Income-support programmes, in the form of unemployment benefits, social assistance, family benefits or housing allowances, have played an important macroeconomic role as automatic stabilisers during the recent crisis. Many OECD countries face high and often growing needs for social policies at times of shrinking fiscal space, which restrict the capacity for an effective response. In the early phases of the global financial and economic crisis, social spending — which accounts for about half of total public outlays in OECD countries - increased. Moreover, large fiscal stimulus packages were put in place in many countries often including greater resources for social measures. But in many OECD countries, a shift in the fiscal stance is now taking place to tackle unprecedented deficits and debt-to-GDP ratios. Social spending is part of many fiscal consolidation plans, and pressure on social spending is set to increase further.