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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social welfare & social services > Welfare & benefit systems
This accessible work provides a 'political sociology' of welfare states in industrial societies, with both historical and contemporary perspectives. Ellison focuses on the social and political underpinnings of a number of welfare regimes and looks at the transformations they have undergone and the challenges they face. This book assesses current debates about the role of 'globalization' in welfare state change, paying particular attention to contemporary views about the capacity of embedded institutional structures to limit the effects of global economic pressures. Ellison assesses the changing nature of social policies in nine OECD countries - selected to include 'liberal, 'social democratic' and 'continental' welfare regimes. Taking labour market and pension policies as the main areas of investigation, this volume provides 'snapshots' of welfare reform in each case, charting the ways in which different regimes 'manage' the range of challenges with which they are confronted. Ultimately, the book suggests that all contemporary welfare regimes are experiencing a level of 'neoliberal drift'. As yet, this trend towards liberalization remains constrained in those countries with more 'coordinated' economies and institutionalized forms of social partnership - but the question is for how long? This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of International Politics, Sociology and Social Policy.
How and why are European welfare systems and the labour market changing? How do they affect the daily lives of those facing unemployment or precarious work? Anne Gray shows how the idea of unemployment benefits as a right is evolving into a regime closer to American 'workfare'. She explains how this policy forces the unemployed into low paid, temporary or part-time jobs associated with the new 'flexible' labour market. Drawing on unemployed people's own accounts of their experiences - in the UK, Germany, France and Belgium - Gray illustrates the job market as seen from the dole queue. Exploring the changing nature of work in Europe, Gray reveals why is there a shortage of full-time permanent jobs, what is to be done, and what the future holds for labour market regulation in Europe. Providing clear explanations about shifts in welfare policy, this book is ideal for trade unionists, activists and students, and makes an important contribution to wider debates on globalisation and the future of work.
Modern families are economic institutions of great productivity.
They contribute as much to a society's economic well-being as does
worker productivity in formal markets. In "Citizens, Families, and
Reform," Stein Ringen shows how long-standing inequalities of
income and class are flexible and changing in post-industrial
societies. Such inequalities respond to structural changes such as
social mobility and to public policies such as those of the welfare
state. His book is a study of the process from careful statistical
analysis to specific policy recommendations.
First published in 1999, this book attempts to understand housing co-operatives in terms of their development over time and their relationships to other types of housing tenure. The book considers them within the framework of the broader co-operative movement and its role in society's overall system of production and exchange. There is an examination of the role of a form of ownership which is neither "private", nor "state" in six countries, and in some cases the fortunes of housing co-operatives seem closely to correlate with periods of political liberalization and crises, heralding a shift in ideological orientation.
Current debates concerning the future of social security provision in advanced capitalist states have raised the issue of a citizen's basic income (CBI) as a possible reform package: a proposal based on the principles of individuality, universality and unconditionality which would ensure a minimum income guaranteed for all members of society. Implementing a CBI, would consequently entail radical reform of existing patterns of welfare delivery and would bring into question the institutionalized relationship between work and welfare. Ailsa McKay's book makes a unique and positive contribution to the CBI literature by examining the proposal from a feminist economics perspective. Gender concerns are central to any debate on the future of social security policy, in that state intervention in the field of income redistribution has differential impacts on men and women. By drawing attention to the potential a CBI has in promoting equal rights of freedom for men and women this book serves to open up the debate to incorporate a more realistic and inclusive vision of the nature of modern socio-economic relationships.
First published in 1998, this study offers a survey of the conceptual background, the political dimension, and the macroeconomic context and constraints of the social security system in Israel, which in four decades (since the mid-1950s) grew virtually from scratch into a comprehensive system, similar in scope to that of Western and Northern Europe, North America, the European outposts in the antipodes and, of course, Japan.
More than 900 million people currently live in urban slums and the number is growing as rapid urbanization continues in the developing world. A Home in the City urges countries to strengthen their focus on the growing urban crisis and improving the lives of slum dwellers. Proposed are specific investments and policy changes required at local and national levels to create a vibrant, equitable and productive urban environment. It underscores the need for close strategic partnerships between local authorities and organizations of the urban poor for slum upgrading and improved urban management. From adopting citywide strategies and establishing adequate and affordable infrastructure and services, to building effective public transport and constructing low-income housing, it offers valuable methods to prevent future slum formation and to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.
This collection brings together the key papers in the area of efficiency in law and economics. Alongside an original introduction, the collection covers the applications of economic efficiency to law and the limitations and morality of efficiency. This important book will appeal to anyone interested in the underlying welfare theory relating to the use of economics in law, examining both the history and impact of the theory, as well as its deficiencies.
By stressing the importance of subjectivity and interpretation, social constructionism offers a different conception of reality from the traditional approach to housing policy analysis. This book provides an up-to-date review of the social constructionist perspective and considers its philosophical basis. It discusses how social problems are constructed and, in turn, how this informs policy-making. It is divided into two parts. The first section is theoretical and discusses the variety of conceptual approaches utilised within the constructionist paradigm. The second part provides a number of empirically based case studies from the UK and Australia to illustrate the different methodologies that form the social constructionist corpus. The book also evaluates both the criticisms that have been made against the social constructionist perspective and the strengths and weaknesses of constructionist methods. It therefore contributes to the development of a future research agenda for social constructionist research in housing and urban policy.
Since the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, it has become clear that the issues associated with welfare are now inextricably woven into the problems of low-wage work. In this volume leading commentators on the labor scene analyze poverty and welfare reform within a context of low-wage work and the contours of the labor market that welfare recipients are entering. Given the new welfare reform regime of time limits and work requirements, problems of welfare cannot be separated from problems of work, politics, organizing, and other questions of social and economic policy. Although there have been many volumes on welfare reform, the unique contribution of this work is that it brings labor into the discussio and creates a bridge between the domains of labor and welfare.
Time is not money! If anything, it is MORE important than money.
The time we have to care for one another, especially for our
children and our elderly, is more precious to us than anything else
in the world. Yet we have more experience accounting for money than
we do for time.
The time we have to care for one another, especially for our children and our elderly, is more precious to us than anything else in the world. Yet we have more experience accounting for money than we do for time. In this volume, leading experts in analysis of time use from across the globe explore the interface between time use and family policy. The contributors: * show how social institutions limit the choices that
individuals can make about how to divide their time between paid
and unpaid work This informative and enlightening book is well researched, well thought through and well written. An important read for students of feminist economics, sociology and gender studies, the contributors here argue that time is not money, in fact time is more important than money.
Since the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, it has become clear that the issues associated with welfare are now inextricably woven into the problems of low-wage work. This volume analyzes poverty and welfare reform within a context of low-wage work and the contours of the labor market that welfare recipients are entering. Given the new welfare regime of time limits and work requirements, problems of welfare cannot be separated from problems of work, politics, organizing, and other questions of social and economic policy. Although there have been many volumes on welfare reform, the unique contribution of this volume is that it brings labor into the discussion and creates a bridge between the domains of labor and welfare.
In this volume, Lena Sommestad explores the significance of rural womanhood in the formation of Sweden's gender-egalitarian welfare state in the early 20th century. Drawing on a rich array of documents, photographs, and interviews with women and men, she analyzes the changing gender division of labor in dairying and illuminates the dynamic processes and debates that shaped industrial workplaces. The book demonstrates the importance of rural women's gainful labor and organized activism to Sweden's citizenship-based social policies, which enabled married women to combine childrearing with breadwinning.
Since the late 1980s welfare policies in France and the United States have increasingly been shaped by a strong emphasis on citizens' obligations to work and be independent, and a weakening of entitlements to income maintenance. Throughout the advanced industrialized nations, welfare reforms incorporate work-oriented measures such as financial incentives, insertion contracts, training, and requirements to search for and accept jobs. The evidence in this volume suggests that while the details may vary, welfare reforms in France and the United States have more in common than is often acknowledged. "Welfare Reform" provides an in-depth analysis of the development and structure of modern welfare programs and how they function. The dynamics of welfare reform are illuminated by focusing on two programs: the Revenu Minimum d'Insertion in France and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in the United States. Taking various analytic approaches, contributors examine the relations between poverty and work, how U.S. and French models of income support have been transformed in recent times, the relative impacts of economic growth and policy reforms on rates of welfare participation, and what happens to recipients who leave the welfare rolls. "Welfare Reform" will help researchers and policymakers gain perspective on where they are headed and how best to get there as they journey down the highway of welfare reform. Neil Gilbert is Chernin Professor of Social Welfare at the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, and co-director of the Center for Child and Youth Policy (CCYP). His numerous publications include 25 books and over 100 articles that have appeared in "The Public Interest, Society, Commentary," and other leading academic journals. Antoine Parent is associate professor of economics at the University of Paris 8, associate researcher at MATISSE, University of Paris 1--Sorbonne, and research program manager at the Research Division of the French Ministry of Social Affairs.
This title was first published in 2000: This volume is based on papers presented at the sixth International Research Seminar on "Issues in Social Security", held by FISS on 12-15 June 1999 in Sigtuna, Sweden. The book relates to the discussion about the merits of improving the incentive structure of social security programmes by privatization. The first part contains two important chapters - the first looks at the interaction between programmes and how they make one of them to serve the purposes of the other. This mechanism is termed "domain linkage". The second chapter deals with welfare state programmes that contain behavioural risks, like health insurance, sickness benefits, unemployment and disability insurance - where moral hazard is a potential problem. The second part of the book groups a number of international comparative studies. The first three deal with retirement issues, and the fourth looks at the development of poverty and income distribution.
This title was first published in 2002: When a developer wants to realize a housing scheme, what can the local planning authority do to assure that the resulting residential environment is of a high quality? This book explores the question through a cross-national comparison of housing development processes in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. It analyzes how decisions about the residential environment are made in different situations, and by whom. By applying this analysis to housing development processes in different countries, the book paints a picture of how public policy and market mechanisms together influence the development of housing. From this, conclusions are drawn about how local planning authorities can achieve their objectives concerning the quality of housing areas.
The transition from central planning in Central and Eastern Europe has resulted in a decline in social security. Transformation of Pension Systems in Central and Eastern Europe provides an in-depth examination of systems of social protection for the elderly. The authors begin by analysing the urgent measures required to respond to a changing economic system. They also consider the fundamental questions of redesigning old-age financial security which is embedded in an international debate on pension reform, taking into account the political and economic factors from a comparative perspective. Covering the Baltic states, Poland, the Czech and Slovak Republics and Hungary, the development of pension security is traced from the late 1980s to the end of the 1990s. Using local pension experts with academic and administrative backgrounds, the country studies are characterized by a detailed and interdisciplinary perspective, and provide an economic, political, legal and institutional approach to pension systems development.
Numerous important issues arise in relation to the health of, and healthcare for (and by), migrants. Much commentary on the migrant crisis and healthcare has focused on the allocation of resources, with less discussion of the needs of, and provision for, migrants. Presenting a comparative perspective on the UK and Germany, this volume increases knowledge of a broad spectrum of challenges in healthcare provision for migrants. 'Migration' is deliberately understood in its broadest sense and includes not only migrant patients but also migrant healthcare professionals. The book's content is diverse, with insights from healthcare ethics, healthcare law, along with clinical perspectives as well as perspectives from the social sciences. The collection provides normative reflections on current issues, and presents data from empirical studies. By informing researchers, politicians and healthcare practitioners about approaches to challenges arising in healthcare provision for migrants, the collection seeks to inform the development of adequate and ethically appropriate strategies.
The present study was undertaken for three reasons: Medicaid is a vital program-in the early 1970s it provided care for over one tenth of the American population. It is a huge program-in the same period it consumed over nine billion dollars of public funds. And Medicaid is, in many ways, the most direct involvement with the provision of medical care undertaken by either the federal government or the states. But until the publication of this book, Medicaid had not been studied in depth or in a systematic way. "Welfare Medicine in America" is the complete history of Medicaid. The authors carefully examine the program's historical antecedents, its strengths, and its weaknesses. In part one, "The Coming of Medicaid," the hows and whys of the establishment of Medicaid are discussed, as are the basic provisions of the program. In part two, "The Euphoric Demise: July 1965-January 1968," the focus is on how Medicaid is administered in the states. In part three, "The Storm: January 1968-July 1970," specific amendments to Medicaid, the costs involved, and other health programs are examined. And in part four, "Benign Neglect: July 1970-June 1973," the role of the courts in administering Medicaid, and its future, are the primary subjects. This history of Medicare, however, goes beyond the specific government program itself and offers a paradigm for inquiring into the problems of medical care in general and the nature and limitations of public medical services. "Welfare Medicine in America" is a profound analysis of Medicaid and welfare systems, and will be of great use to policymakers, students of welfare and government, and to those working within the medical profession. Robert Stevens is master of Pembroke College, Oxford, and serves as counsel to the law firm Covington & Burling, where his practice involves international commercial law and competition law. He has also taught at Yale and Tulane Universities, and has authored many articles and books, including studies of social legislation and the legal profession in the United States and the United Kingdom. Rosemary Stevens is professor emeritus of history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsyvlania. Educated at Oxford, Yale, and Manchester, she has also taught at Yale University and Tulane University. She is the author of "American Medicine and the Public Interest" and "In Sickness and in Wealth: American Hospitals in the Twentieth Century."
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