Tranfers Contribution to the Consolidation of Social and Family Security and to the Protection against Poverty: Case of Morocco

This paper analyses the nature, the source, and the contribution of various types of transfers, in cash and in kind to monetary poverty reduction. This analysis is based on data from the standards of living section of the household survey conducted in Morocco in 1998/1999. An evaluation of the contribution of the transfers coming from households to poverty attenuation is approached by estimating the poverty rate in two different ways: The first way takes into consideration the transfers perceived by the households and coming from physical persons, leads to poverty rates of 19% at the national level, 12.0% in urban, and 27.2% in rural areas. The second approach consists of estimating the poverty rates that would be recorded in the absence of those transfers. This approach comes up with a poverty rate of 22.4% at the national level, 15.3% in urban, and 30.8% in rural areas. Concerning the contribution of the transfers coming from the public or semi-public administrations, private and foreign establishments, the estimations reveal that in the absence of those transfers, the poverty rate would be significantly higher. Thus, transfers from resident households, public and private administrations, NGO’s, Moroccan residents aboard, social transfers and family donations contribute to the reduction of poverty incidence. A number of recommendations are made to sustain and increase such transfers.