Social Security and Fighting Poverty in Tunisia

Article Critique by Yvonne Duyao

The article was all about Social Security and Fighting Poverty in Tunisia and was written by

Hasna Khemili and Mounir Belloumi, (2019). The idea of the article was to examine the role of

social security in fighting poverty in Metlaoui, Tunisia, using survey data collected between July

2012 and January 2014, covering 200 poor households. And the authors also attempted to clarify

and better understand the impact of social schemes for them to reduce poverty in Tunisia, using

the Metlaoui region as an example.

The article's objective is to investigate and evaluate the impact of social security on the

vulnerability to risk and poverty in Tunisia in the Metlaoui region to be exact. The authors of the

article decided to gather their data by using a model established in Skoufias in 2007 and it’s

based on a questionnaire survey that gave a thorough analysis of the reactions, behavior, and

strategies adopted by poor households as a result of various forms of risks. In addition to that, the

authors have also chosen the Metlaoui region in Tunisia, given that the specialty of this rural

region is mining and is facing serious shocks following the Tunisian revolution of 2011. Overall,

the results showed that social security plays an important role in Metlaoui, but it remains

insufficient, especially for households that are not covered by social security and are suffering

from heavy health expenditures.

Most of the analysis and results from the work was accurately performed as it was strengthened

by facts and researches. However, one of the methodologies of the article was not suitable for the

research of the authors as it will not be accurate. As it was mentioned the authors have only

given a survey to the poor households but it will make the article not as accurate as it should also
tackle the rich household in order to have correct results. All of the results have answered my

questions thoroughly; the thesis statement was also clearly stated which made the article easier to

understand. The article also tackles a lot of issues that are happening in the world, like how does

the difference in economic classes affect poverty in Tunisia. But my only question that wasn’t

answered in the article is did the article in any way help the government in solving poverty in

Tunisia? How is the article going to help the specified field that was mentioned? Will it help the

country to advance its economy? Neither the less, I was surprised by the structure of the article

because it targeted more on the current problems that the world should be giving attention at the

moment of age. The article could help in persuading the government in helping the poor

household in providing them social security as well to the rich households in Tunisia as this can

help the citizens to eliminate poverty in their country.

As a young adult myself, the article made me open my mind more on the issues a lot of countries

are facing on and excitement in the argument of the article as I don’t usually get when I read

articles. The article can help the citizens and as well as the government change the systems they

were used to and change it for the better to avoid poverty and to make the economy great in

Tunisia. Talking about the contemporary issues that the sector is in at this era is something that

most people ought to give their attention too, and this text tackled most of the issues in the

modern crisis the world is in at this age. The article was also strengthened by the survey and

accurate citations and information and also in the methodologies that the authors have done as it

was computed using formulas and evaluated properly, there is no misleading content and is

focused more in a specific region. My only suggestion to the future direction of the research is to

include both the rich and poor households in gathering data. Therefore I conclude that this article

is impressive in all aspects as it was organized properly and I would recommend this to others.