Whose Need Matters?: The Local Welfare State, Poverty, and Variation in US Counties’ Social Service Provisioning

Social Currents ◽

10.1177/23294965211047886 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 232949652110478

Author(s):

Paige Kelly ◽

Linda Lobao

Keyword(s):

Welfare State ◽

Social Services ◽

Social Service ◽

Local Governments ◽

Poverty Rate ◽

Spatial Inequality ◽

Service Provisioning ◽

County Governments ◽

And Gender ◽

Ethnicity And Gender

Sociologists have long studied poverty across localities. Yet, little research focuses on local governments and the social services they directly provide to those in-need. Researchers concerned with the US welfare state note that localized administration of social programs creates geographic variability in provisioning and potential for status-based discrimination, such as racism, to influence policy. This paper addresses two questions: (1) To what extent does local need influence counties’ provision of social services? (2) Does the provision of social services vary according to which social group is most in-need? Conceptually, we break ground by placing spatial inequality research on local disparities into dialogue with sociology’s welfare state tradition. Using novel data for 1,600 county governments across the nation, we find that local need as measured by the poverty rate is related to greater social service provisioning, suggesting governments’ responsiveness. However, provisioning is unequal when the level of need is disaggregated among social groups, race/ethnicity, and gender. Higher poverty among whites is associated with greater provisioning of social services. This study showcases possible means by which unequal patterns of social welfare support emerge and reveals the potential role of local governments in perpetuating inequalities by privileging some groups’ need more than others.

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Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/1077801216646223 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 23 (5) ◽

pp. 643-665 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Eryn Nicole O’Neal ◽

Laura O. Beckman

Keyword(s):

Social Services ◽

Race And Ethnicity ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Service Providers ◽

Cultural Barriers ◽

Underdeveloped Area ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

And Gender ◽

Ethnicity And Gender ◽

Legal Barriers

Using an intersectional framework, this article discusses the barriers to social services that Latina victims of intimate partner violence encounter, a drastically underdeveloped area of theorizing. We argue that placing Latinas at the center of analysis will facilitate empirical knowledge, which is necessary because mainstream inquiry has historically ignored their interests. First, we discuss cultural barriers through the lenses of gender, race, and ethnicity. Second, we describe socioeconomic barriers in conjunction with gender, race, and ethnicity. Third, we examine legal barriers along with the representation of gender, race, and ethnicity. Finally, we suggest directions for research and recommendations for service providers.

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DEVELOPMENT OF AN AGGREGATED SOCIAL INCLUSION INDICATOR. DISPARITIES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION ON INCLUSION/EXCLUSION SOCIAL DETERMINED WITH SOCIAL INCLUSION INDEX

Technological and Economic Development of Economy ◽

10.3846/tede.2021.15103 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

pp. 1-24

Author(s):

Dorel-Mihai Paraschiv ◽

Daniela-Ioana Manea ◽

Emilia Țițan ◽

Mihaela Mihai

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Social Services ◽

Social Inclusion ◽

Civil Liberties ◽

Political Rights ◽

The European Union ◽

The Social ◽

Lgbt Community ◽

And Gender ◽

Ethnicity And Gender

When we mention social inclusion, most of us think of political participation, social rights, civil liberties, equal access to race, ethnicity and gender, access to social services and the labour market, basically to a broader concept than social development. Social inclusion is a concept that can actually be defined, which means it can probably be measured. On this basis, a continuous effort is being made to measure the social inclusion elements, so the results can be used to build new indicators that help measure the multiple dimensions of social inclusion: The Social Inclusion Index, the Human Opportunity Index. This paper presents the development, based on multivariate data analysis techniques and methods, of an aggregated indicator of social inclusion for the member countries of the European Union which, besides the traditional variables (GDP), also measures the factors related to civil and political rights, women’s rights or perception of the LGBT community.

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Promise and Limits

10.5810/kentucky/9780813179919.003.0003 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 41-68

Author(s):

Joe William Trotter

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

African American ◽

Racial Disparities ◽

Social Services ◽

Black Community ◽

Social Service ◽

Housing Markets ◽

Gender Biases ◽

Economic Foundation ◽

And Gender

The Urban League of Pittsburgh not only exposed inequality in the labor and housing markets and worked to strengthen the economic foundation of the black community. It also revealed the depths of racial disparities across virtually every aspect of the city's institutional life and vigorously pushed to improve African American access to all categories of human and civic resources and social services. Accordingly, even as it struggled with its own internal class and gender biases and conflicts, the Pittsburgh branch increasingly merged its civil, human rights, and social service agenda to address such inequities.

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Analysis of the Effect of Competence and Soft Skill on Employee Performance with Job Satisfaction as Intervening Variable at the Regional Social Services of South Tapanuli Regency

International Journal of Research and Review ◽

10.52403/ijrr.20210840 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (8) ◽

pp. 290-298

Author(s):

Hariawan Ramadhan ◽

Prihatin Lumbanraja ◽

Sukaria Sinulingga

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Social Services ◽

Social Service ◽

Local Governments ◽

Soft Skills ◽

Employee Performance ◽

Descriptive Analysis ◽

Soft Skill ◽

Public Servant ◽

The Social

Efforts to improve the performance of local governments are a challenge for regional work units to improve the welfare of local people. The performance of public services in South Tapanuli which still looks unprofessional does not just happen, but is a consequence of the existence of a bureaucratic design that is not prepared as a public servant. Service in the social sector is one form of public service that is very important. Some people who need services complain because the services at the Regional Social Service Office of South Tapanuli Regency are not yet optimal. As a result, the implementation of the main tasks and functions of the Regional Social Service of South Tapanuli Regency cannot be achieved optimally. Therefore, it is important to see how competence and soft skills through satisfaction improve performance at the South Tapanuli Social Service. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of competence, soft skills on employee performance through job satisfaction as an intervening variable at the Regional Social Service Office of South Tapanuli Regency. The population of this research is ASN who work in the Regional Social Service of South Tapanuli Regency, amounting to 30 people. Data analysis is descriptive analysis and path analysis using SPSS software. The results showed that competence and soft skills directly had a positive and significant effect on job satisfaction, then competence, soft skills and job satisfaction also had a positive and significant effect on employee performance. Indirectly, job satisfaction is able to positively and significantly mediate the relationship between competence and soft skills variables on employee performance. Keywords: Competence, Soft Skill, Job Satisfaction, Employee Performance.

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Financial Capability and Asset Building With a Racial- and Gender-Equity Lens: Advances From the Field

Families in Society The Journal of Contemporary Social Services ◽

10.1177/10443894211063133 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 104438942110631

Author(s):

Christy Finsel ◽

Mae Watson Grote ◽

Margaret Libby ◽

Cathie Mahon ◽

Margaret S. Sherraden

Keyword(s):

Gender Equity ◽

Social Services ◽

Social Service ◽

Well Being ◽

Service Organizations ◽

Financial Security ◽

Asset Building ◽

Social Service Organizations ◽

Racial Wealth Gap ◽

And Gender

This essay explores the enormous potential of social service organizations to contribute to people’s financial well-being. It is informed by the work of four pioneering organizations that use a racial- and gender-equity lens to advance financial well-being. It explores five strategies: (a) embedding financial development into social services; (b) focusing on youth transitioning to adulthood; (c) partnering with asset coalitions to expand financial opportunities; (d) partnering with financial institutions; and (e) developing fintech with equity. These approaches hold promise to help address the racial wealth gap and improve financial security.

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Professional Role Functions of Women in Social Service: Results of a Sociological Survey in Moscow

REGIONOLOGY ◽

10.15507/2413-1407.117.029.202104.933-955 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 933-955

Author(s):

Margarita V. Vdovina

Keyword(s):

Social Services ◽

Social Service ◽

Service Sector ◽

Social Protection ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Professional Role ◽

Middle Level ◽

Family Responsibilities ◽

The Social ◽

And Gender

Introduction. Women predominate among the employees in the social service sector, they occupy various positions and perform relevant functions, but the specifics and problems of their work have not been sufficiently studied. Based on the materials of the conducted sociological survey, the article analyzes how social workers perform the main work tasks, how well they manage to combine professional role functions with family ones, which contributes to their satisfaction with their work. Materials and Methods. The applied research, conducted by the author in the autumn of 2020 in Moscow, used official documents, statistical data, her own sociological survey, and a comparative analysis of the results of secondary empirical studies. 107 employees of state social service organizations took part in the survey, almost equally representing the management staff, specialists, and ordinary employees. This made it possible not only to generalize various status and gender positions regarding the role of women in the implementation of social service in the relevant institutions, but also, based on the results of the analysis, to suggest possible ways to improve the professional qualifications of female employees for more effective implementation of their work functions. Results. A comparison of the responses of representatives of different status and gender groups showed that the range of professional functions of the object of this research is quite wide: from the head to the service personnel, from working with documents to providing specific social services to various groups of people in need or in a difficult life situation. At all the levels, women are represented in accordance with their professional and personal qualities. However, according to the self-assessment, combining professional and family responsibilities is most difficult for a female senior or middle-level manager. Discussion and Conclusion. The author proposes to create conditions for optimizing the workload, for preventing physical fatigue and emotional burnout of women providing social services, as well as for effective combining their professional roles with family ones, and for professional development. The article will be useful to employees providing social services, those who specialize in the field of gender issues of employment, senior personnel of the social protection system of the population at the regional level, teachers engaged in further vocational education.

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