Public works and public employment programmes (PEPs) have long been considered a staple of social assistance. For the most part, though, they have been designed as “safety nets” in the context of counter-cyclical programme interventions and responses to shocks. In some cases they have also focused on reducing poverty or addressing structural unemployment challenges over the longer term, but they have seldom been implemented on a scale that would make a dent in structural poverty. Recent advances in conceptualising and implementing scalable PEPs suggest that these programmes also have a broader development role to play. (...)