Having previously defined a good society as a sustainable society with a high level of development, significant provision of meaningful jobs, and low levels of inequality and social ills, Toward a Good Society in the Twenty-first Century provides a wide range of principles and policies that would be necessary if we are to achieve a good society.Marangos and Karagiannis have put together a comprehensive volume that explores the principles and policies needed to bring about the good society, and focuses on four broad themes which are deemed important towards achieving a good or better society: quality education and fair distribution; environmentally sustainable prosperity; inclusive economic development and significant job creation; and beneficial civic institutions, and deepening of freedom and time use. All these topics can be highly controversial and call for alternative perspectives on theoretical (philosophical) and policy grounds.

Although most advanced industrialized countries are facing population aging and other social changes, public long-term care programs for the aged are remarkably diverse across them. This book accounts for the variations in elderly care policy by combining statistical analysis with historical case studies of Sweden, Japan and the USA.

By carefully analyzing a comprehensive data base of questionnaire responses gathered over the past two decades in the developing regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America, this book arrives at a series of powerful conclusions regarding the determinants of well-being and happiness of all sectors of society. The book explores the relative importance of health and education, as well as addressing social and demographic issues surrounding happiness, and the effect of ageing. Psychological factors are also discussed, such as the effects of a belief in social mobility in the less well-off. The authors explore why income poverty is not the only form of poverty, and focus on other factors that uplift the well-being and happiness of the underprivileged.

While social welfare programs, often inspired by international organizations, are spreading throughout the world, the more far-reaching notion of governmental responsibility for the basic well-being of all members of a political society is not, although it remains a feature of Europe and the former British Commonwealth. The welfare state in the European sense is not simply an administrative arrangement of various measures of social protection but a political project embedded in distinct cultural traditions. Offering the first accessible account in English of the historical development of the European idea of the welfare state, this book reviews the intellectual foundations which underpinned the road towards the European welfare state, formulates some basic concepts for its understanding, and highlights the differences in the underlying structural and philosophical conditions between continental Europe and the English-speaking world.

Based upon Crawford's extensive survey of more than 300 U.S. businesses, this book explores and describes in detail the various types of employee benefits policies designed to ease the burdens of employees caught between the conflicting demands of work and the need to provide care for dependent children and/or parents. Crawford examines in depth such policies as flextime, referral services, on-site daycare, and dependent care service partnerships, identifying the strengths and drawbacks of each and the extent of their current use in American businesses. She also offers the reader a rationale for companies' adoption of dependent care policies, showing that a failure to implement such measures can lead to problems such as increased absenteeism and decreased productivity that will eventually impact the corporate bottom line.

Crawford demonstrates that the combined impact of more women in the workplace and a growing aged population has created a dependency crisis that is only beginning to be adequately addressed by American businesses and policymakers. The policies that are now being developed to address this problem are examined both from the standpoint of how they actually work in practice and how they can provide real benefits to employers as well as employees. Concerned throughout to provide both descriptive detail and practical advice, the author illustrates ways in which to lay the foundation for effective dependent care employee benefits packages. She also reviews and evaluates current legislative activities on behalf of parental leave. Concluding with a look at the future, Crawford assesses the demographics that will define what kinds of dependent care assistance the labor force of tomorrow will require. An indispensable guide for human resource professionals, Crawford's work will also be of significant interest to students in business and management programs.

For some, Sweden is proof that a generous welfare state is fully compatible with a growing competitive economy. For others, it is a frightening example of what big government can do to a once thriving economy. Sweden and the Revival of the Capitalist Welfare State tackles a number of controversial questions regarding Sweden's economic and political development: How did Sweden become rich? How did Sweden become egalitarian? Why has Sweden since the early 90s grown faster than the US and most EU-countries despite its high taxes and generous welfare state? The author uses new research on institutions and economic reforms to explain the rise, the fall and the recent revival of the Swedish welfare state. The central argument is that a generous welfare state like that of Sweden can work well, provided that it is built on well-functioning capitalist institutions and economic openness. The book expertly explains how Sweden developed from a poor and highly unequal society to one of the richest and most egalitarian countries in the world by building a universal welfare state on a capitalist foundation. It also engages in an important discussion about the current and future challenges for the welfare state in general. The book will fit well in introductory and advanced courses on welfare state policy, social work, sociology, economic history, institutional economics and political science. In all these disciplines, the case of Sweden has always provoked interest and debate, due to Sweden's combination of prosperity, equality and extensive welfare state. The rapid pace of change in Sweden over the last 25 years, however, means that most other books are descriptively dated. Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Prosperity and equality: The golden years 1870-1970 3. The 'not quite so golden' years 1970 - 1995 4. The return of the capitalist welfare state 5. The capitalist welfare state's bloc-transcending history 6. The consequences of increasing competition 7. The resilience of labor market regulation and rent control 8. Challenges ahead: Can the capitalist welfare state survive? Appendices Bibliography Index

This book explores the adoption of "active ageing" policies by EU15 nations and the impact on older peoples' work and retirement policy options. It explores the labor market policies (including unemployment benefits, active labor market policies and partial pension receipt) and pension policies (pension principles, early retirement and incentives for deferral) adopted by these nations from the mid-1990s onwards, addressing three main questions. First, to what extent was the EU's vision of "active ageing" adopted in EU15 nations between 1995 and 2010? Second, what was the nature of policy reforms in these nations over this time period? Finally, which sub-groups within the older age cohort were subject to active ageing policies in these countries? The data indicate convergence towards the EU-vision of active ageing is complex, with nations adopting a variety of different reforms and policy mixes, which in turn focus on different groups within the older age cohort.

This is an ethnographic study of predominantly Puerto Rican low-income people on the Lower East Side of Manhattan who have been involved in the rehabilitation of abandoned buildings through sweat-equity urban homesteading from 1978 to 1993. The study combines a portrait of homesteading in a contemporary urban environment with an analysis of homesteading in the context of economic and political developments at the local, state, and national levels. As participant-observer of the rehabilitation efforts, von Hassell was impressed with the ingenuity and initiative of poor and working-class people. She came to the conclusion that housing as a central factor in poverty amelioration must be interpreted with other factors such as labor, education, and health care, and that despite internal conflicts the project could have been more successful if it had received local political, governmental, and social services support.

Chapters in this work describe and analyze homelessness in 15 states, from all geographic regions of the US. The diversity of survey locations reveals a variety of forces contributing to homelessness. There are frequent efforts to situate the problem within the sociopolitical context of the 1980s. An occasional chapter contains rich theoretical commentary. . . . the scope of the findings is compelling and the contradiction of stereotypes is effective. Choice This volume reads and holds together well even though each of the 14 chapters was written by a different individual or group, covers a different section of the country, uses different types of data sources and analytical methods, and evidences differing perspectives. An excellent foreword and introduction (Bruce Wiegand, Howard M. Bahr) put everything in context . . . Library Journal The essays in this volume attempt to answer some of the basic questions involved in the study of homelessness. They address such issues as the nature and extent of homelessness in the United States, the socioeconomic and demographic features of the homeless population, and how homelessness is conceptualized. Other examined matters include family background, duration of homelessness, shelter and social needs, socioeconomic causes, and the demands of the homeless issue on national policy. This work provides a unique sociological and demographic perspective on the problems of homelessness. Its emphasis on local and state-level studies will make it invaluable for civic groups and policy makers. It will also interest scholars in the fields of housing, urban sociology, and social problems.

In India today only 35 percent of people have access to medicines. This book examines the rise of drug prices in India, and develops a new healthcare model, which if implemented, would extend access to medicines to India's entire population. Sensitivity tests show that the proposed model is affordable, equitable and implementable

This is a response to the need for up-to-date information about three major challenges posed by urbanization: buildings, transportation, and land use. Planning the built environment involves integrating all aspects of human life so that an esthetic, economic, and sustainable system is established. There are challenges which arise from this, but the primary goal is to provide adequate, safe, efficient, and affordable housing for the populations. The goal is to convert chaos to order, to make cities workable, to bar bad development, to encourage the building of necessary facilities, and to improve land use.

Based on the findings of a large-scale, comparative research project, this book systematically assesses the institutional design and national influence of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) on Social Inclusion and Social Protection, at the European Union (EU) level and in ten EU Member States. Besides offering novel empirical and theoretical insights into the operation and impact of the OMC, the book presents an up-to-date perspective on the future of social policy coordination within the Europe 2020 Strategy. The book is required reading for anyone concerned with understanding the contribution of new forms of governance to the past and future development of Social Europe.

The Oxford Handbook of Health Economics provides an accessible and authoritative guide to health economics, intended for scholars and students in the field, as well as those in adjacent disciplines including health policy and clinical medicine. The chapters stress the direct impact of health economics reasoning on policy and practice, offering readers an introduction to the potential reach of the discipline.
Contributions come from internationally-recognized leaders in health economics and reflect the worldwide reach of the discipline. Authoritative, but non-technical, the chapters place great emphasis on the connections between theory and policy-making, and develop the contributions of health economics to problems arising in a variety of institutional contexts, from primary care to the operations of health insurers. The volume addresses policy concerns relevant to health systems in both developed and developing countries. It takes a broad perspective, with relevance to systems with single or multi-payer health insurance arrangements, and to those relying predominantly on user charges; contributions are also included that focus both on medical care and on non-medical factors that affect health. Each chapter provides a succinct summary of the current state of economic thinking in a given area, as well as the author's unique perspective on issues that remain open to debate. The volume presents a view of health economics as a vibrant and continually advancing field, highlighting ongoing challenges and pointing to new directions for further progress.

The compulsory nature of social security makes it possible for income to be distributed within and across beneficiary cohorts. Focusing on the Federal Social Security system, encompassing OASDI and Medicare, this volume examines the equity and adequacy criteria that serve as standards for determining how payroll tax revenues are to be distributed. Social Security distributes cash benefits to retired and disabled workers in accordance with past taxable earnings, and the book describes and evaluates the procedures for determining each worker's earnings-related benefit base. The benefit base serves as a standard of individual equity. Primary worker payments are determined by applying a cohort-specific benefit formula to the benefit base of each worker. The benefit formula includes a rate structure with a progressive tilt, resulting in a higher benefit-to-earnings ratio for workers with lower prior earnings. Other features of the benefit structure adjust benefits to allow for age at entitlement and presence of eligible dependents or survivors. This book examines all of these features from an individual equity perspective. The authors also use equity considerations to provide a framework for examining the disability determination process and the current procedure for financing the Hospital Insurance and Supplementary Medical Insurance components of Medicare. In conclusion, the authors contrast the existing system with alternatives that would conform more closely with an actuarial standard. They also conclude with a discussion of the effects of the impending OASI trust fund surplus on successive generations of beneficiaries.

Health Care is a central pillar of the Welfare State, in fact, the second pillar in terms of expenditure after pensions. However, we know little about how they perform. European Health Care Systems have been put increasingly under pressure during the last two decades. They have had to face a quadrilemma: to control costs and the increase in public expenditure; to guarantee equality of access; to maximize the quality of care; and to guarantee the responsiveness of the health system and the satisfaction of patients and professionals working in the field. Achieving good results on all these four objectives is extremely difficult and often trade-offs arise among different objectives. Using in-depth case study analysis on eight health care systems, belonging to different Welfare State traditions, and comparative statistical analysis on a broader group of countries, the book connects the main policy reforms of the last two decades with how well these systems perform, in terms of economic efficiency, medical achievements, social inequalities, and patients' and workers' conditions.

There is a clear trend in rich countries that, despite rising incomes and living standards, the gap between rich and poor is widening. What does this mean for our health? Does increasing income inequality affect outcomes such as obesity, life expectancy and subjective well-being? Are rich and poor groups affected in the same ways? This book reviews the latest research on the relationship between inequality and health, and provides a pedagogical introduction to the tools and knowledge needed to understand and assess the vast literature on the subject. The book includes discussion of the definitions and measurement of objective and subjective health and income inequality, and illustrates how various measures have been developed in different countries. Main conclusions from the literature are then summarized and discussed critically. It incorporates a substantial research overview of the field, as well as a detailed debate of the empirical challenges that arise during research. The book concludes that results are surprisingly contradictory, but that several studies have found that higher inequality is directly linked to lower subjective well-being. Students and scholars in public health, social work, economics, and sociology will find this book an essential exposition of conceptual issues and empirical methods applied to the controversial topic of the health consequences of inequality.

The 12 essays in this book explore this vital issue from a number of perspectives. The text represents a partial gleaning of the September 2001 conference of the European Institute of Social Security, held in Bergen, Norway - a leading multidisciplinary research group and the vanguard of the debate on social security in Europe. Fifteen researchers and administrators from all over Europe offer in-depth analysis and conclusions in crucial areas. In addition to the individual insights advanced in each paper, two notable trends seem to pervade the entire conference. One is the growing divergence of social security policy within European countries, coexisting uneasily with EU measures against social exclusion; the other is the sudden clarity of principle and design in the European welfare state when seen against the virtual anarchy of the globalisation model.

Examines the consequences of welfare reform for black women fleeing domestic violence.

Basic Income in Japan is the first collective volume in English entirely devoted to the discussion of Japan's potential for a basic income program in the context of the country's changing welfare state. Vanderborght and Yamamori bring together over a dozen contributors to provide a general overview of the scholarly debate on universal and unconditional basic income, including a foreword by Ronald Dore. Drawing on empirical data on poverty and inequality as well as normative arguments, this balanced approach to a radical idea is essential reading for the study of contemporary Japan.

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

aWell organized, tightly written and full of interesting and provocative information. The authors produced a very good piece of scholarship that is theoretically grounded and attentive to detail, especially concerning methodological issues including the potential limitations of their study.a
--Victoria Basolo, University of California, Irvine

aThis well written book makes a major contribution to urban sociology and race/ethnic studies.a--"Choice"

a[W]ill be fascinating for policy makers and scholars concerned with housing patterns and racial discrimination.a
--"Jewish Book World"

"An excellent and timely volume, very well written, clearly organized, and cogently argued."
--Douglas S. Massey, author of "Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Mexican Immigration in an Era of Economic Integration"

"The Housing Divide brilliantly transforms the Big Apple into a crystal ball for glimpsing the racial and ethnic future of 21st century America. The core finding--that, just as in the past, racial discrimination keeps Americans with African ancestry from taking advantage of opportunities used by the newest immigrants and their children to get ahead--portends a troubling future in which American society may cleave between blacks and non-blacks. This book is a wake-up call to America to finally address racial discrimination in housing."
--Richard Alba, co-author of "Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration"

"The Housing Divide takes a hard look at housing and neighborhood quality in the nation's largest and most diverse city. It exposes longstanding features that are found in most American cities, including the potential for upward mobility by some immigrant newcomers, the traps that others fall into, and the continuing reality of racial discrimination that limits progress for too many New Yorkers."
&3151;John R. Logan, editor of "The New Chinese City: Globalization and Market Reform"

The Housing Divide examines the generational patterns in New York City's housing market and neighborhoods along the lines of race and ethnicity. The book provides an in-depth analysis of many immigrant groups in New York, especially providing an understanding of the opportunities and discriminatory practices at work from one generation to the next. Through a careful read of such factors as home ownership, housing quality, and neighborhood rates of crime, welfare enrollment, teenage pregnancy, and educational achievement, Emily Rosenbaum and Samantha Friedman provide a detailed portrait of neighborhood life and socio-economic status for the immigrants of New York.

The book paints an important, if disturbing, picture. The authors argue that not only are Blacks--regardless of generation--disadvantaged relative to members of other racial/ethnic groups in their ability to obtain housing in high-quality neighborhoods, but that housing and neighborhood conditions actually decline over generations. Rosenbaum and Friedman's findings suggest that the future of racial inequality in this country will increasingly isolate Blacks from all other groups. In other words, the "color line" may be shifting from a line separating Blacks from Whites to one separating Blacks from all non-Blacks.

Grandparenting in divorced families is the first in-depth exploration of grandparents' relationships with their adult children and grandchildren in divorced families. It asks what part grandparents might play in public policy and whether measures should be taken to support their grandparenting role. Do grandparents have a special role in family life that ought to be recognised in law? This book examines grandparents' roles and functions and gives voice to their attitudes and opinions. Grandparenting is often represented sentimentally with too little account taken of the diversity of attitudes and behaviour. The study asks challenging questions about grandparents' contributions to family life and comments on the legal and policy implications. It includes fascinating discussion of issues such as: grandparents who are excluded and ignored; partisan behaviour and its effect on family relationships; communicating across the family divide; change and continuity in grandparents' relationships with their grandchildren. This groundbreaking book is intended for a wide readership. Grandparents and parents in divorced families will identify with many of the thoughts, feelings and experiences reflected here. Academics in social science and law departments will encounter new thinking about the nature of the grandchild-grandparent relationship. Policy makers will discover more about recent policy initiatives and their strengths and limitations.

The result of a conference organized to address problems raised by the housing crisis of the 1980s, this volume brings together academic and professional housing experts representing a variety of disciplines and political The essays evaluate the nation's housing stock and assess progress toward reaching national housing goals, address the issue of specialism and the problems of groups with special housing needs, and examine the range of policies aimed at meeting the housing needs of those for whom the market fails to offer acceptable options.

The result of a conference organized to address problems raised by the housing crisis of the 1980s, this volume brings together academic and professional housing experts representing a variety of disciplines and political perspectives. Their papers fall into three major groups. Those in the first group are concerned with establishing criteria for evaluating the nation's housing stock and assessing progress toward reaching national housing goals. A second set addresses the issue of specialism and the problems of groups with special housing needs, while the final section examines the range of policies aimed at meeting the housing needs of those for whom the market fails to offer acceptable options. The result is a major contribution to the ongoing dialogue regarding the needs of those for whom adequate housing is not currently available.

Pete Alcock provides a comprehensive introduction to the analysis of poverty and social exclusion covering the definition, measurement, distribution and causes of poverty and the policies developed to combat it. The third edition has been rewritten to include recent developments while maintaining the successful broad approach of earlier editions.