Social Protection and Labor
2 billion people lack adequate social protection measures. Access to social protection remains an aspiration rather than a reality for many people. Learn more in our report on the need for policy actions to extend coverage to those most vulnerable.
INVESTING IN SOCIAL PROTECTION AND LABOR
Access to social protection and labor programs is vital for millions facing poverty, crises, and uncertainty. These programs shield people from immediate shocks but also build resilience and human capital for a better future.
Social protection encompasses more than direct cash or in-kind support—it includes policies and programs that bridge skill, financial, and information gaps, enabling households to manage crises, escape poverty, and seize job opportunities. Its three pillars—social assistance, social insurance, and labor market programs—create pathways toward self-reliance.
Over the past two decades, World Bank Group social protection and labor programs have supported over 244 million people in 76 countries. By November 2025, the World Bank is providing $27.8 billion in social protection financing—including $13.8 billion via IDA—to address growing demand. Investments in social protection yield high returns: each dollar transferred to poor families generates an estimated $2.50 in the local economy and delivers benefits in nutrition, early childhood development, skills training, climate adaptation, and women’s economic empowerment.
Despite progress—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—2 billion people worldwide remain inadequately covered. Three out of four people in low-income countries lack basic protection, with half in lower-middle-income countries similarly unprotected. The World Bank Group aims to reach 500 million people, half women, with social protection and labor programs by 2030.
Labor market challenges are also acute: in emerging markets, 1.2 billion young people will reach working age in the next decade, but only about 420 million jobs are expected to be created. Scaling up social protection requires increasingly efficient and better-targeted, innovative spending, especially in Africa and South Asia.
The State of Social Protection Report 2025 documents advances and challenges to strengthening social protection and labor systems across low- and middle-income countries and discusses avenues to gradually close the coverage and adequacy gap for the world’s poorest. The State of Economic Inclusion 2024 report shows that 90% of economic inclusion programs target women, with nearly one-third of all programs focusing on improving their economic participation.
The World Bank envisions social protection systems as a cornerstone of sustainable development, empowering the poorest and most vulnerable to building a world free of poverty on a livable planet. With 1.2 billion young people entering working age in emerging markets over the next decade—and only 420 million new jobs projected—robust social protection is crucial to address this looming employment gap.
Social protection extends beyond cash transfers to encompass a range of policies and programs that bridge skills gaps, foster efficient labor markets, support entrepreneurship, improve access to finance, and better connect workers to jobs and businesses to markets. The World Bank’s goal is to scale up these programs, in coordination with partners, to reach 500 million poor and vulnerable people by 2030, with particular emphasis on women and children.
By investing in adaptive, digitalized social protection systems, the Bank aims to equip households with the resources needed to prepare for and recover from shocks, helping them escape poverty. Social protection is not only vital for ending extreme poverty, but also for advancing gender equality, facilitating access to better jobs, and enhancing climate resilience.
The World Bank’s strategy centers on four interconnected pillars:
Adaptive Social Protection
Employment and Labor
Aging and Pensions
Digital Delivery Systems
The ambitious target of reaching 500 million people, half of them women, by 2030 responds to the pressing need to empower millions—especially those living in poverty or working in informal, precarious jobs—by providing access to economic opportunities and jobs. Social protection not only helps individuals invest in education, transition to better jobs, or start businesses, but also drives economy-wide benefits such as improved financial inclusion, climate resilience, and food security.
Recognizing the urgent need to close the social protection coverage gap, particularly in low and middle-income countries, the SP500 Target outlines a strategic framework, operational steps, and partnership approach to deliver scalable and replicable solutions.
As of April 2025, the World Bank is providing $29.5 billion in financing, including $15.5 billion through IDA, to respond to the growing demand for social protection solutions amidst overlapping global crises.
As of 2024, our programs supported over 222 million people, with more than half of the beneficiaries being women. These initiatives help individuals cope with and adapt to various shocks, access and secure jobs, enhance productivity, support the health and education of their children, develop skills throughout extended working lives, and safeguard aging populations and persons with disabilities.
We have also significantly expanded our efforts in fragile, conflict, and violent settings, where we are reaching 57 million people with social protection measures. Additionally, over 18 million people have seen improvements in their earnings, particularly through microenterprise support. Our focus on jobs and skills programs has led to the creation of over 100 initiatives, with a particular emphasis on empowering youth and women in vulnerable communities.
Achievements:
Latin America started in the early 1990s, with conditional cash transfer programs like Prospera in Mexico. As school enrollment increased and nutrition improved as a result of the program, this simple idea took off, spreading quickly throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
Initiatives like the Income Support Program for the Poorest in Bangladesh reached 600,000 women over nearly a decade and improved their children’s nutrition, cognitive development, and readiness for school.
The Social Cash Transfer Program in Zambia, which impacted more than 3 million people—20% of the population—improved the livelihoods of women and expanded access to education for children.
A social safety nets project in South Sudan supported social cohesion. The IDA-supported project exceeded its own targets, with 77% female force participation in labor-intensive public works programs.
In Niger, 18 months after the end of an Adaptive Social Protection program, women in a productive inclusion program saw their incomes and the share coming from non-agriculture activities both increase by up to 100%.
The Urban Productive Safety Net Project (UPSNP) helped Ethiopia to develop its first management information system to capture data related to both urban and rural poor. The project reached more than 600,000 poor people in urban areas, 60 percent of whom were women. It helped beneficiaries open bank accounts for the first time, resulting in more than $11.3 million in savings.
BY THE NUMBERS: SOCIAL PROTECTION AND LABOR
RESULTS & IMPACT
$3.80 in benefits for every $1
1.1 billion people
550 million people
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RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS
THE LATEST ON SOCIAL PROTECTION
Explore key World Bank resources showcasing the impact of social protection and labor.
PROGRAMS & PROJECTS ON SOCIAL PROTECTION
Global Skills Partnership
As high-income countries confront aging populations and skills shortages while lower-income countries see rapid youth growth but limited job prospects, Global Skill Partnerships (GSPs) offer a collaborative solution by investing in education and training to benefit both sides.
Sahel Adaptive Social Protection Program
SSSAP is a multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank that supports the strengthening of adaptive social protection systems in the Sahel to enhance the resilience of poor and vulnerable populations to the impacts of climate change. Read more.
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