bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Council House Sales and Residualization
Authors: Williams N.J. , Sewel J. , Twine F. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTIt has been argued that council house sales will contribute towards a more general process of residualization of public sector housing. Empirical evidence is presented in this context derived from surveys of purchasers and non-purchasers of council dwellings in the city of Aberdeen. This evidence confirms that purchasers and non-purchasers exhibit different socio-economic characteristics and after only four years of the Right to Buy legislation significant numbers of households in social classes I, II and III have left the public sector via the mechanism of sales. The small number of sales relative to the stock as a whole, however, has meant that the overall contribution of sales towards residualization has been small. This evidence from Aberdeen is compared to evidence from elsewhere and related to the varying pattern of sales across the country as a whole.
Access to Primary Health Care: A Comparison of the US and the UK
Authors: Puffer Frank 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the extent to which low household income influences access to primary health care in both the US and the UK. The basic approach is to ask whether, given data about a person's age, sex, and self-reported general health status and history, extra information about whether or not they come from a low-income household adds a statistically significant amount to the probability of their obtaining various amounts of primary medical care. The measure of primary medical care is derived from the number of physician visits and it, along with the other data, is drawn from the 1977 US National Medical Care Expenditure Survey and the 1980 UK General Household Survey. Although the two surveys cover different sample periods, they are similar enough to make comparisons between the two countries possible. The main conclusion drawn from the study is that low household income is not an important determinant of the actual use of primary health care resources. Only with subgroups of the low-income population (UK women and US relatively unhealthy individuals) does there appear to be a statistically significant effect, which is quite small in comparison to other factors.
Egalitarians, Equalities and Welfare Evaluation
Authors: O'Higgins Michael 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe focus of this paper is on the nature of the egalitarian policy objectives of the welfare state, and on the evaluation and assessment of social policies in the light of those objectives. This focus reflects the pervasive but often ill-defined presence of equality as an objective for social policy, without asserting that it is either unique or uncontested as an objective. The paper does not offer an evaluation of the success or failure of the welfare state in relation to equality; rather it is concerned with exploring what might be and is meant by equality as a target for social policy, with presenting some contrasting conceptions of equality, and with discussing the implications of the multiple meanings of equality for the way in which we think about issues in social policy and, in particular, about the impact of social welfare programmes.
Family allowances in Canada and Australia 1940–1945: A comparative critical case study
Authors: Watts Rob 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTWhilst quantitive and ‘positivist’ modes of comparative social policy can reveal significant structural factors involved in the making of welfare states, they too often ignore the role of human agency, intention and political processes. A critical-historical comparative case study of the introduction of ‘child endowment’ and of ‘family allowances’ respectively in Australia (1941) and in Canada (1944) reminds us of the interplay between structural constraints and human agency in the history of welfare states. Detailed analysis suggests that institutionalised arrangements in Australia after 1905 to resolve capital-labour conflict via arbitral and wage fixation mechanisms put the question of the adequacy of wages in meeting family needs and with it proposals for child endowment onto the public agenda as early as 1920. In Canada the absence of such mechanisms, and alternative welfare arrangements to deal with family welfare, combined to keep such proposals off the public agenda. After 1939 the development of ‘war economies’ in Australia and Canada created common contradictions for governments, trying to maintain both industrial peace and anti-inflation policies, which the introduction of family allowances in both countries were attempts to resolve. Consideration is also given to a range of political problems and contexts in both countries which this particular policy measure attempted to deal with.
In Pursuit of the Underclass
Authors: Macnicol John 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe 1970s saw a wide ranging debate in Britain, initiated by Sir Keith Joseph, on the apparent existence of a ‘cycle of deprivation’. Most participants viewed this debate as having originated in the 1960s, but in fact versions of the general concept of an inter-generational ‘underclass’ have figured prominently in social debates during the past one hundred years. In particular, in the inter-war period there were several investigations of an hereditary ‘social problem group’, investigations which were crucial to a wider conservative social reformist strategy. These investigations produced inconclusive results, however, because ultimately the underclass is a statistical artefact, the existence of which can only be argued by the use of several serious methodological contradictions.
Choice in Residential Care: Myths and Realities
Authors: Vincent John A. , Tibbenham Alan D. , Phillips David R. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the proposition that the welfare policies enacted and legitimised in the name of ‘choice’ have the effect of increasing the effective choice of service by consumers of welfare. The example of residential care of the elderly is used to illustrate the ways in which privatisation has influenced choices of care for elderly people in Devon. The paper reviews empirical material from two surveys of private homes in Devon in order to throw light on the ‘myths’ and realities of choice in residential accommodation and in other welfare provision available to the elderly in Devon. The paper identifies as the key debate the question of priorities: whether resources should be concentrated on providing suitable residential places for the increasing number of the very disabled elderly or used to increase the alternatives for the larger, more able groups. The latter option can perhaps be reasonably achieved through market mechanisms, whilst the former is more likely to require the specialised skills of social workers and other caring professionals. Although it is possible to argue that the growth in numbers of private old people's homes represents an increase in choice for the elderly, on closer examination this appears too simple an assertion. The expansion of the private sector has not necessarily expanded the range of alternative forms of care. In particular, there seems a major flaw in current policies by which the operation of the DHSS subsidy increases the availability of residential rather than domiciliary care.
Health Maintenance Organisations: Just What the Doctor Ordered?
Authors: Petchey Roland 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTFollowing its recent reorganisation of the management of the hospital sector of the NHS, the Government is currently engaged in a review of the primary health care sector. Certain of its proposals may be interpreted as suggesting movement towards a system modelled on American-style Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs). This article seeks to explore the context in which HMOs have developed, to assess their current performance and to evaluate their potential impact on the health delivery system. It suggests that they must be understood primarily in the context of initiatives aimed at reducing health expenditure, and finds that the cost advantages claimed for them are achieved through reduced utilisation rather than through greater efficiency. It also argues that this reduced utilisation is likely to increase inequalities in health care.
The Inequalities in Health Debate: A Critical Review of the Issues
Authors: Carr-Hill Roy 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThere has been an ongoing dispute about inequalities in health ever since the suppressed publication of the Black Report in 1980. It has recently been given a new edge by three publications: the proceedings of an SSRC Workshop held in November 1983 and the Registrar General's Decennial Supplement for 1979–1983, and another half-suppressed report, this time from Health Education Council. The first and third broadly claim that inequalities in health are widening; the second that they are irrelevant. This paper reviews the debate since 1980 around the issues of measurement (how to assess differences between social groups and how to compare across time) and the four kinds of explanation examined by the Black Report. The concluding discussion emphasises the essentially political nature of the debate over the ‘trends’ but concludes that, whilst most agree on the importance of materialist/structuralist variables, there are differences in the policy implications of the different explanatory positions. However, on the whole these will not be resolved by ‘further research’: the time is long overdue for a redistribution of resources to eradicate poverty.
The Myth of Generic Practice: Specialisation in Social Work
Authors: Challis David , Ferlie Ewan 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThere has been continuing debate ever since the reorganisation of social services following the Seebohm Report as to the most appropriate mode of organising field social work. At different times various models have been proposed with more or less enthusiasm, some of which expect fieldwork caseloads to be of a generic kind and others which demand a greater degree of specialisation. This paper examines the extent of specialisation in social work based on a national survey of fieldwork organisation and considers some reasons why this trend to specialisation is evident, even in authorities with a strong commitment to community-based modes of provision.
Back to the Future: Statutory Sick Pay, Citizenship and Social Class
Authors: Taylor-Gooby Peter , Lakeman Susan 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTIt is commonly argued that democratic-welfare capitalist societies face a continual tension between market individualist and need-oriented welfare values. If this is so, the attempt by the British Conservative Government of the 1980s to administer a brisk restorative to the welfare state with a purging dose of market principles seems likely to generate a tenacious opposition. This paper uses the transfer of sick pay responsibilities to employers through the 1983 Statutory Sick Pay scheme as a case study, to examine with what success market-based ideologies have encroached on people's conceptions of welfare citizenship.
The ‘Maschinenbeitrag’ Debate in Europe: In Search of the Optimal Financing Base for Social Security
Authors: Peeters Jan 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTIn several West European countries the way in which social security is currently financed by payroll contributions is widely criticised for its negative effects on employment and on the future stability of social security revenue. The calculation of the contributions on a broader assessment base, that is, value-added, might be a plausible alternative. Since human labour is increasingly replaced by technology, could the latter's value-added be used for financing social insurance? This article reviews the major empirical studies on the economic effects of such a rebasing to a so-called ‘Maschinenbeitrag’. It shows that the economic and budgetary benefits are very uncertain; therefore a shift towards a fiscalisation of social security financing is suggested as an alternative line of policy.
Justice and the Bounds of Welfare
Authors: Edwards John 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe welfare state is but the vehicle for the provision of welfare and the latter does not necessarily entail the former. Much recent debate occasioned by government policy and rhetoric has therefore confused means and ends. This paper argues that a defence of welfare must come before a concern for protecting the welfare state. A number of foundations for guaranteed welfare provision, including justice, rights and contract are considered but the most persuasive foundation for welfare as need-meeting is found to lie in the Kantian categorical imperatives. Not only do these provide a moral prescription that welfare ought to be provided, they also dictate the ways in which it ought to be provided. It is against these requirements therefore that the necessity of a welfare state as a means of providing welfare can be tested. The second part of the paper then considers how extensive a welfare state needs to be, and how the boundaries between the public and private domains in the provision of welfare may be drawn. The equality principle, allied to the notion of equality of welfare, is found to be a useful instrument in determining the bounds of the public domain but only (so the paper concludes reluctantly) when harnessed to objective specifications of need.
Political Acquiescence, Privatisation and Residualisation in British Housing Policy
Authors: Flynn Rob 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis paper examines some of the social and political implications of retrenchment and privatisation in British housing policy. It reviews arguments and evidence about residualisation in the housing market, the effects of consumption sectoral cleavages, and attitudinal ambivalence to welfare, in an attempt to understand the apparent absence of discontent about inequalities in housing. It is argued that recent trends have exacerbated social fragmentation and reinforced tendencies to political acquiescence.
Early Retirement in a Period of High Unemployment
Authors: Laczko Frank , Dale Angela , Arber Sara , Gilbert G. Nigel 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTEarly retirement is a policy for tackling unemployment which is popular among unions, employers and government, but there has been little recent research on its social implications for the individuals concerned. This article examines the reasons given by older men for retiring early and investigates the extent of income poverty in early retirement. Particular attention is paid to how early retirement is defined and to the differences between the early retired, the sick and the unemployed. Using data for men aged 60–64 from the General Household Survey for the years 1980–82 and from the Labour Force Survey of 1983, it is shown that ill-health is a less important reason for retirement than previous studies have suggested and that those who retire early are divided by class, with manual workers being more likely to retire early because of redundancy and more likely to be living on very low incomes than non-manual workers.
Housing and Health: A Case Study of Two Areas in West Belfast
Authors: Blackman Tim , Evason Eileen , Melaugh Martin , Woods Roberta 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe issue of housing and health has received growing attention in recent years. This article reviews why this has been the case and presents the results of the authors' study of housing and health in two areas of West Belfast. A large scale household survey was carried out in Divis Flats and part of the Twinbrook estate, both deprived areas of public sector housing, to compare health and housing conditions. The health of children in Divis is shown to be much worse than the health of children in Twinbrook. Respiratory conditions, diarrhoea, vomiting and psychological distress were particularly common. The health of adults in Divis was also markedly worse than in Twinbrook, and the health of women generally worse than men. The authors conclude that Divis Flats is a contemporary public sector slum and support the case for clearance and rehousing. However, it is argued that the health problems of Divis are one, extreme, manifestation of a wider problem of ill health in low income, ‘mass housing’ areas.
Consumer Participation in Service Planning—the AWS Experience
Authors: McGrath Morag 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis paper provides a case study of the involvement of carers in planning services for mentally handicapped people under the All Wales Strategy (AWS). After describing the structure for consumer participation in the AWS in Gwynedd, reasons for the low level of participation found are examined before considering what can be learnt from these early experiences. Major changes in the planning structure implemented after a review of the system are outlined. The paper ends with a discussion of the major operational principles which might underlie an effective system of consumer participation.
Family Food Systems, Preventive Health and Dietary Change: A Policy to Increase the Health Divide
Authors: Wilson Gail 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTAny preventive policy depends on a set of beliefs which will determine the point and method of intervention in a causative chain of events. In the case of heart disease, diet is seen as a causative factor. Prevention therefore demands a change in national diet. However, policy makers can view diet primarily as a matter of individual responsibility and preferences, or as a reflection of social structures. The individual approach emphasises health education. On the other hand, if dietary change is seen as related to structural factors such as income distribution, the division of resources within households and the power of the food industry, preventive policy must take different forms. The paper analyses food Systems in 61 inner city households in terms of gender, health beliefs, family preferences and status. The findings are compared with the results of large scale surveys. The conclusion is that health education needs to be more specifically directed at men but, more importantly, that a policy which ignores the structural features which limit individual capability for change will inevitably increase the health divide between rich and poor.
Class Mortality Differentials, Income Distribution and Trends in Poverty 1921–1981
Authors: Wilkinson Richard G. 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThe official figures which appear to show a widening of class differences in health in England and Wales during the post-war period have been controversial partly because they do not fit with common perceptions of what has happened to differences in the standard of living. As a result, a great deal of effort has gone into investigating suggested weaknesses in the decennial social class mortality data. Though initially plausible, the artifactual and selective explanations of the widening mortality differences which were put forward have not usually been borne out by closer investigations. The only fault in the broad picture presented by the official data which we do perhaps need to bear in mind is the tendency for a narrowing of mortality differentials among younger women to be masked by the widening among older women. This paper is an attempt to look at the other side of the coin—namely, to investigate trends in differences in the standard of living in relation to mortality differentials. It concludes that trends in mortality differences have not been related to trends in class differences inaverageearnings, but have been fairly clearly related to trends in relative poverty. Relative poverty and class differences in mortality declined before the war but have both increased, decade by decade, since the war. Younger women have perhaps been protected from the increase in relative poverty during much of the post-war period by their increased economic activity rates and the relative improvement in earnings of women in poorly paid manual occupations.
Gender and Poverty
Authors: Millar Jane , Glendinning Caroline 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTA recent edition of this Journal (Volume 16, Part 2, April 1987) was devoted to a number of articles on the definition and measurement of poverty. Surprisingly, perhaps, this did not include any specific discussion of gender differences in the causes, extent and experience of poverty. But such gender differences do exist, though they are often obscured by much research on poverty. Our initial response to the special edition on poverty was to write a reply discussing how the various contributors had ignored the issue of gender. But women cannot simply be ‘added in’ to existing analyses; instead a different analytic framework is required. This article therefore begins by looking at some of the widespread evidence of the economic disadvantage of women compared with men. We then go on to discuss why it is necessary to focus on the gender dimensions of poverty. We argue that this involves far more than simply disaggregating data to produce statistics about the situation of women. Rather, this focus leads us to explore the structural causes of women's poverty and the gendered processes in the labour market, welfare systems and domestic household which interact to create and maintain that disadvantage. In the final section we consider some of the important conceptual and methodological issues which must be tackled if we are to find ways to investigate and measure poverty which are not gender-blind.
The Second Marriage of Justice and Efficiency
Authors: van Parijs Philippe 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTNo major reform of the welfare state has a chance of going through unless one can make a plausible case as to both its ‘ethical value’ and its ‘economic.value’, that is, that it would have a positive effect in terms of both justice and efficiency. In this essay, this rough conjecture is first presented, and its plausibility probed, on the background of some stylised facts about the rise of modern welfare states in the postwar period. Next, the focus is shifted to the current debate on the introduction of a basic income, a completely unconditional grant paid ex ante to all citizens. It is argued that if basic income is to have a chance of meeting the strong twofold condition stipulated in the conjecture, some major changes are required in the way one usually thinks about justice and efficiency in connection with social policy. But once these changes are made, as they arguably must be, the chance that basic income may be able to meet the challenge is greatly enhanced.
The Danish 1891 Act on Old Age Relief: A Response to Agrarian Demand and Pressure
Authors: Petersen Jørn Henrik 
Published: January 2009

ABSTRACTThis essay presents the Danish Act of 1891 on old age relief as an alternative to the German social insurance approach and as a precursor to the British Act of 1908. The hypothesis is that a form of welfare provision for the elderly developed in Denmark under agricultural rather than the industrial conditions which conventional thinking usually assumes necessary for such welfare developments. The influence of the Danish scheme upon the debate in Britain is documented and discussed.