Social problems, such as childhood lead poisoning, do not occur in a vacuum. As such, defining such problems requires a holistic examination of the broad social, political, and economic influences that create and perpetuate the issue of concern. Richardson does this with eloquence and heart. She also investigates the attitudes various groups have held toward the Residential Lead-based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (Title X). In doing so, she reveals much about the attitudes officials hold toward problems that primarily affect poor communities, and demonstrates how these attitudes directly affect policymaking and policy enforcement. The social consequences of lead poisoning analyzed in this volume fall into the following categories:

• Housing
• Health
• Education
  Policy-making
• and
• Legal Challenges
• . The Cost of Being Poor would be useful to individuals in the fields of public health, policy, education, and law. Furthermore, this work would be of special use to educators, who would benefit from familiarity with lead poisoning as a factor in their students' lives and from becoming aware that there are options that poisoned children have to improve their situation. The first step necessary in eliminating social problems is to understand the nature of the problem. This study is a step in that direction.

Imperial Inequalities takes Western European empires and their legacies as the explicit starting point for discussion of issues of taxation and welfare. In doing so, it addresses the institutional and fiscal processes involved in modes of extraction, taxation, and the hierarchies of welfare distribution across Europe's global empires. The idea of 'imperial inequalities' provides a conceptual frame for thinking about the long-standing colonial histories that are responsible, at least in part, for the shape of present inequalities. This wide-ranging volume challenges existing historiographical accounts that present states and empires as separate categories. Instead, it views them as co-constitutive units by focusing upon the politics of economic governance across imperial spaces. Authors examine the fiscal innovations that enabled European empires to finance their expansion, the politics of redistribution that were important to constructing the veneer of legitimacy of taxation, and the fiscal mechanisms that were established to ensure that the imperial contours of inequality continued to define the postcolonial world. These diverse contributions provide new resources for how we think about issues of taxation and welfare across the longue duree. This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10, Reduced inequalities -- .

The NHS, education, social care, local government, employment services, social housing and benefits for the poor face major challenges from a government determined to entrench a radical and divisive liberalism permanently in British public life. This book analyses the immediate challenges from headlong cuts that bear most heavily on women, families and the poor, and from a root-and-branch restructuring which will fragment and privatize the bulk of public services. It sets this in the context of escalating inequalities and the longer-term pressures from population ageing. It demonstrates that a more humane and generous welfare state that will build inclusiveness is possible by combining policies that limit child poverty, promote more equal outcomes from health care and education, introduce a greater contributory element into social benefits, invest in better child and elder care and address low wages and workplace rights. It analyses the political forces that can be marshalled to support these shifts and shows that, with political leadership, the welfare state can attract mass support.

What can Chinese economists learn from the Japanese economic boom and subsequent stagnation? This project aims to institutionally and empirically investigate the growth mechanism and determinants of sustainable development in China compared with Japanese experiences. This is the first challenge in conducting a comparative study on China and Japan's economic growth and development. We aim to investigate the economic system transition and its influence on the Chinese and Japanese economy from macroeconomic and microeconomic perspectives. This book will interest economists, scholars of comparative politics, and scholars of China or Japan's economic development.

Aspalter asserts that the belief that the development of high standard welfare states is primarily based on the ideology that pro-welfare, mostly leftwing, parties dominate welfare state literature and common thought in the Western world. Instead, in this examination of the welfare states of East Asia, Aspalter and his contributors show that they grew as naturally as they did in most Western countries, but that the reasons for this are other than pro-welfare ideologies. The five welfare states--Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore--are residual welfare states with low levels of welfare benefits and provision when compared to extended welfare states in Western Europe. While East Asian welfare states have experienced a hefty increase in welfare provision that has been regulated or provided by the state since the early 1970s, all five were set up and expanded by conservative governments with clear anti-welfare ideologies.

The case studies provided by Aspalter and his contributors suggest that welfare state development in East Asia is caused to a large extent by social protests in general, and, for welfare in particular, by competition in democratic elections, and by the changing role of women. Social and demographic factors, such as the rise of the age structure of the population, do not cause welfare state expansion in the first place. They cause street protests, and street protests convince all kinds of governments--if they rule out the use of force--to implement social welfare. Moreover, politicians, who are afraid to lose elections, also take up welfare issues, which they would not do without electoral competition between candidates and parties. As Aspalter makes clear, governments do not have to wait until major protests occur or until they have lost an election in order to promote social welfare. The anticipation of such an event is sufficient. This book provides new insights on the development of welfare systems that will be of particular interest to scholars, students, and other researchers involved with social welfare, East Asian studies, and comparative politics.

A unique manual to the discipline, Reflective Practice in Child and Youth Care addresses the need for distinct models of reflective practice across all Child and Youth Care (CYC) sectors. This seminal work contextualizes the history of reflective practice and provides readers with the necessary tools to develop their own approach to reflective practice. Special topics and key concepts include reflective practice theory, the mindfulness-reflection connection, and transformative learning techniques. Aligned with the CYC Code of Ethics and the CYC Competencies of Professionalism, this book promotes selfawareness and critical self-reflection through case studies, end-of chapter discussion questions, reflective writing templates, and selfassessment exercises. Fostering reflective methods and self-care strategies that can be used in practicums and professional settings, this unique workbook is an essential resource for students at any stage of a college or university program in child and youth care. Features allows instructor flexibility with chapters that can be taught in any preferred order connects to concepts that are covered across child and youth care program courses, strengthening student comprehension provides exercises that range in content and depth to ensure student engagement throughout the completion of the textbook

Challenges to the Welfare State examines and assesses cultural, economic and political problems facing welfare states in Europe and North America and provides policy suggestions to alleviate these problems. An important group of authors identifies the relative merits of welfare state systems in the United States and Europe. They consider the transition of the welfare state in former Communist countries to more market oriented systems and the status of the European welfare state in the context of deepening European integration. More specifically, these experts address the question of whether further integration in Europe will result in an environment where all citizens are guaranteed only certain basic social rights and are encouraged to take private financial responsibility for health care, pension provision and insurance. The nature of social insurance institutions, the problems of ageing populations and the backlash against increasing taxation are also considered. The authors conclude that the reduction of existing government debt in the context of the move towards European Monetary Union will require either considerable increases in taxation or a significant reduction in entitlements. This book will be required reading for scholars and students of economics, social and public politics, politics and public administration.

This work assesses the possibilities and limitations of reducing poverty among families with children by increasing the work effort of the adults in those families. Following a historical review of family poverty since 1995, the authors present several policy simulations, including increased employment, a higher minimum wage, more generous tax credits, a child allowance, and reduced childcare or medical expenses. Specific policy proposals-including the proposals of the Biden Administration-are assessed using four criteria: reducing child poverty; equitable treatment of the poorest groups; promotion of self-sufficiency; and cost-effectiveness. The authors conclude that while no single policy is able to reduce family poverty by half while meeting the other criteria, several combinations of policies have the potential to do so.

Institutional and Financial Incentives for Social Insurance provides both an empirical and a theoretical account of the main difficulties presently threatening social insurance systems in most industrialized countries. It analyzes the remedies that have been discussed and sometimes introduced and addresses many questions still left largely unresolved: Are newly implemented or proposed reforms providing the correct incentives to all participants in the system? Is the quality of service improving and, if not, what can be done? How should the budgetary problems be solved considering both intra-generational and inter-generational redistributive policies?

The volume describes a number of studies of social security systems in various countries and assesses the effect of various policies, including welfare or unemployment benefits, training and other active labour market policies, the provision of pension, and competition and budget devolution in health care. It applies empirical tests to individual preferences concerning unemployment compensation, and it analyzes nonfunded and funded social security systems, the transition from one system to the other, and the willingness to pay for pensions.

This book will be of interest to academics, researchers and students in public, labour, health and welfare economics, as well as experts and researchers in social insurance.

This textbook offers students and practitioners an accessible introduction to strengths-based approaches in Social Work and Social Care practice. Covering the theory and research in support of these approaches, and packed full of case studies, the book will allow readers to develop a critical understanding of how strengths-based approaches work, and how they can be successfully applied in order to improve outcomes for people with lived experience. Covering the five main models of strengths-based practice, the text presents international research and evidence on the efficacy of each approach, enabling students and practitioners to apply the benefits in their own social work practice. The guide features the perspectives of people with lived experience throughout and includes the following key learning features: * case studies of best practice; * points for practice: succinct tips for practitioners and students on practice placement; * further reading list and resources; * glossary.

This book considers the impact of digital media and technology on lived experience for young people in foster care. While the extent and intricacies of foster care-known as out-of-home care (OOHC) in Australia, where this study takes place-are not widely understood by the general public, youth in care might struggle to construct a personal identity that goes beyond reflecting the stereotypes and stigma by which they are often recognised. In today's digital environment, media can play a significant role in any individual's developing sense of self, identity, and belonging. Deitz and Sheridan Burns examine OOHC through the lens of networked media environments and investigate the conditions that encourage belonging and resilience in order to establish the role that digital technology can play in supporting those conditions for individuals, family networks, and the care sector.

Spending the final chapter of your life in a nursing home is considered, by many, a fate worse than death. Others, however, have found that through enlightened, imaginative care even the frailest of lives can flourish. The key to such a transformation is to replace the constricting custodial centres of the past with a more informed, research-based approach. This book is timely, responding to evidence of the urgent need for change described in the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Final Report: Care, Dignity and Respect and its predecessor subtitled Neglect. In this book, the author proposes a model of care that places the whole person at its centre, sidestepping the constraints of a reductionist funding model that focusses on residents' deficits - and the proprietor's financial gain. Aged care requires a comprehensive research-based guide to fulfil this aim. Narratives are included throughout the book to reinforce the fact that nursing home care is about individual residents and their unique lives. Topics explored in various chapters include: * Ageing in a Changing Community * Social, Gerontological Care * A Palliative Approach * Community Expectations Ageing in a Nursing Home: Foundations for Care takes a realistic approach that draws on contemporary research and narratives from the unique lives of older Australians who, despite their frailty, teach us how to care. Such knowledge informs and influences their future. The book is a resource intended for all who have a stake in the provision of best practice residential aged care, and all who benefit from such care. Its academic appeal will include those who design and teach courses in aged care: gerontology, general practice medicine, nursing, attendant care, allied health, and chaplaincy. Academics and teachers will find useful, well-referenced material for their courses, together with ample scope for researchers.

At a time when political leaders of the member nations are not acting to strengthen the multilateral trading system via the World Trade Organization, it is worthwhile to reflect on the WTO's contributions to global welfare since its inception more than 65 years ago. This volume assembles seminal empirical studies which estimate the past and prospective, national and global economic welfare impacts of GATT/WTO-induced multilateral trade liberalizations. It also touches on the effects of the Uruguay Round's TRIPS Agreement on intellectual property rights, and the benefits from WTO accessions and trade facilitation initiatives. In his authoritative introduction, Professor Anderson points to the numerous additional contributions of the WTO (and its predecessor, the GATT) which, though difficult to quantify, are nonetheless of great value and highlights those areas where further empirical research could shed more light on the net benefits of this important institution.

This collection is the first major exploration of the issues related to young people who are affected by child sexual exploitation (CSE) and child trafficking for exploitation. These include consideration of the language we currently use to construct and understand CSE; how to conceptualise CSE and sexual violence that takes place in gangs or between peers; issues of how 'consent' relates to young people in abusive or exploitative sexual relationships; how young people themselves might participate in work to improve service delivery; why some looked after young people are at greater risk of CSE than others and how they might keep safe. The volume also reviews policy and practice developments in Scotland; the risk of CSE for young women who go missing to escape forced marriages; the importance of including young people at risk of CSE in decision-making about their care; how and why trafficking and CSE came to be defined as objects of international policy concern and how community organizations might be mobilized to protect young people from the risk of trafficking for CSE.
This volume is essential reading for academics, students, practitioners and policymakers in the fields of social work and social policy, child protection and youth work, criminology and sociology and the health care services.

This book is a study of the increasing territorial variations in the development of sub-national welfare systems that have occurred as an effect of the decentralization of health care and social assistance policies in Italy, Spain and Great Britain. The author examines the political factors that underlie these variations by combining cross-regional and cross-country comparisons using mixed methods. Vampa's main finding is that regionalist parties have played a key role in sub-national welfare building and have used social policy to strengthen their legitimacy in the political struggle against central authorities. In this context, functional political competition between Left and Right has been partly replaced by territorial competition between Centre and Periphery as the main determinant of social policy making. Additionally, mainstream left-wing parties have been torn between maintaining territorial uniformity in social protection and responding to demands for more extensive social services tailored to the needs and preferences of specific regional communities. This book will be of use to academics and policy makers interested in political economy, devolution/decentralisation, welfare, and party politics.

This handbook emphasizes culturally sensitive social services for Asian and Pacific Islanders. It integrates conceptual information with concrete, hands-on application of skills. The book is divided into three parts: (1) the nature and scope of social services for Asian and Pacific Islanders (2) Asian and Pacific Islander populations and (3) special issues and problems.

The first section establishes a foundation for culturally sensitive practice through an overview of all Asian and Pacific Islander groups. It presents a framework for appropriate intervention with these populations and details the interface of western and eastern psychologies. Section two specifically focuses on seven of the largest Asian and Pacific Islander populations in the United States: the three largest Asian American groups (Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese); the three largest Pacific Islander groups (native Hawaiians, Samoans, and Chamorros); and the newest refugee group (Vietnamese). The contributors provide in-depth information on topics critical to culturally sensitive practice such as history, sociodemographic description, values and behavioral norms, and profiles of social and psychological problems, then discuss appropriate social service intervention. Finally, section three addresses special problems and issues confronting Asian and Pacific Islanders in contemporary society such as family violence, aging, and social literacy. It is projected that in the year 2030, one of every three Americans will be a person of color. It is essential that social and human service educators and providers begin to examine critically those components that constitute culturally sensitive practice for a historically neglected population. This book will be an essential part of that process.

Welfare and the Great Recession surveys and analyses welfare consequences in the period following the financial crisis in Europe. It investigates how the burdens of the recession were shared between countries, between different socio-economic groups across Europe, and within individual countries, and offers new evidence that demonstrates the importance of the welfare state and government policies in sheltering populations from serious economic contraction. The first comprehensive study of the Great Recession in Europe that focuses on household level welfare consequences, this edited volume relates financial hardship to institutional characteristics such as welfare regimes, currency regimes, socio-political patterns, affluence levels, public debt, and policy reactions to periods of crisis. It takes into account stimulus versus austerity, the degree of social protection emphasis, the commitment to redistribution, and the significance of activism. Widely comparative, Welfare and the Great Recession combines comparisons of thirty countries with an in-depth study of nine country cases to offer various lessons from the crisis experience in Europe and reflect on welfare futures in a globalized crisis-prone environment.

From housing, pensions and family benefits, to health care, unemployment insurance and social assistance, the welfare state is a key aspect of our lives. But social programs are contested political realities that we can't hope to understand without locating them within the "big picture."

This book provides a concise political and sociological introduction to social policy, helping readers to grasp the nature of social programs and the political struggles surrounding them. It takes a broad comparative and historical viewpoint on the United States, using an international perspective to contextualize American social policy within the developed world. Provocative and engaging, it offers insight into a wide range of social policy issues such as: welfare regimes, welfare state development, the politics of retrenchment and restructuring; the relationship between social programs and various forms of inequality; changing family and economic relations; the role of private social benefits; the potential impact of globalization; and debates about the future of the welfare state.

"What is Social Policy?" will be stimulating reading for upper-level students of sociology, political science, public policy, and social work.

Considers ways in which raising questions about gender can help researchers and practitioners better understand family relationships and issues in children's development Draws on current developments in thinking about gender relations Offers an overview of sociological, psychological and developmental perspectives on family relationships, child welfare outcomes and the practice/policy realities of professional interventions with families Chapters address range of service settings; including family support, child health, education, child protection, domestic violence, 'looked after' children and youth justice

This volume discusses a broad range of human welfare problems associated with and stemming from social issues, natural resource deficiencies, environmental hazards, vulnerability to climate change, and sustainability challenges. The chapters form a framework centered around the concept of social morphology, i.e. the role of humans in shaping society, and associated human-nature interactions which inform the ability to achieve sustainable welfare and well-being. The book is divided in six sections. Section I contains the introductory chapters where the book explores shifting interfaces between environment, society, and sustainability outcomes. Section II discusses contemporary issues of social welfare, and covers sustainable approaches in geo-heritage and ecotourism. Section III addresses the roots of various social conflicts and inequalities in relation to overpopulation, poverty, illiteracy, employment concerns, and human migration. Section IV highlights social security and areas of social deprivation, including urban affordability, gender equality, and women's health. Section V covers social issues resulting from natural hazards and disasters. Section VI concludes the book with a discussion of the way forward for social sustainability. The book will be of interest to students, researchers, policy makers, environmentalists, NGOs, and social scientists.

This book presents an original contribution to the study of care and care work by addressing pressing issues in the field from a Latin American and intersectional perspective. The expansion of professional care and its impacts on public policies related to care are global phenomena, but so far the international literature on the subject has focused mainly on the Global North. This volume aims to enrich this literature by presenting results of research projects conducted in five Latin American countries - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay -, and comparing them with researches conducted in other countries, such as France, Japan and the USA. Latin America is a social space where professional care has expanded dramatically over the past twenty years. However, unlike Japan, USA and European countries, such expansion took place in a context of heterogeneous and poorly structured markets, in societies which stand out for its reliance on domestic workers to provide care work in the household as paid workers, in both formal and informal arrangements. CareandCareWorkers: A Latin American Perspective will be a useful tool for sociologists, anthropologists, social workers, gerontologists and other social scientists dedicated to the study of the growing demand for care services worldwide, as well as to decision makers dealing with public policies related to care services. "Society cannot function without the unpaid (and poorly and informally paid) work of caregivers. Having the data - and this book presents this data - allows public policy to be based on the realities rather than on the prejudices, habits, or structural injustices of a previous time about gender roles, class, ethnicity, race, migrant status. (...) This volume not only presents the data, then, but also shows how some countries have begun to innovate to provide solutions to the problem that some people are overburdened by care while others do little of it. (...) Scholars and activists in Latin American countries lead the way in showing both how resistance remains and how to innovate. So the rest of the world has much to learn from this volume." - Excerpt from the Foreword by Professor Joan C. Tronto