Currently, works on poverty constitute only a small part of contemporary economic research; however, the field of poverty and deprivation is undoubtedly one rising in popularity and relevance. Encompassing chapters that address both unidimensional and multidimensional poverty, this timely Research Handbook explores all aspects of poverty and deprivation measurement, not only detailing broad issues but also scrutinising specific domains and aspects of poverty, such as health, energy and housing. Succinct and highly focused, it brings together a diverse range of authors to employ a combination of theoretical and empirical methodologies to offer well-rounded explorations of complex topics. Expansive in scope, the Research Handbook includes case studies that examine poverty across the globe, with a particular focus on covering Africa, China, India and Latin America, producing a comprehensive, rigorous and interdisciplinary resource. The Research Handbook will be an invaluable resource for not only economics researchers and graduate students but also policy makers dealing with issues related to poverty and deprivation. Chapters are designed to provide the reader with foundational knowledge of a topic that they can subsequently deepen by exploring the cited literature.

This review considers the most significant and contemporary literary contributions to the field of the economics of housing. It discusses articles that cover the housing markets demand and supply whilst considering these factors interactions on real estate valuations, home ownership and wealth decisions. Literature focusing on the interfaces that occur from the dynamics of neighbourhoods and housing prices is analysed and the review delves into how housing markets and their modelling have attracted particular policy interest, such as rent control. Recent analyses of housing markets through a lens that emphasizes the importance of frictions, namely the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides (DMP) model is also extended upon. This review promises to be an informative read to scholars and academics who are immersed in this fascinating topic.

Both growth and unevenness in the distribution of housing wealth have become characteristic of advanced societies in recent decades. This book examines, in various contexts, how central housing property ownership has become to household well-being as well as in reshaping social, economic and political relations. Expert contributors analyze the critical interactions between housing and wealth that lie at the heart of contemporary forms of capitalism, especially its global, neoliberal incarnation. Comparing and contrasting case studies from across the European continent, this book illustrates how these interactions are reshaping the function of housing as a welfare object, including how the financialisation and commodification of housing in the twenty-first-century has transformed its role and amplified distributional outcomes. Practical and engaging, Housing Wealth and Welfare is a must-read for researchers and students of housing studies, social policy, sociology, social geography and political science. It will also appeal to policy makers within national and supra-national organisations and institutions such as the European Union, Housing Europe and the International Monetary Fund. Contributors include: B. Bengtsson, S. Buchholz, C. Dewilde, J. Doling, T.P. Gerber, K. Kolb, S. Koeppe, C. Lennartz, S. Mandic, M. Mrzel, M. Norris, R. Ronald, H. Ruonavaara, B.A. Searle, A.M. Soaita, J. Sorvoll, A. Wallace, J.R. Zavisca

The Social Security Handbook: Overview of Social Security Programs, 2022 provides information about Social Security programs and services, and identifies rights and obligations under the Social Security laws.The completely updated Handbook, organized by section number, is a readable, easy-to-understand reference for comprehending complex Social Security programs and services and contains information on several topics relevant to Social Security policies: How Social Security programs are administered Who is and isn't covered under retirement, survivors, disability, and hospital insurance programs Who is responsible for submitting the necessary evidence to support a claim How claims are processed by the Social Security office What Social Security benefits are owed to you How to obtain information about your rights under Social Security policy The Handbook is designed to help users understand the gray areas of the Social Security Act, and to provide critical information about rights and obligations under Social Security laws. The Handbook outlines how to: Protect your benefits and avoid benefit loss; Monitor government agencies and get information about policy changes that will affect your benefits; Make the most of hospital and Medicare coverage; Determine the amount of benefits that are subject to federal income taxes; Check Social Security earnings and benefits; and Get up-to-date news about future Social Security programs and services.

Part of The Elgar Series on Central Banking and Monetary Policy, this book explores the relationship between central banking, monetary policy and the economy at large. It focuses on the specific relationship between central banking, monetary policy and social responsibility as central banks wake up to new realities. The book examines this relationship not only in connection to the economic, monetary and financial impact of the so-called 'unconventional' monetary policies, but also in connection to the functioning of today's democracies. A new framework and model for central banking is proposed in this rethinking of monetary policy, and the role of central banks as institutions in democracies is considered. Scholars and students interested in central banking and monetary policy, the issue of social responsibility and the relationship between central banks and democracy will benefit from the ideas presented by the editors and authors of Central Banking, Monetary Policy and Social Responsibility.

Welfare State, Universalism and Diversity is a thought-provoking book dealing with key ideas, values and principles of social policies and asking what exactly is meant by universal benefits and policies? Is the time of post-war universalism over? Are universalism and diversity contradictory policy and theory framings? Well-known scholars from different countries and fields of expertise provide a historically informative and comprehensive view on the making of universal social policies. Universalism is defined and implemented differently in the British and Scandinavian social policies. Service universalism is different from universalism in pensions. The book underlines the multiple and transformative nature of universalism and the challenge of diversity. There certainly is need for a greater diversity in meeting citizen s needs. Yet, universalism remains a principle essential for planning and implementing sustainable and legitimate policies in times characterized by complex interdependences and contradictory political aims. This impressive book is an attempt to untangle the multiple meanings of universalism and clarify the concept's relevance to contemporary policy debates. It will prove invaluable for students, researchers and practitioners in social policy, public policy, social administration, social welfare, social history, social work, sociology and political sciences. Policy makers and administrators involved with social and public policies, social services, social welfare, and social work will also find this book groundbreaking. Contributors: A. Anttonen, A. Borchorst, J. Clarke, J. Goul Andersen, L. Haikio, B. Hvinden, M. Kautto, J. Newman, J. Sipila, K. Stefansson, M. Szebehely, M. Vabo

This thoroughly updated second edition incorporates key ideas and discussions on issues such as wider economic impacts, the treatment of risk and the importance of institutional arrangements in ensuring the correct use of technique. Gines de Rus considers whether public decisions, such as investing in high-speed rail links, privatizing a public enterprise or protecting a natural area, may improve social welfare. Key features include: A comprehensive overview of the philosophy of the Cost-Benefit Analysis approach to appraisal to engage students with a basic model for informing responsible decision-making Expert blending of relevant case studies with insightful analysis, enabling students to see the model's application to real-world scenarios An accessible and readable style, which encourages classroom discussions as well as insights for the practical application of this economic tool. Introduction to Cost-Benefit Analysis is an ideal textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students of economics, engaging with important ideas and the latest thinking in the field. It will also benefit economists and practitioners involved in the economic evaluation of projects. Acclaim for the first edition: 'In Introduction to Cost-Benefit Analysis, Gines de Rus provides the conceptual foundations of a cost-benefit analysis undertaken for public investments. . .This book serves well as an introductory textbook for courses in urban planning, public economics, and policy and program evaluation for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. . .economists may find it useful as a guide of the basics of cost-benefit analysis.' - Uma Kelekar, Journal of Planning Education and Research 'Gines de Rus has produced an excellent book which will be very useful to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in public economics as well as to professional economists working with project evaluations. The book can serve as a manual for how to undertake best-practice project analysis within a broad range of projects but in particular within the transportation sector. This text is highly recommended.' - Per-Olov Johansson, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden 'This book shows that cost-benefit analysis does not need to be an esoteric and arcane subject. In a step-by-step presentation, with little more than introductory microeconomics, some clear reasoning, and many examples, Professor Gines de Rus presents the essentials of applied welfare economics concepts. Any undergraduate student or practitioner who wants to start their training in CBA should consider reading this text.' - Massimo Florio, University of Milan, Italy

The modern welfare state finds itself in the middle of two major upheavals: the impact of technology and immigration. Having taken in more refugees per capita than most other countries, the pillars of the Swedish welfare state are being shaken, and digital technologies are set to strengthen already existing trends towards job and wage polarization. The development of skills to keep pace with technology will enter into a critical period for the labor market in which inadequate policy responses could result in further inequality and polarization. In this regard, a platform-based labor market could help by opening up a vast range of new work opportunities. Marten Blix examines the implications of these trends that drive change in developed economies and, in particular, the impact that they have on Sweden and other European countries with rigid labor markets and comprehensive tax-financed welfare services. Increasing costs from immigration and rising inequality could further reduce the willingness to pay high taxes and erode support for redistribution. Failure to address challenges like this one could herald much more drastic changes down the road. There are already signs of economic and political tensions and there is a risk that the social contract could crack. This new discussion on the future of work and the welfare state will be of interest not only to scholars but in policy circles and corresponding societies in sociology, labor relations, political science and public administration.

The Social Security Handbook: Overview of Social Security Programs, 2021 provides information about Social Security programs and services, and identifies rights and obligations under the Social Security laws. The completely updated Handbook, organized by section number, is a readable, easy-to-understand reference for comprehending complex Social Security programs and services and contains information on several topics relevant to Social Security policies: *How Social Security programs are administered *Who is and isn't covered under retirement, survivors, disability, and hospital insurance programs *Who is responsible for submitting the necessary evidence to support a claim *How claims are processed by the Social Security office *What Social Security benefits are owed to you *How to obtain information about your rights under Social Security policy The Handbook is designed to help users understand the gray areas of the Social Security Act, and to provide critical information about rights and obligations under Social Security laws. The Handbook outlines how to: *Protect your benefits and avoid benefit loss; *Monitor government agencies and get information about policy changes that will affect your benefits; *Make the most of hospital and Medicare coverage; *Determine the amount of benefits that are subject to federal income taxes; *Check Social Security earnings and benefits; and *Get up-to-date news about future Social Security programs and services.

The Social Security Handbook: Overview of Social Security Programs, 2021 provides information about Social Security programs and services, and identifies rights and obligations under the Social Security laws.The completely updated Handbook, organized by section number, is a readable, easy-to-understand reference for comprehending complex Social Security programs and services and contains information on several topics relevant to Social Security policies: How Social Security programs are administered Who is and isn't covered under retirement, survivors, disability, and hospital insurance programs Who is responsible for submitting the necessary evidence to support a claim How claims are processed by the Social Security office What Social Security benefits are owed to you How to obtain information about your rights under Social Security policy The Handbook is designed to help users understand the gray areas of the Social Security Act, and to provide critical information about rights and obligations under Social Security laws. The Handbook outlines how to: Protect your benefits and avoid benefit loss; Monitor government agencies and get information about policy changes that will affect your benefits; Make the most of hospital and Medicare coverage; Determine the amount of benefits that are subject to federal income taxes; Check Social Security earnings and benefits; and Get up-to-date news about future Social Security programs and services.

Governance is now a major topic in political science. To date, analysts of governance have paid scant attention to social policy or welfare state reform. In this book, the concept of governance is used to analyse the outgoing variety of the welfare mix as well as shifting responsibilities and modes of interaction. This unique and path-breaking work analyses the governance of welfare state reform in the areas of health, pensions, labour market and education policy. The authors compare both the different processes of reform (politics) and the change of policies in different welfare state regimes. They question if the change of regulatory structures results in growing convergence or ongoing divergence of welfare states. Governance of Welfare State Reform will be essential reading for researchers and students interested in social policy and governance studies. Political scientists, sociologists and social policymakers will also find this book an invaluable read.

Providing extensive surveys on the most recently developed themes of individual and social well-being, this Handbook offers a comprehensive treatment of less traditional approaches to empirical and theoretical research. The novel complementary perspective by which each topic is addressed presents a broader outlook on the various dimensions of inequality and well-being. Each topic is assessed through two accompanying chapters: first, a detailed study of the theoretical approaches, followed by a supporting chapter of empirical findings. The original contributions cover themes ranging from human development to social exclusion, and from going beyond GDP as the primary indicator of progress to evaluating the persistence of poverty. The chapters also address measures of vulnerability and economic insecurity. The Handbook emphasizes the distributional aspects of inequalities across different groups through the analysis of polarization, segregation, and social fractionalization. This is an excellent Handbook for postgraduates and researchers in the social sciences and economics. The contributions rethink some of the traditional theories and models for measuring inequality and well-being, and push the boundaries for future research. The policy-relevant insights will also be of great use for social policy professionals and analysts. Contributors include: C. Balestra, L. Bellani, R. Boarini, C. Calvo, B. Cantillon, O. Canto, L. Ceriani, S. Chakravarty, N. Chattopadhyhay, M. Ciommi, C. del Rio, I. Dutta, A. Fusco, A. Gabos, C. Gigliarano, E. Giovannini, T. Goedeme, C. Gradin, A.-C. Guio, M. Hoy, C. Lasso de la Vega, R. Mora, L. Osberg, N. Rohde, T. Rondinella, N. Ruiz, E. Savaglio, S. Seth, J. Silber, K.K. Tang, I. Toth, S. Vannucci, P. Verme, A. Villar, O. Volij, G. Yalonetzky, B. Zheng

This outstanding text, a follow-up to the authors' award-winning 1982 text, provides a thorough treatment of economic welfare theory and develops a complete theoretical and empirical framework for applied project and policy evaluation. The authors illustrate how this theory can be used to develop policy analysis from both theory and estimation in a variety of areas including: international trade, the economics of technological change, agricultural economics, the economics of information, environmental economics, and the economics of extractive and renewable natural resources. Building on willingness-to-pay (WTP) measures as the foundation for applied welfare economics, the authors develop measures for firms and households where households are viewed as both consumers and owner/sellers of resources. Possibilities are presented for (1) approximating WTP with consumer surplus, (2) measuring WTP exactly subject to errors in existing econometric work, and (3) using duality theory to specify econometric equations consistent with theory. Later chapters cover specific areas of welfare measurement under imperfect competition, uncertainty, incomplete information, externalities, and dynamic considerations. Applications are considered explicitly for policy issues related to information, international trade, the environment, agriculture, and other natural resource issues. The Welfare Economics of Public Policy is ideal for graduate and undergraduate courses in applied welfare economics, public policy, agricultural policy, and environmental economics and provides an essential reference for practitioners of applied welfare economics.

Part of The Elgar Series on Central Banking and Monetary Policy, this book explores the relationship between central banking, monetary policy and income distribution. The usual central bank mandate - that of exclusively fighting inflation - is being increasingly questioned by policymakers and academics. Many countries are finding that there is a need for broader mandates that will have an impact on economic activity, unemployment and other economic issues. The chapters present a multitude of theoretical views on this topic, from classical and Marxist views to mainstream and post-Keynesian approaches. They consider the democratic aspects of central banking, critically assess the distributional outcomes of inflation targeting regimes and explore policymaking implications. Policy makers, academics and the financial press will appreciate the relevance of the material and state of the art discussions featured in Central Banking, Monetary Policy and Income Distribution.

Pieter Hennipman, the leading Dutch economist of the post-war period, made many substantial contributions to economic policy, welfare economics and, latterly, the methodology and history of economic thought during a long and distinguished career.Welfare Economics and the Theory of Economic Policy brings together a key selection of Professor Hennipman's papers - many of which have not been published in English before - which express his profound analysis of the theory of economic policy and his masterful discussion of its definition, character and scope. The pioneering work featured here developed his argument that normative economic statements and economic policies can be analysed scientifically and evaluated with the use of objective criteria. Prominent among these papers are the contributions to welfare economics and Pieter Hennipman's examination of the transition from the view that welfare was exclusively dependent on production to one which saw it as a subjective phenomenon dependent upon consumption. This volume also includes his rigorous and insightful essays on the history of the theory of welfare economics. With a thorough introduction by Donald Walker, this comprehensive volume will improve access to Professor Hennipman's outstanding contributions on the nature of the theory of economic policy as well as papers which place welfare theory in relation to other sections of economic theory in a penetrating and sophisticated manner.

This is the book that nobody thinks they need … until they see it.

Information is power. Those who can afford it and know how to navigate their way around the Internet have unfettered access to knowledge and information that gives them a distinct advantage when it comes to exploring opportunities, developing their own potential and finding solutions to problems.

In the words of Truida Prekel, this printed collection of tools, resources, services and solutions offered by non-profit, faith-based, civil society and government organisations is lLike holding Google in your hands. A huge time-saver, as you get curated what you are looking for, in compact form – rather than getting lost, misled or distracted by surfing around.

The Resource Directory is a direct result of the issues we learn about during Community Conversations and the follow-up research we do for articles in the magazine. The outcome? A comprehensive Directory of solutions, resources, tools and services from non-profit, faith-based, civil society and government programmes – letting South Africans know where to find what they need – online and offline.

This book presents the concepts: the welfare system of universal integration and the welfare mode of universal integration. In this book, the author explores the foundation of fair baseline about the universal integration on the basis of critically inheriting the domestic and international social welfare theories, comprehensively explains the connotation, subject and application of fair baseline theory. It systematically discusses the theoretical basis, basic features, scientific evidence, system composition and operating mechanism, introduces the experience in the west and Asia about the construction of social welfare system, further investigates and understands the public needs about the social welfare, talks about the system design of the welfare system of universal integration and provides some realistic, individualized and operative suggestions for promoting the welfare system of universal integration.

This book is about how to maintain an aliveness to the possibilities in therapy and practice and how to challenge ideas of orthodoxy in theory and methodologies that can become stale or followed like religions. The central metaphor is the performance of practice emphasized in the spoken word and expressed in all its non-verbal complexity. How practitioners use every aspect of their being to communicate with the other in practice, how they shape and mold their words through gesture and other non-verbal actions in response to the gestures and words of others is a continually recursive process. Therapy is an enactment, a performance that is created between all the participants."This is Jim Wilson's second book in our series. He might call it his second act. His first book, Child Focused Practice, was very popular because it offered practical approaches to working with children for practitioners from diverse backgrounds. This current volume is written in the same spirit but takes his thinking and techniques into new areas. He is interested in two things: how therapists can release more of their own creativity when working with children and how they can use enactment to explore difficult family emotions. The influence of systemic thinking on the family therapy world has often led to theories and techniques that have often overlooked the value of simply talking to and playing with children. This book goes some way to redressing that balance. It is loaded with examples of conversations with children, playful metaphors, enacted scenarios of traumatic events, and discussions that connect children to the other relationships in the family. The sheer pleasure Wilson gets from working directly withchildren is evident throughout the book and he is clearly drawing on his personal style, yet the book does not neglect the theorizing that helps answer the question of why Wilson does what he does and why it is effective."- David Campbell and Ros Draper, from the Series Editors' Foreword

This is the first book to examine debates about, and the practice of, state supplementing of wages. It charts the historical development of such policies from prohibition in the 1830s and how opposition to it was overcome in the 1970s, thereby allowing the increasing supplementation of the wages of poorly paid working people.

Welfare is commonly conceptualized in socio-economic terms of equity, highlighting distributive issues within growing economies. While GDP, income growth and rising material standards of living are normally not questioned as priorities in welfare theories and policy making, there is growing evidence that Western welfare standards are not generalizable to the rest of the planet if environmental concerns, such as resource depletion or climate change, are considered. Sustainability and the Political Economy of Welfare raises the issue of what is required to make welfare societies ecologically sustainable. Consisting of three parts, this book regards the current financial, economic and political crisis in welfare state institutions and addresses methodological, theoretical and wider conceptual issues in integrating sustainability. Furthermore, this text is concerned with the main institutional obstacles to the achievement of sustainable welfare and wellbeing, and how these may feasibly be overcome. How can researchers assist policymakers in promoting synergy between economic, social and environmental policies conducive to globally sustainable welfare systems? Co-authored by a variety of cross-disciplinary contributors, a diversity of research perspectives and methods is reflected in a unique mixture of conceptual chapters, historical analysis of different societal sectors, and case studies of several EU countries, China and the US. This book is well suited for those who are interested in and study welfare, ecological economics and political economy.