The social assistance explorer contains a harmonised panel dataset of social assistance indicators spanning 2000-2015. It has been developed to support comparative research on emerging welfare institutions. Comparative analysis of social protection institutions in low and middle income countries is scarce. Yet Social Assistance accounts for most of the recent expansion of welfare institutions.

Led by Professor Armando Barrientos, the two-year research project was based at the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester and was funded by the ESRC. It drew on the knowledge and expertise of a large number of collaborators across the world.

The project collected data on programme design and objectives, institutionalisation, reach, and financial resources. Key indicators can be aggregated at country and region levels.