Availability, Efficacy and Challenges of Government Social Protection Programs on Household Welfare in West Point, Liberia

The study examined the availability, efficacy, and challenges of government social protection programs on household welfare in West Point, Liberia. The study employed a quantitative research method, utilizing survey design to collect data from a sample of 192 household heads in West Point, determined through Cochran’s formula and selected via simple random sampling. Population included the 30,847 residents of West Point as indicated by the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information 2022 census data. Data analysis involved cleaning, coding, and using SPSS and Excel for descriptive statistics, including means, standard deviations, and frequency tables. Findings reveal that, relative to the availability of Government Social Support Programs to the West Point Community, a very marginal number agreed to the availability of social protection programs. As shown in the finding, 63.2 percent strongly disagrees about provision of direct transfer of financial resources. This pattern of strong disagreement is replicated in every other area of social protection, which includes unemployment benefits, job training programs, and support for the disabled, where majorities of the respondents either strongly disagree or disagree and food assistance programs which showed 67 percent disagreement. As per the efficacy of the social support programs, 56.3 percent, disagreed that these programs improved their access to healthcare, and 52.1 percent disagreed that they increased educational opportunities for their children. Furthermore, 60.4 percent disagreed that these programs had improved their housing conditions, while 61.5 percent disagreed that the programs have enabled them to better manage finances. The study highlighted significant challenges in program accessibility and effectiveness, with 68.8% of respondents acknowledging difficulties in obtaining government assistance and 87.5% citing lack of information as a major issue. Inefficiencies in identification and outreach, bureaucratic delays, and financial constraints were identified as major barriers, with 71.9% and 81.2% of respondents respectively noting problems in these areas. The study recommends that the Government of Liberia address these challenges by carrying out targeted outreach strategies to better reach vulnerable groups, developing sustainable funding models to ensure their long-term stability, and conducting full-scale sensitization exercises for the general public.