bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Measurement of Outcome in Social Care of the Elderly
Authors: Challis D. J. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis article is concerned with the problem of measuring the outcome of interventions of Local Authority Social Services Departments in the care of the elderly. The focus is upon the intended consequences of such interventions which are more or less explicit within the social welfare paradigm appropriate to such agencies. Seven dimensions upon which the effectiveness of care provision may be assessed are identified, and pertinent literature of measurement relating to these dimensions is examined. It is argued that outcome measurement is as yet at an early stage of development and that the development of a consensus among researchers about the methods of assessment is an important goal towards which the paper is a contribution.
Subjectivist Approaches to the Study of Social Policy Making
Authors: Edwards John 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe relationship between different approaches to the study of social policy making is often ambiguous. An attempt to relate subjectivist approaches to others in order to establish their applicability and relevance to policy making requires the prior clarification of these relationships in the form of a typology. This is used to illustrate ‘category mistakes’ that occur in the literature on policy making as well as to make more explicit the differences and similarities between alternative approaches. The nature of subjectivist approaches is further explored and the limitations of such approaches illustrated in respect of a particular study of policy making. The difficulty of establishing connections between subjectivist accounts of policy making in terms of actors' constructions and meanings, and the tangible outputs of the policy process, is shown as an important problem from this study. The article then turns to the usefulness of subjectivist approaches, especially in testing assertions made about the nature of the policy process by alternative approaches, and concludes with some remarks about the epistemological status of subjectivist accounts.
Economics, Social Policy and Social Administration: The Interplay between Topics and Disciplines
Authors: Culyer A. J. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe article uses a distinction between topic and discipline to argue that social administration, like economics, is characterized by both, but that social administration has the special advantage, in treating the topic of social policy, of being multi-disciplinary. An account is presented of why economics is underrepresented among the disciplines of social administration, and three important contributory roles are outlined for economics to play in the development of social administration.
Social Security Provision in Singapore and Hong Kong
Authors: Chow Nelson W. S. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTSingapore and Hong Kong are two of the most advanced industrial countries in east and south-east Asia. Comparisons between them have often been made, and this article takes their social security systems as a subject for examination. It begins with a brief discussion of the social, economic and political structures of Singapore and Hong Kong, identifying their similarities and differences; this is followed by a comparison of their existing social security provisions and the functions they perform in the two societies. It is found that, while Singapore and Hong Kong are now both affluent enough to provide their workers with comprehensive income protection, industrialization in the two cities has not brought a corresponding development in their social security systems. Other considerations seem to be more important than the need for such measures.
Public Welfare: The Road to Freedom?
Authors: Higgins Joan 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis article is concerned with the extent to which systems of public welfare can be said to have reduced or enlarged personal freedom. It looks, first of all, at the kind of arguments which have been advanced both in support of, and against, the notion of ‘the Welfare State’ as a defender or promoter of individual liberty. Secondly, it examines some of the freedoms which are said to have been threatened or enhanced, including ‘freedom of choice’, ‘freedom of disposition’ and ‘freedom of action’. Finally, it argues that many of these are ‘secondary’ freedoms, contingent upon the primary condition of freedom from economic need. Following Roosevelt we conclude that ‘true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence’ and that, although public welfare may have been partly responsible for an overall ‘levelling-up’ of freedoms, the distribution of such freedoms still reflects inequalities of income, status and power.
Hard Luck Stories: The Problem of the Uninsured in a Laissez-Faire Society
Authors: Sugden Robert 
Published: January 2009

AbstractLiberal economists argue that in general the market system promotes social welfare; but they usually accept that governments should relieve extreme poverty, even where this arises out of individuals' failure to insure themselves. A particularly common argument is that income maintenance is justified because more fortunate people feel compassion or obligation towards the poor. But this position is inconsistent. Given the assumptions necessary to support the claim that markets promote social welfare, there is no reason for anyone to suppose that the uninsured, however poor, are in special need; and so neither compassion nor obligation can arise.
Social Mobility and the Interpretation of Social Class Mortality Differentials
Authors: Stern Jon 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe discussion of health inequalities in Britain (e.g. in the Black Report) has been conducted largely on the basis of social class mortality differentials measured by achieved social class and not by social class of origin. It is shown in this paper that social class mortality differentials by achieved social class are not invariant to the rate of social mobility and that the use of them is likely to result in a biased measure of trends in health inequalities when the absolute rate of social mobility varies over time. It is further shown that if, as is likely, health status is a factor systematically affecting the probability for an individual of upward or downward social mobility, then an increase in the rate of social mobility may well result in constant or widening social class mortality differentials by achieved social class even if the differentials are narrowing when measured by social class of origin. It is claimed that this process may well explain why the observed social class mortality differentials, which are measured by achieved social class, have not fallen in Britain during the post-1945 period.
Unemployment and Vagrancy in the 1930s: Deterrence, Rehabilitation and the Depression
Authors: Krafchik Max 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis article examines the administrative response to one of the less obvious consequences of the depression of the 1930s: the rapid increase in the number of vagrants. Statistics and other evidence suggest a positive correlation between unemployment and vagrancy (measured by admissions to the poor law casual wards). Officials appear to have been unwilling to acknowledge this relationship. Yet, during this period, greater emphasis began to be placed on the rehabilitation of the vagrant, as opposed to the deterrence characteristic of the poor law. This was presented as a significant measure of reform – although, in practice, little change took place at this time. Research into departmental records, however, shows that this review of the treatment of the vagrant was a response to a process which had its roots in financial and administrative priorities.
Residualization and Council Housing: Aspects of the Changing Social Relations of Housing Tenure
Authors: Forrest Ray , Murie Alan 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIt is commonly argued that council housing in Britain is becoming a residual service. This paper explores the various dimensions of residualization such as the size of the council house sector, the quality of the service, the characteristics of tenants and the nature of the stock. Whilst changes in these areas are significant it is suggested that we must look beyond housing processes to fully understand the downgrading of council housing. Specifically it is argued that explanations must take account of questions of economic and political powerlessness, the marginalization of certain sections of the working class from the labour market and the uneven impact of the recession.
Public Opinion and the Privatization of Welfare: Some Theoretical Implications
Authors: Judge Ken , Smith Jillian , Taylor-Gooby Peter 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThe social policy of the Thatcher government is characterized by an abrupt shift in the direction of the private sector. To what extent does this reflect what people want? The Institute of Economic Affairs conclude from the only suitable national opinion survey that such a move is strongly supported. Our reanalysis of their data shows that this strand in public opinion can coexist with, and need not contradict, an equal public enthusiasm for state welfare. Such results have important implications for our understanding of social policy. We conclude, therefore, with a discussion of contrasting marxist and liberal accounts which seeks to show that the evidence of ambivalence in popular attitudes about the welfare state supports particular developments in theory.
Full Employment, New Technologies and the Distribution of Income
Authors: Meade James 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe basic thesis of this paper is that a necessary condition for the re-establishment of full employment without a runaway inflation is a change of attitudes and institutions concerning wage-fixing which puts more emphasis on the effects of rates of pay on the expansion of employment opportunities and much less emphasis on their effects on the real incomes of those already in employment. A necessary condition for such changes would be to develop further fiscal and social welfare measures to promote an acceptable distribution of income. Unfortunately it is possible that two very desirable developments — namely, labour participation in decision-making in industry and the introduction of new technologies — may make this particular wage-fixing problem more, rather than less, acute. The reforms discussed to meet this problem cover: the use of Keynesian demand-management policies to keep the money national income on a steady but moderate growth path; measures to restrain the setting of monopolistic practices by trade unions; a system of national arbitration and a possible inflation tax to curb excessive wage increases; an integrated reconstruction of social benefits and direct taxation; the substitution of expenditure instead of income as the basis of a progressive direct tax; the possible introduction of an annual wealth tax; and the reform of capital transfer tax to fall progressively on the beneficiaries of gifts and bequests.
Professional Collaboration in Services for Mentally Handicapped People
Authors: Ferlie Ewan , Pahl Jan , Quine Lyn 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThere has been growing academic and practitioner interest in the problems of and opportunities for joint working in the care of mentally handicapped people. The paper outlines alternative methods of such joint working and tests these against survey and case study evidence. Attention is drawn to the danger that joint working may have little impact at patient level and the paper recommends an emphasis on the appointment of frontline key workers.
The Family, the Welfare State and Community Care: Political Rhetoric and Public Attitudes
Authors: West Patrick 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTWithin the political arena, most sharply articulated by the new Right, the family and welfare state have been counterposed as ideological opposites with implications for the relative responsibility each should be accorded in respect of a policy of community care. On the basis of evidence from a survey conducted in three locations in Scotland, this paper examines the extent to which the ideological positions of Left and Right are reflected in public attitudes towards these issues. The results show that with the exception of certain groups of ‘ideologues’, individual citizens tend not to structure their attitudes in accordance with overarching ideologies, nor are their attitudes in any consistent way organized along partisan lines. In respect of the family/state polarity, there is only a faint echo of the broad rhetoric of political parties and on more concrete issues like care for dependent persons none at all. The overall picture supports the view that the family and welfare state as they are confronted by people in their everyday lives are much less ideological opposites than intermeshed in an overlapping complex of values, needs and interests.
Self-Reliance Versus the Welfare State
Authors: Goodin Robert E. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractArguments for replacing the welfare state with more ‘self-reliance’ are morally questionable. Relying upon state assistance is importantly different from merely receiving it. Furthermore, ‘self-reliance’ as it is currently advocated amounts to reliance upon families. They must necessarily have discretionary control over needed resources in a way that state administrators of ‘welfare rights’ need not; and that makes those vulnerabilities morally more objectionable than equally heavy reliance upon state services.
The ‘Deserving’ and the ‘Undeserving’: Practice in an Urban, Local Social Security Office
Authors: Howe L.E.A. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis article describes the processes of assessment and administration of certain aspects of the supplementary benefit scheme in a social security office in Northern Ireland. Based on evidence obtained observing staff-claimant interaction and interviews with over fifty unemployed claimants, the analysis attempts to demonstrate that a combination of resource constraints, staff attitudes and beliefs, and claimant tactics gives rise to practices which sustain and reproduce the categories ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ at the very same time that staff insist that such practices are actually intended to vitiate this distinction.
The Effects of Unemployment and Policy Changes on America's Poor
Authors: Danziger Sheldon , Gottschalk Peter , Smolensky Eugene 
Published: January 2009

AbstractFirst, we employ a methodology that decomposes the change in poverty into changes due to the means and variances of market and transfer incomes and to other factors which affect the shape of the income distribution. We then briefly describe the Reagan economic programme. Finally, we estimate a regression model that reflects changes in these moments of the income distribution to changes in the unemployment rates and to the Reagan programme. The regression estimates, together with the poverty rate decomposition, allow us to show that the administration's cuts in income-transfer programmes account for about 40 per cent of the recent rise in poverty and that increased unemployment accounts for about a third of the increase in poverty.
Taxes, Expenditures and Income Distribution in Switzerland
Authors: Leu Robert E. , Frey Rene L. , Buhmann Brigitte 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIn this paper, we analyse the impact of government policies on income distribution and poverty in Switzerland. First, we give an overview of the Swiss welfare system and provide an estimate of the poverty problem in this country. Second, we discuss some major problems of fiscal incidence analysis. Third, we examine the impact of taxes and expenditures on income distribution in Switzerland using a budget incidence approach. The analysis is based mainly on the first nationwide representative Income and Wealth Survey 1980 conducted by the authors. The major findings are the following:1 The government budget, including the social security system, has a significant redistributive effect which is due mainly to expenditures rather than to taxation.2 Direct taxes reduce income inequality, measured by the Gini coefficient; indirect taxes increase it. The net effect of all taxes is to reduce income inequality.3 The redistributive effect of social welfare expenditures is larger than that of other government expenditures.
What are the Distributional Consequences of the Socialist Government Policy in France?
Authors: Kessler Denis , Masson Andre 
Published: January 2009

AbstractDuring the past four years, French economic and social policy appears to have differed both from the policies followed previously in France and from those of the other industrialized countries. The difference can be judged from the goals pursued, the means used and the results obtained. One of the goals of the socialist government elected in May 1981 was to reduce income and wealth inequalities and to improve the well-being of the poor through an active social and tax policy. This goal was also a means, since these measures — along with an expansionary fiscal policy — were supposed to precipitate economic recovery and to reduce unemployment by stimulating consumption expenditures. Actual developments, however, led to quite a radical change in French macro-economic policy. The fight against inflation and the reduction of internal and external deficits since June 1982 and the search for industrial investment and competitiveness since 1983 have reoriented both social and tax policies.
The State, Pensions and the Philosophy of Welfare
Authors: Barry Norman P. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis is a study of the prevailing state pension systems in Britain and the US in the context of a philosophy of welfare that has developed over the last decade. In this philosophy state welfare systems are justified in terms of their maximizing liberty and autonomy rather than merely social justice. It is argued that the state earnings-related pension scheme in Britain and social security in the US, because they are ‘unfunded’ and paid for out of current taxation, are not merely inefficient but also reduce the independence of individuals and impose high burdens on future generations. It is argued that no philosophical justification can be given for this imposition. The major theoretical flaw in state-managed pension arrangements, it is claimed, is the confusion of the welfare principle with the insurance principle.
The Israeli Welfare State at Crossroads
Authors: Doron Abraham 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe paper deals with the evolution of the welfare state in Israel and the impact it has had on the structure of Israeli society. It outlines the major phases of its development and stresses the social and political forces that shaped the process of trial and error in which these have evolved. The achievements and limits of the Israeli welfare state are analysed in the context of its particular circumstances as a developing industrial society that has also to cope with the integration of its various ethnic immigrant groups and with maintaining the morale of the population in face of the continuous threat to its national security. In conclusion the paper reviews the roots of the current crisis and outlines the possible strategies to deal with it, within the framework of Israeli society and in an international perspective.
Private Medical Care and the British Conservative Government: What Price Independence?
Authors: Mohan John 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses issues raised by the uneven expansion of private health care in Britain in recent years. The problems being experienced by the industry have exposed divisions in the private health care industry and have provoked criticisms of the Government and requests for a greater degree of state support for, and regulation of, the industry. The paper therefore examines the scope for changes of government policy to facilitate further expansion. It argues that few of the alternatives are either technically adequate, in terms of solving the private sector's problems, or politically feasible, in the sense of being electorally justifiable. It concludes that policies to further private sector expansion could be implemented only at the cost of the private sector's independence, or at the expense of the Government's commitment to the NHS.
Some Historical Dimensions of the Welfare State ‘Crisis’
Authors: Johnson Paul 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTArguments about the harmful effects of government intervention in welfare issues, which seemed peripheral to the rapid expansion of state welfare in the twentieth century, have recently achieved the status of a new orthodoxy. This article examines the historical development of economic, administrative and ideological criticisms of state welfare in Britain and America, in order to identify the roots of this new orthodoxy. It finds that economic and administrative criticisms are neither necessary nor sufficient to explain the rise of this new view, which ultimately rests on specific ideological beliefs about the propriety of state welfare.
Alcohol, Politics and Social Policy
Authors: Baggott Rob 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe growing awareness of the importance of lifestyle factors in the prevention of ill-health has stimulated a number of policy studies. But of the main causes of preventable ill-health alcohol misuse has been comparatively neglected, in spite of the fact that it also has wider implications for a range of other social problems. This article attempts to fill this gap by charting the development of alcohol policy and the alcohol issue over the last three decades. The main intention is to explain why the policy has taken its present form. At the same time it sheds some light on why a more comprehensive alcohol policy has been rejected by successive UK governments. As a framework, three potential explanations for this rejection are outlined: opposition by powerful interest groups; the hostility of voters and politicians; and opposition by government bureaucracies. The analysis thus provides an opportunity to test the relevance of these theories in an area of policy which has wide implications for social welfare.
Private Renting in London: Is It So Different?
Authors: Whitehead Christine M. E. , Kleinman Mark 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis article examines the special role of the private rented sector in the provision of housing in London. The proportion of households who rent privately continues to be much higher in the capital than in the rest of the country. The reasons for this are analysed, together with the type of households that are found in the sector in London, and the sort of accommodation they obtain. The conclusion is reached that while the operation of the sector in London does differ in some important ways from the rest of the country, the major difference is simply its greater size in London. A forecast is then made of future trends. Finally, the likely effects of different policy options on those already in, and those seeking to enter the sector, are assessed.
The Withdrawal from Paid Work of the Wives of Unemployed Men: A Review of Research
Authors: Cooke Kenneth 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTEvidence from surveys suggests that when married men become unemployed their wives tend also to withdraw from paid work. This apparent relationship between the labour supply behaviour of spouses has never been fully explained. One of the most frequently cited reasons for this effect is the very small amount that wives are able to earn without incurring deductions from the family's social security benefits, but other factors may be equally, or more, important. This article reviews both the evidence of this effect and a number of reasons that have been adduced to account for it, and ends with proposals for further explanatory research.