CCT Dilemmas and options for the Western Balkan region Gordana Matković

I Some common characteristics Economy  Large decrease in the GDP during the 90ties, income per capita still low  Economy and societies destructed during the wars  High unemployment, widespread informal economy, jobless growth  Marked differences between regions, rural and urban areas, lagging behind of some vulnerable groups  EU aspirations

Poverty  In almost all of the Western Balkans absolute poverty is still relatively high  Great concentration of the population / households just above the poverty line  Poverty depth is not large, inequality is also not high  High subjective perceptions of poverty  Unemployment and inadequate employment in terms of low salaries are important causes of widespread poverty I Some common characteristics

Vulnerable groups  Unemployed and less educated  Dependents (children, elderly without income…)  IDPs and refugees  Minorities, especially Roma  Persons with disability

I Some common characteristics Weaknesses in the social welfare system  Insufficient amounts of provided assistance  Small coverage of the vulnerable population  Poor targeting  Alternative services insufficiently developed

First dilemma Conditional cash transfers provide money to poor families conditional upon investments in  children’s human capital or  human capital in general II Dilemmas concerning CCT

Second dilemma What type of benefits  Completely new system / new benefits replacing existing ones  New benefits in addition to the existing ones  Conditions attached to existing benefits

II Dilemmas concerning CCT Third dilemma Targets  Poor families in general  Families with children  Vulnerable groups/families with more than 3 children  Population living in a specific region, rural population Partly depends on resolving the first dilemma

II Dilemmas concerning CCT Fourth dilemma Sequencing  Starting the whole system at once  Phasing in gradually, starting in several regions, specific population (young) Among other issues, depends on the availability of budgetary funds

III Options Potential objectives in addition to fighting poverty  Education  Health  Employment

III Options Conditions  Children attending primary school on regular basis / preschool education  Children older than 15 attending secondary school on regular basis / vocational training / education programs for simultaneously completing primary education and acquiring the basic qualifications for employment / engagement in public works  Children being vaccinated / attending health care units regularly / inclusion in prenatal health care

III Options Conditions  Alcoholic parent attending counseling  Parents attending family therapy  Unemployed members of the family attending training, schools for adults  Unemployed members of the family being engaged in public works, social services (home care, personal assistants, soup kitchens) or any other kind of work (work benefits)

IV More dilemmas and some challenges More dilemmas  If the conditions are some kind of work, what is the differences between the CCT and workfare programs?  If we exclude work and activation (training, adult education) as a condition, does it truly affect the main causes of poverty and social exclusion in the region?

IV More dilemmas and some challenges Some challenges  Work - for how long, part time, the level of compensation  Conditions attached after a certain period of passive assistance  Conditions removed after the fulfillment of requirement  Who is exempt from workfare programmes (mothers with small children, single mothers until their children reach a certain age, some categories of persons with disability, persons caring for disabled members of the household)  Too many requests for documentation already

IV More dilemmas and some challenges Some challenges  “Punishing” the whole family because of one member / teenage boy does not want to be included in programmes  Access to services- undeveloped market of social and employment services (counseling, training, preschool facilities not available)  Multiple problems, ceiling amounts of the overall assistance, matching each household with the most appropriate program  Weak administration, undeveloped control mechanisms