<![CDATA[Social safety nets are essential to poverty reduction, yet their effectiveness cannot be assessed through the volume of benefits distributed alone. Through a purposively selected narrative review, this article synthesizes evidence on consumption protection, human capital development, targeting quality, and the relationship between social assistance and economic self-reliance in Indonesia. It applies a narrative literature review using peer-reviewed research, institutional reports, official statistics, and policy documents. A thematic synthesis distinguishes empirical findings from conceptual policy proposals. Experimental evidence on Indonesia’s conditional cash transfer program shows improvements in several health and education outcomes but no transformative household economic change during the six-year observation period. Integrated social registries offer opportunities to improve targeting, provided that data quality and grievance mechanisms are maintained. The article develops a four-dimensional evaluation framework covering protection adequacy, human capital, governance quality, and productive economic capacity. It argues that social assistance and economic empowerment should be complementary and tailored to beneficiaries’ circumstances. The conclusions are conceptual and should not be interpreted as new causal estimates of poverty impacts.]]>
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