Expanding Social Protection Chapter 30: Expanding Social Protection The primary focus of the Charter of the Economy must be to achieve high, sustainable and inclusive growth. However, there is likely to be a section of the population which remains marginalized and does not benefit directly from the process of growth. As such there will always be the need for a comprehensive program of social protection to reach out to these people and reduce thereby the incidence of poverty. Tackling poverty has emerged as an even greater priority after the large-scale negative impact of COVID-19. The first part of the Chapter provides a quantitative estimate of the impact. This is followed by the review of existing social protection initiatives by the Federal and Provincial Governments respectively. A series of recommendations are then made for expanding and diversifying the measures for poverty alleviation. 30.1. Trend in the Incidence of Poverty The incidence of poverty has generally been derived by adopting the cost of basic needs approach. Households whose income is less than the cost of meeting the basic needs of household members are classified as poor. The cost of basic needs is derived as the cost of providing a minimum level of nutrition to an adult equivalent. Data on a large stratified random sample nationally of households is obtained through the Household Integrated Economic Survey(HIES) undertaken periodically by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The last HIES was in 2018-19. The Social Policy and Development Centre has derived a consistent time series of the incidence of poverty from the various HIES. The resulting estimates are presented in Table 30.1. Table 30.1: Incidence Of Poverty in the Rural and Urban Areas of Pakistan 2001-02 to 2015-16(% of Population) 2001-02 2004-05 2010-11 2014-15 Rural Areas 35 31 39 41 Urban Areas 30 28 34 32 Pakistan 33 30 38 38 Source: SPDC 313