Behind from the Start examines the link between America's shaming, blaming, and marginalizing of poor parents, and American policies that jeopardize the life chances of vulnerable young children, thereby maintaining the cycle of chronic poverty. Lenette Azzi-Lessing reveals how negative public and political discourse regarding poor families impacts the very policies and programs intended to support them, which have in turn failed to meet their aims. She considers the cultural and political forces that contribute to intergenerational poverty in the U.S., and the consequences for the millions of young children in families stuck at the bottom of our economy. Close to six million children ages five and under live in poverty and that number continues to grow. Research has shown that the experience of poverty in the first years of life is particularly harmful, blunting physical and brain development, increasing risk for chronic health issues and injury, and limiting lifelong capacity for learning and success. Behind from the Start reveals that what began as the War on Poverty has, over the course of the past five decades, been contorted into a War on the Poor in which the lives of America's poorest children remain heartbreakingly grim, as are their prospects for a healthy and successful future. Drawing from fields as wide-ranging as media studies, psychology, social welfare, public policy, neuroscience, and education as well as her own considerable personal experience, Lessing makes a forceful case for action to break out of this self-fulfilling cycle.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Detailed analyses of poverty and wellbeing in developing countries, based on household surveys, have been ongoing for more than three decades. The large majority of developing countries now regularly conduct a variety of household surveys, and the information base in developing countries with respect to poverty and wellbeing has improved dramatically. Nevertheless, appropriate measurement of poverty remains complex and controversial. This is particularly true in developing countries where (i) the stakes with respect to poverty reduction are high; (ii) the determinants of living standards are often volatile; and (iii) related information bases, while much improved, are often characterized by significant non-sample error. It also remains, to a surprisingly high degree, an activity undertaken by technical assistance personnel and consultants based in developed countries. This book seeks to enhance the transparency, replicability, and comparability of existing practice. In so doing, it also aims to significantly lower the barriers to entry to the conduct of rigorous poverty measurement and increase the participation of analysts from developing countries in their own poverty assessments. The book focuses on two domains: the measurement of absolute consumption poverty and a first order dominance approach to multidimensional welfare analysis. In each domain, it provides a series of flexible computer codes designed to facilitate analysis by allowing the analyst to start from a flexible and known base. The book volume covers the theoretical grounding for the code streams provided, a chapter on 'estimation in practice', a series of 11 case studies where the code streams are operationalized, as well as a synthesis, an extension to inequality, and a look forward.

This original ethnographic study looks at how children are 'civilised' within child institutions, such as schools, day care centres and families, under the auspices of the welfare state. As part of a general discussion on civilising projects and the role of state institutions, the authors focus on Denmark, a country characterised by the extent of time children use in public institutions from an early age. They look at the extraordinary amount of attention and effort put into the process of upbringing by the state, as well as the widespread co-operation in this by parents across the social spectrum. Taking as its point of departure the sociologist Norbert Elias' concept of civilising, Children of the Welfare State explores the ideals of civilised conduct expressed through institutional upbringing and examine how children of different age, gender, ethnicity and social backgrounds experience and react to these norms and efforts. The analysis demonstrates that welfare state institutions, though characterised by a strong egalitarian ideal, create distinctions between social groups, teach children about moral hierarchies in society and prompts them to identify as more or less civilised citizens of the state.

In nearly all States, adoption records are sealed and withheld from public inspection after an adoption is finalised. This book discusses state laws that provide for access to both nonidentifying and identifying information from an adoption record by adoptive parents and adult adopted persons, while still protecting the interests of all parties. Furthermore, the book discusses postadoption contact agreements, which are are arrangements that allow contact between a childs adoptive family and members of the childs birth family or other persons with whom the child has an established relationship, such as a foster parent, after the childs adoption has been finalized. These arrangements, sometimes referred to as cooperative adoption or open adoption agreements, can range from informal, mutual understandings between the birth and adoptive families to written, formal contracts.

This study reviews the role and workings, with their strengths and weaknesses of last-resort income support (LRIS) programs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It draws on a combination of household survey and administrative data for a large group of countries and detailed case studies for a smaller number of countries that span the spectrum of the income range in the region. It thus combines the value of wide, comparable multi-country work with that of in-depth, country-specific probing on key themes. The experiences of LRIS programs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have demonstrated the technical feasibility of highly efficient poverty-targeted programs in the region. The detailed case studies suggest how programs can improve their coverage, control error and fraud and be implemented effectively in decentralized settings. This experience is pertinent to other regions as well, adding to the know-how for poverty targeting programs in middle and low income countries. Perhaps especially importantly, the book shows that means testing can be accomplished in settings with sizeable informal sectors and at reasonable administrative costs. The study also suggests that currently the role of last resort income support programs within the overall social protection systems of the region is often too small and that their eligibility thresholds should be revised and indexed, so that the programs continue to serve a meaningful swath of the low income households in each country. Moreover the programs can be used as the nexus to weave together a variety of income supports and services for low income households.

Privatising Capital examines the historical development of Poland's public sector and its welfare state. Their infrastructure, services and employees add up to a form of public capital, upon which the vast majority of society is dependent. The book describes the ongoing attempts to financialise and commodify this public capital and examines how this occurs in the areas of health, education and pensions. It also analyses the impact of public capital on the ideas and opinions of the population and how it affects contemporary ideologies and politics in Poland.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed by President Obama in March 2010 is a landmark in U.S. social legislation, and the Supreme Court's recent decision upholding the Act has ensured that it will remain the law of the land. The new law extends health insurance to nearly all Americans, fulfilling a century-long quest and bringing the United States to parity with other industrial nations. Affordable Care aims to control rapidly rising health care costs and promises to make the United States more equal, reversing four decades of rising disparities between the very rich and everyone else. Millions of people of modest means will gain new benefits and protections from insurance company abuses - and the tab will be paid by privileged corporations and the very rich. How did such a bold reform effort pass in a polity wracked by partisan divisions and intense lobbying by special interests? What does Affordable Care mean-and what comes next? In this updated edition of Health Care Reform and American Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know (R), Lawrence R. Jacobs and Theda Skocpol-two of the nation's leading experts on politics and health care policy-provide a concise and accessible overview. They explain the political battles of 2009 and 2010, highlighting White House strategies, the deals Democrats cut with interest groups, and the impact of agitation by Tea Partiers and progressives. Jacobs and Skocpol spell out what the new law can do for everyday Americans, what it will cost, and who will pay. In a new section, they also analyze the impact the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the law. Above all, they explain what comes next, as critical yet often behind-the-scenes battles rage over implementing reform nationally and in the fifty states. Affordable Care still faces challenges at the state level despite the Court ruling. But, like Social Security and Medicare, it could also gain strength and popularity as the majority of Americans learn what it can do for them.

What are the challenges facing social welfare in America? Theories of stakeholders, the policy process, electoral politics, the precariat, child welfare, online education, the devolution of the welfare state, and its sequel, the investment state, illuminate critical factors determining the future of social welfare as well as the professions. Beyond explaining social change, theories include applications for future research. After the turmoil of the 2016 election, Pandora's Dilemma is not only the first empirically-based theoretical explanation, but also a long-overdue illustration of the value of theory in social welfare. This book is essential reading for social welfare scholars trying to make sense of Brexit and the Trump presidency.

Territories of Poverty challenges the conventional North-South geographies through which poverty scholarship is organized. Staging theoretical interventions that traverse social histories of the American welfare state and critical ethnographies of international development regimes, these essays confront how povertyis constituted as a problem. In the process, the book analyzes bureaucracies of poverty, poor people's movements, and global networks of poverty expertise, as well as more intimate modes of poverty action such as volunteerism. From post-Katrina New Orleans to Korean church missions in Africa, this book is fundamentally concerned with how poverty is territorialized. In contrast to studies concerned with locations of poverty, Territories of Poverty engages with spatial technologies of power, be they community development and counterinsurgency during the American 1960s or the unceasing anticipation of war in Beirut. Within this territorial matrix, contributors uncover dissent, rupture, and mobilization. This book helps us understand the regulation of poverty-whether by globally circulating models of fast policy or vast webs of mobile money or philanthrocapitalist foundations-as multiple terrains of struggle for justice and social transformation.

One of the central features of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant is promoting work and job preparation for parents (mostly single mothers) in families that receive cash assistance. The TANF block grant requires states to engage a certain percentage of work-eligible cash assistance recipients in specified work-related activities, such as job search assistance and training. Yet, data suggest that more TANF recipients could receive assistance that would help them gain employment and reduce their dependence. This book reviews some approaches that have been identified as holding promise for engaging TANF recipients in employment and increasing their earnings and examines ways in which selected states and localities have used them; and identifies factors that influence their use.

Two-thirds of UK government spending now goes on the welfare state and where the money is spent - healthcare, education, pensions, benefits - is the centre of political and public debate. Much of that debate is dominated by the myth that the population divides into those who benefit from the welfare state and those who pay into it - 'skivers' and 'strivers', 'them' and 'us'. This ground-breaking book, written by one of the UK's leading social policy experts, uses extensive research and survey evidence to challenge that view. It shows that our complex and ever-changing lives mean that all of us rely on the welfare state throughout our lifetimes, not just a small 'welfare-dependent' minority. Using everyday life stories and engaging graphics, Hills clearly demonstrates how the facts are far removed from the myths.

Social Security auxiliary benefits were established in 1939 when Congress extended benefits to the dependents and survivors of workers covered by Social Security. Since 1939, Social Security auxiliary benefits have been modified by Congress numerous times to change eligibility requirements for spouses, widows, children, and others and to expand eligibility for auxiliary benefits to new groups of beneficiaries, such as divorce(e)s, husbands, and widowers. This book describes the current-law structure of auxiliary benefits for spouses, divorced spouses, and surviving spouses. It also discusses some of the issues concerning the adequacy and equity of the current-law structure of auxiliary benefits, and presents some recent proposals. The book also explains how the Social Security Retirement Earnings Test (RET) works under current law. In addition, it provides benefit examples to illustrate the effect of the RET on Social Security beneficiaries who are below FRA and family members who receive benefits based on their work records. It also briefly discusses policy issues, including recent research on the effect of the RET on work effort and the decision to claim Social Security benefits.

Deciding when to retire and claim Social Security benefits can be one of the most important financial decisions older Americans make. Despite higher monthly benefits for those who delay, many people still claim Social Security retirement benefits at age 62, the earliest age of eligibility. In 2014, these early claimers will see their monthly benefits reduced by 25 percent compared to what they would have received if they had delayed claiming until age 66, the current full retirement age. At the same time, some early claimers do not have access to government or employer-sponsored health insurance. These early claimers may have been able to purchase coverage on the individual market, but they may have also been subject to denials and rate increases because of their health status. This book examines the demographic and occupational characteristics associated with early claiming; retirement income of early claimers compared to those who delay; and how PPACA changes health coverage options for early claimers.

With $812 billion in benefit outlays in 2013, Social Security is the largest program in the federal budget. It provides monthly cash benefits to retired and disabled workers and their family members as well as to the family members of deceased workers. Currently, there are about 58 million beneficiaries. Under current law, Social Security's revenues are projected to be insufficient to pay full scheduled benefits after 2033. Monthly benefit amounts are determined by federal law. Social Security is an issue of ongoing interest both because of its role in supporting a large portion of the population and because of its long-term financial imbalance, and policy makers have considered numerous proposals to change its benefit computation rules. This book discusses the calculation of social security benefits, as well as the taxation, offsets and the special minimum benefits.

Ghana is one of only several African countries to enact legislation and earmark financing for universal health insurance coverage for its entire population. Seven years into its implementation the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has made significant progress in transitioning to universal coverage, but faces significant fiscal and coverage challenges. This study reviews Ghana's health financing system with a special emphasis on its National Health Insurance Scheme. Such an assessment is important because Ghana is often considered a global 'good practice' in terms of earmarking significant amounts of its general revenues for health insurance coverage, providing formal coverage to its vulnerable population groups, and extending coverage by transitioning its existing community health insurance schemes into a national health insurance program. In addition to the global interest in the Ghana 'model', this review is timely in view of recent critiques of the system and questions about its financial sustainability. The study is also unique in terms of evaluating Ghana's NHIS in terms of basic health system goals of health outcomes, financial protection, consumer satisfaction, equity, efficiency, and financial sustainability. The strengths and weaknesses of Ghana's health financing system are assessed on the basis of these performance goals to provide the current health policy reform baseline. The assessment is also based on several new and updated sources of information on: total health spending, inputs, outcomes, household spending, and the macro economy. It also undertakes for the first time an extensive international benchmarking analysis; assesses the financial protection/equity of the system at both macro and micro levels; and, contains an extensive fiscal space analysis based on Ghana's new macroeconomic realities (i.e., the revaluation of Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) upward by some 60 percent in November 2010, making Ghana a lower middle income country). The study concludes with an assessment of potential structural and operational reform options to assure NHISs long-term efficacy and sustainability in the context of its future available fiscal space.

This Discussion Paper provides insights into the challenges posed by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in West Africa, paying particular attention to the ECOWAS convention on small arms and light weapons as a collective sub-regional response to a potent threat to peace, security and development. It connects global and regional discourses on illicit arms control and provides a balanced, empirical examination of the performance of the convention. It is a useful contribution to debates on arms-proliferation control in Africa and provides well-informed recommendations of interest to scholars, peace activists, policy practitioners and strategists working on peace and security in Africa.

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, enacted in 1974, is a needs-based program that provides cash benefits designed to ensure a minimum income to aged, blind, or disabled persons with limited income and assets. The SSI program is a means-tested program that does not have work or contribution requirements, but restricts benefits to those who meet asset and resource limitations. In July 2012, the SSI program had over 8.2 million participants, who received just under $4.6 billion in benefits. In FY2011, the total net cost of the SSI program was $52.9 billion, including $49.0 billion in federal benefit payments. Funding for the SSI program is provided by Congress in the annual Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill. This book provides select analysis of current benefits of the program, with a focus on income/resource limits and accounts exempt from benefit determinations; and better management oversight needed for children's benefits.