On July 7, 2022, IPA Philippines held a virtual knowledge exchange to share PIDS and World Bank studies on social protection.The event highlighted lessons on what works and what needs to be fine-tuned and provides policy insights on strengthening social protection to make it more efficient and adaptive in the Philippines.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to steep drops in employment, income, and access to markets, pushing tens of millions of people in low- and middle-income countries into poverty.Social protection programming has emerged as a critical response to the social and economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.Many of these programs are social assistance measures, which provide benefits to individuals even if they have not previously paid contributions to the program.Before the pandemic, cash-based social assistance has been shown to successfully reduce poverty and enhance well-being along a number of dimensions, across many different countries.