By DARLINGTON CHILUBA SAFETY net refers to those services that governments are obligated to provide to vulnerable citizens through social welfare schemes such as cash transfers and health insurance (including free health).Some developed countries include unemployment, housing and maternity-related benefits for unemployed youth and vulnerable citizens registered under given schemes. Safety nets are not strictly the same as public goods such as street lighting, garbage collection or roads, which are paid for directly by users through tolling and other fees directly related to their use.Subsidies also fail to meet the strict criteria of safety nets because they target an item, or outcome, not actual vulnerable citizens.For example, subsidies are applied on fuel, agriculture produce or such services, not strictly on persons or groups. Safety nets are different because they tend to target beneficiaries or persons that are typically unable to afford those services without some support. Irrespective of the artificial and actual similarities or differences, all these, […]
THE SAFETY NET
