The governance of poverty: Welfare reform, activation policies, and social assistance benefits and caseloads in Nordic countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 487-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renate Minas ◽  
Vibeke Jakobsen ◽  
Timo Kauppinen ◽  
Tomas Korpi ◽  
Thomas Lorentzen
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Institutional Cooperation ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Hierarchical Levels ◽  
Local Discretion ◽  
Social Protection Systems ◽  
Welfare Agencies

Social assistance benefits are the last resort in national social protection systems, and decentralizing reforms leading to increasing local discretion over implementation of national legislation was an international trend frequently referred to as devolution. More recent reforms have instead often implied recentralization and/or involved mandatory institutional cooperation between welfare agencies located at different hierarchical levels. In contrast to North America, there is little European evidence on the extent to which shifting responsibilities influence benefit levels and benefit receipt. Using individual level register data from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and applying a difference-in-difference approach, we link changes in legislation to changes in municipal benefits as well as caseloads during the period 1990–2010. We only find indications of reform effects linked to distinct benefit centralization, concluding that other reforms were too insubstantial to have an impact. Combined with earlier evidence, this suggests that in order to have an impact, welfare reform requires marked changes in authority.

scholarly journals Famílias e assistência social: reflexões sobre o BPC e o PBF | Families and social assistance: reflections on the Continued Payment Benefit (BPC) and the Bolsa Família (PBF) programs

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (42) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mônica De Castro Maia Senna ◽  
Brenda Luanda Silva Costa
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
Social Protection Systems ◽  
Brazilian Case

Este artigo pretende contribuir para o debate em torno do trabalho com famílias na política de assistência social, a partir da análise de alguns elementos que circunscrevem a centralidade da família nas políticas e programas sociais brasileiros nos anos recentes, mais especificamente no âmbito do Programa Bolsa Família e do Benefício de Prestação Continuada. Tomando por base estudos e experiências concretas, abordamos algumas inflexões produzidas nos sistemas nacionais de proteção social nas últimas décadas, com destaque para o caso brasileiro. Enfatizamos alguns aspectos contraditórios presentes nas relações estabelecidas entre Estado e família forjadas a partir da constituição dessas duas modalidades de provisão da assistência social.Palavras-Chave: política social; assistência social; família; bolsa família; benefício de prestação continuada. Abstract – This article intends to contribute to the debate about the work with families in social assistance policy, from the analysis of some elements that circumscribe the centrality of family in Brazilian social policies and programs in recent years, specifically within the scope of the Bolsa Família and the Continued Payment Benefit programs. Based on studies and concrete experiences, we have approached some inflections produced in national social protection systems in the last decades, focusing on the Brazilian case. We emphasize some contradictory aspects present in the relations established between state and family forged from the constitution of these two modalities of provision of social assistance.Keywords: social policy; social assistance; family; Bolsa Família; Continued Payment Benefits.

A cascade of exclusion: administrative burdens and access to citizenship in the case of Argentina’s National Identity Document

2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232098454
Author(s):  
Mariana Chudnovsky ◽  
Rik Peeters
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Institutional Characteristics ◽  
Target Groups ◽  
Administrative Capacity ◽  
Identity Document ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Social Protection Systems

Administrative burdens can hinder people’s social, political and economic participation. However, most empirical studies usually tackle the issue of how they affect access to citizenship merely indirectly. This article examines administrative exclusion from Argentina’s National Identity Document and its effects on a key social policy: the Universal Child Allowance. Findings indicate that: (1) administrative exclusion from official identity documents ‘feeds back’ into the construction of a vulnerable target group that is systematically excluded from social benefits and public services; and (2) limitations in the administrative capacity for identity registration and documentation ‘trickle down’ to complications in the implementation of social policies as target groups remain ‘off the radar’. Findings also demonstrate the importance of understanding administrative burdens as a systemic issue. Burdens manifest themselves at the level of citizen–state interactions but their causes and consequences are tied up with intractable institutional characteristics, administrative capacities and social inequalities. Points for practitioners Efforts by developing countries to develop effective social protection systems are often thwarted by limitations in the state’s capacity to identify and reach marginalized citizens. This suggests the need for a systemic perspective of the state’s entire capacity instead of merely focusing on the design of social protection programmes. Specifically, we demonstrate that complete, accessible and up-to-date civil registries, identity documents and other forms of registration are a precondition for transforming formal rights into a tangible reality for citizens.

scholarly journals Influence of Fiscal Policies and Labor Market Characteristics on Sustainable Social Insurance Budgets—Empirical Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6197
Author(s):  
Adriana Florina Popa ◽  
Stefania Amalia Jimon ◽  
Delia David ◽  
Daniela Nicoleta Sahlian
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Fiscal Policies ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Social Protection Systems

Social protection systems are a key factor for ensuring the long-term sustainability and stability of economies in the European Union, their reform being nowadays present in the political agenda of member states. Aging and the dependence on mandatory levies applied to the employed population on the labor market represent a threat for the sustainability of public social protection systems. In terms of sustainability, our purpose was to highlight the factors influencing social insurance budgets, considering the fiscal policies implemented in six countries of Central and Eastern Europe and their particular labor market characteristics. Therefore, a panel study based on a regression model using the Ordinary Least Squares method (OLS) with cross section random effects was used to determine the correlations between funding sources and labor market specific indicators. The data analyzed led to relevant results that emphasize the dependence of social insurance budgets on positive factors such as the average level of salaries, the share of compulsory social contributions, the unemployment rate, and the human development index, suggesting the continuing need for professional and personal development of the workforce.

scholarly journals SISTEMAS DE PROTEÇÃO SOCIAL LATINO-AMERICANOS E RESPOSTAS À PANDEMIA DE COVID-19: Argentina, Brasil e México

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 263
Author(s):  
Mônica de Castro Maia Senna ◽  
Aline Souto Maior Ferreira ◽  
Valentina Sofia Suarez Baldo
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
The Social ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
America Latina ◽  
Social Protection Systems

O artigo analisa como sistemas de proteção social na América Latina têm respondido à grave situação social decorrente da pandemia de COVID-19. Pautado em estudo exploratório, o artigo toma como foco as experiências da Argentina, Brasil e México. A perspectiva de análise considera que as respostas produzidas por esses três casos às demandas sociais postas pela pandemia decorrem da interseção entre o legado prévio e estrutura institucional dos sistemas de proteção social existentes em cada país, a orientação política dos governos em exercício e a dinâmica social e política diante do contexto da crise sanitária. Verifica que nos três países, a despeito de medidas protetivas de maior ou menor abrangência e magnitude, que reforçam a proteção social existente ou introduzem novos mecanismos – todos eles temporários – a crise social própria às formações sociais latino-americanas se agravou.LATIN AMERICAN SOCIAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND RESPONSES TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: Argentina, Brazil and MexicoAbstractThe article analyses how social protection systems in Latina America have responded to the serious social situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by an exploratory study, the paper focuses on the experiences of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. The analysis considers that the responses produced by the three cases results from the intersection between the institutional structure’s previous legacy of the social protection systems existing in each country, the political orientation of the governments in exercise and the social and political dynamics in the sanitary crisis context. It seems that, despite protective measures of greater or lesser scope and magnitude, which either reinforce the existing social protections or introduce new mechanisms – all of them temporary – the social crisis specific to Latin American social formations has worsened in the countries studied.Keywords: Social protection. COVID-19. Brazil. México. Argentina

scholarly journals Causal pathways of intergenerational poverty transmission in selected EU countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Stefanos Papanastasiou ◽  
Christos Papatheodorou
Keyword(s):  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Family Of Origin ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Welfare Regime ◽  
Logit Models ◽  
Poverty Risk ◽  
Causal Pathways ◽  
The Family ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Social Protection Systems

The paper investigates whether, in what way and to what extent the family of origin affects offspring’s poverty risk in selected EU countriesrepresenting different social protection systems. Employing logit models and utilizing EU-SILC data, the analysis brings to the forefront the importance of social protection for intercepting the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Denmark with the socialdemocratic welfare state is the most successful in mitigating the effect of the family of origin on offspring’s poverty risk, followed by France representing the conservative-corporatist welfare regime. Less effective οn this matter appear to be Greece and Great Britain representing the south-European and the liberal social protection system respectively.

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