Global Economic Downturn and Social Protection in East Asia: Pathways of Global and Local Interactions

Abstract

Amid the global economic crisis since 2008–9, the welfare state is once again at the center of global policy debate. From an East Asian perspective it is the second economic crisis within ten years, after the Asian economic crisis in 1997–8, but this time the epicenter of the crisis was not in East Asia. Although the crisis was not as severe as the Asian economic crisis, it was serious enough to pose a great threat to the prospect of economic growth in general and the livelihoods of the poor in the region. While some of the European countries contemplate politically tolerable ways of reducing welfare provisions in order to tackle deficits in public finance, others try to reinforce it in order to cope with the economic crisis (Starke et al., 2013). In Asia and Latin America, many countries are also trying to introduce new social policies and strengthen existing programs (Mehrotra, 2009; Sugiyama, 2011). In particular, East and Southeast Asian countries have introduced social assistance programs, including a range of cash transfers, to provide support for the poor and the vulnerable, previously excluded from necessary social protection.

The study reported here is part of a larger research project ‘Social Protection in East Asia’. This chapter draws on case studies within the research project. It is funded by the Global Research Network (NRF-2010-220-B0027). The author is grateful to the members of the research projects, Sara Cook, Arjan de Haan, Eunju Kim, Jayoung You, Woorim Kim and Yusun Kim. The chapter has also benefited from very useful comments from Paul Stubbs and Alexandra Kaasch. Usual caveats are applied.