For the purpose of this paper, SA programmes are broadly defined as public cash or in-kind transfers that aim at preventing extreme hardship and employ a low-income criterion as the central entitlement condition. Benefits of last resort therefore include broad minimum-income benefits (‘non-categorical’ SA), as well as other means-tested assistance payments that are typically received by families with no other income sources (although, as discussed below, the same benefits can to some extent also top up the incomes of low-paid workers and other low-income groups). Examples are means-tested lone-parent benefits, as well as unemployment assistance benefits that are not conditional on work or contribution histories (as in Australia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, UK).