Public social spending

Government spending on social sectors — like education, health and social protection— is a strong measure of the financial commitment governments make to protecting and investing in children. It shows how public resources are being used to reduce poverty and invest in a more equitable future. One way this is measured is through the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 1.b.1, which tracks whether government social spending reaches those who need it most. In March 2020, the SDG Secretariat approved a revision to this indicator to better reflect whether spending is truly pro-poor—that is, whether the poorest households are benefiting from public investments. The indicator was slightly revised in March 2025 to enable more countries to report.   

SDG 1.b.1 is the only official indicator for the target on creating policy frameworks to reduce poverty — at national, regional and global levels — that are pro-poor and gender-sensitive. It helps track progress on strategies aimed at accelerating investments in poverty eradication. The indicator measures how much of a government’s spending on cash transfers, education services and health services go to people living in monetary poverty.  

The indicator measures the benefits an individual or household receive from different public services. Household surveys allow us to know who are benefitting from social services. Moreover, they tell us which income group these individuals belong to. Combined with government budget data, we can then assess how much of a country’s budget on social services, such as education or health, go to people living in poverty. For international comparability, the monetary poor are proxied as the bottom 20 per cent of the income distribution. This helps estimate how much public spending benefits the poorest families and children. However, at the country level, the share of poor households may be very different than 20 per cent. To account for this difference, households with income below the national poverty line should also be used for national policy design. 

 This type of analysis has been conducted in various contexts and differs in the data sources used, the detailed methodologies applied, and the sectors they are focused on. It provides governments, advocates and the public with a clearer picture of how fairly budgets are being spent. It’s not just about how much is allocated — but who ultimately benefits. When applied consistently, this method supports more equitable policymaking and better outcomes for the poorest households, especially children.