El Laboratorio de Políticas convierte a España en el país número 94 en unirse a un ambicioso proyecto del Banco Mundial para luchar contra la pobreza

The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has met with different representatives of the World Bank and the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), during her official visit to the United States, to present the report of results and recommendations of the 34 pilot itineraries of the Laboratory of Inclusion Policies linked to Minimum Vital Income, financed with 212 million euros of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

After the welcome of the European Commission last Monday – Commissioner Nicolas Schmit conveyed to the minister his intention to study new ways of financing to give continuity to the Policy Lab – the international financial institutions in Washington DC and the UN have also confirmed their interest in this pioneering initiative at international level.

Among other policies that have been set as an example by the World Bank, such as circular migration programs, the experiences of this Laboratory have encouraged the institution based in Washington to ask Spain to join the Human Capital Project, a global effort to better focus policies aimed at reducing poverty and inequality. “The results you bring today are what our ears needed to hear, an example of collaboration and accompaniment to the most vulnerable people so as not to just give them help,” said Mamta Murthi, World Bank Vice President for Human Development, who has led the signing with Minister Saiz in the US.

So far, no public administration has implemented 34 projects at the same time with the randomized testing methodology, which consists of implementing a measure in a group of people - in this case, IMV recipients, minimum income or in a situation of social exclusion - selected randomly and comparing the results with respect to a control group that does not receive the measure. This technique has allowed us to find out the causal effect of each measure and each itinerary on the well-being of the most vulnerable population.

This methodology is often used by the World Bank or the Inter-American Development Bank in evaluating their programs.

More than 30 projects developed in all the CAAC

The Vice President of Human Development of the World Bank, Mamta Murthi, has congratulated the minister for this pioneering initiative and recognized by the scientific community.

During the meeting, they explored new ways of collaborating around the Laboratory to scale the best practices of the more than 30 projects, in which 76,000 people have participated throughout Spain (180,000 adding their relatives, who have benefited in most cases from the integral actions) and scale them in other international programs to combat poverty and promote inclusive economic growth.

“Ensuring a minimum guarantee of minimum income is necessary, but not sufficient. For this reason, we have used European funds to launch the Inclusion Policy Laboratory with the collaboration of communities, municipalities and social organizations. It is an experience with which we have identified the best practices and results that guarantee the most effective social policies,” said the minister.

The Vice President of the World Bank has encouraged the Spanish delegation to “continue advancing in leadership for inclusion through these programs of job insertion, educational reinforcement, prevention of school failure, digital training or aid to conciliation.” Saiz has detailed the scientific support of two prestigious institutions: the Center for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI) and the J-PAL Global Poverty Research Center, led by Esther Duflo and Abhijt Banerjee, winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2019.

In addition, he has given him the ‘Decalogue of Lessons Learned’ in English to guide other agencies. In them, it is committed to placing the person at the center of any measure and intervening from different areas, in collaboration with the closest entities. Acting holistically on each person and their family can increase the household income by 200 euros per month and raise the academic notes of minors in language and mathematics by one point.

The IDB, a pioneer in the scientific analysis of policies

During the bilateral meeting with the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Ilan Goldfajn, the minister stressed the importance of checking the effectiveness of social policies before they are implemented on a large scale. “The crises project their most detrimental effects on the vulnerable population, with more uncertain careers and in general with greater volatility in income and jobs. The economic transformations associated with digitalization or climate change will affect all citizens, but especially the most vulnerable social groups,” said the head of the Ministry.

That is why it is necessary, he added, “to develop a welfare state capable of responding to multiple challenges and to bet on evaluation as a guarantee that public resources are allocated to the most effective social programs.”

The IDB has a long experience in the evaluation of projects with the same methodology used in the Laboratory: random tests, which apply to online tutoring projects for schoolchildren, parenting for vulnerable communities or measuring the impact of digital connectivity in single-parent households.

Meeting with António Guterres in NY

The visit to the US concludes today with a meeting in New York with António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, to whom the minister will deliver the Decalogue and detail the history of the Laboratory, linked to the concept of social investment.