Failure to Reduce Indigence Despite Growth, Chile, Selected Years

TABLE 9.1 Failure to Reduce Indigence Despite Growth, Chile, Selected Years 

As the recent crises in East Asia (1997), the Russian Federation (1998), and Argentina (2002) demonstrated, countries need flexible safety net systems that can be scaled up in times of need to help the poorest and most affected cope with the hardship brought about by a crisis. Poverty and risk and vulnerability analyses can help identify prospectively those who may become poor in the event of a severe shock and those at risk of poverty. Even crude estimates based on a cross-sectional survey can be used to identify potential threats to the living standards of the population. Estimating the share of the population just above the poverty line may indicate the share of the population at risk of poverty during economic downturns. Table 9.2 il- 

TABLE 9.2 Percentage Share of Income by Qnintlle, Indonesia, 1996 

Poverty profiles based on household surveys reveal who the target group is and can be useful both for suggesting how to reach them and indicating what sort of assistance they may need. We provide four typical examples of how the information generated by poverty profiles informs safety net policy making. 

Identify Easily Identifiable Characteristics of the Poor That Can Be Used for Categorical Targeting 

---