe

Jawad

2018

Int Social Security Review

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“…Approaches to understanding social policies in the MENA countries within these paradigms have varied. Karshenas, Moghadam and Alami () argue that social policy in the MENA region constitutes a model separate from that of developmentalist East Asia or that of the welfarist Nordic countries. In their view, the region developed an “authoritarian corporatist” social welfare regime that emerged in the region during the 1950s and the 1960s.…”

Section: The Active Welfare State: a Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, the total unemployment rate increased in Tunisia from 13.1 per cent to 15.2 per cent during the same period. However, the events of 2011 and the ensuing political turmoil in the region have renewed interest in social policies as a potential means to address these challenges (Karshenas, Moghadam and Alami, ; Campante and Chor, ; Malik and Awadallah, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can youth activation policies be central to social policies in MENA countries?

Barsoum

2018

Int Social Security Review

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Youth unemployment is a major socio‐political issue in the Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). However, active labour market programmes (ALMPs) in support of youth employment remain less prevalent and are generally outside the purview of social policies in the region's countries. This article addresses this inconsistency. The article provides an overview of such programmes and identifies the challenges to their inclusion as a central part of the region's social policy mix. Internationally, the article notes that successful models for the integration of ALMPs into social policies have been part of long‐term reforms targeting inclusive social security systems. This has not been the case in Arab countries where access to contributory social security systems is limited and where labour markets are characterized by large informal economies and a majority of workers are without social protection. Further contributing factors pertain to limited state budgets and a limited knowledge base about the effectiveness of ALMPs in the region.

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“…Other studies note, however, that employment and social protections targeted at women may inhibit their entry into the labor market (Hampel-Milagrosa 2011). In developing countries, it is often the employer rather than the state that is burdened with the cost of the leave, which can result in employer reluctance to hire females since they may be more costly (Karshenas, Moghadam, and Alami 2014;Lee and Cho 2005). Although current reports and articles offer competing arguments, many postulate relationships based upon little or no empirical evidence.…”

Section: Developing Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…negative or no consequences on women's labor force participation (Lee and Cho 2005;Karshenas, Moghadam, and Alami 2014). Moreover, to our knowledge, there is no research on the impact of maternity provisions on fertility in developing nations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development Benefits of Maternity Leave

2017

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Within developing countries, studies addressing the effects of maternity benefits on fertility, infant/child health, and women's labor force participation are limited and provide contradictory findings. Yet, knowledge regarding the implementation of maternity provisions is essential, as such policies could significantly improve women and children's well--being. We add to this literature by using fixed effects panel regression from 1999 through 2012 across 121 developing countries to explore whether different types of maternity leave policies affect infant/child mortality rates, fertility, and women's labor force participation, and whether those effects are shaped by disparities in GDP per Capita and Secondary School Enrollment. Our findings demonstrate: 1) both infant and child mortality rates are expected to decline in countries that institute any leave policy, policies that last 12 weeks or longer, and policies that increase in duration and payment as a percentage of total annual salary, 2) fertility is expected to decline in countries that have higher weekly paid compensation, 3) maternity leave provisions decrease fertility and infant/child mortality rates most in countries with lower GDP per capita and countries with middle range secondary enrollment rates, and 4) labor force participation does not increase. Our results suggest that policy makers must consider the duration, compensation, and goals (addressing fertility versus mortality rates) of a policy alongside a country's economic development and secondary school enrollment when determining which maternity leave provisions to apply within developing--country contexts.

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Social Policy after the Arab Spring: States and Social Rights in the MENA Region

Cited by 59 publications

References 10 publications

Introducing social protection in the Middle East and North Africa: Prospects for a new social contract?

Introducing social protection in the Middle East and North Africa: Prospects for a new social contract?

Can youth activation policies be central to social policies in MENA countries?

The Development Benefits of Maternity Leave

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