Social Safety Nets

Social safety nets are used for stabilization of a section of society.

Definition of a safety net (For this post we are only concerned with the second definition):

safety net

1. a net used in a circus to catch high-wire and trapeze artistes if they fall
2. any means of protection from hardship or loss, such as insurance

Social Safety Net Example 1

For many, summer means vacation, sports, camping or just time off to relax, but not for millions of kids living in poverty in the United States. There are few camps or beach trips for them, and sometimes not even three meals a day.

During the school year, public schools provide breakfast and lunch to millions of students in the United States. But when summer arrives, parents struggling to feed their children can no longer rely on those meals.

More than 21 million children receive free or reduced-price lunches at school. But in the summer, the number of kids participating in food programs drops to fewer than 3 million, despite efforts to raise awareness and increase community support, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.


Social Safety Net Example 2

People living in poverty and hunger are extremely vulnerable to crises.
Social safety nets have traditionally been used to help people through
short-term stress and calamities. They can also contribute to long-range
development. Targeted programmes such as food-for-work, school feeding,
microcredit and insurance coverage can help alleviate long-term food and
financial insecurity, contributing to a more self-reliant, economically
viable population.


Social Safety Net Example 3 

An example of a few people surviving on low budget social safety nets such as a church:

"These people have been reduced to living on handouts from the local church and friendly restaurants and the community is a sad look at troubles caused as the world's most powerful country struggles with its finances."

[Other examples of social safety nets include medicare and social security]

A social safety net with grassroots development:

An initiative that brings struggling families together to help each other out of poverty is providing a new model for social welfare.

What FII does is create a structure for families that encourages the sense of control, desire for self-determination, and mutual support that have characterized the collective rise out of poverty for countless communities in American history."

Possibility of this strategy: Social safety net plus an actual plan to help grass root economic development. [Solution has a hold and develop strategy which has promise as people working together in groups can help social development and therefore business development as well. ]