Reconciling Work And Poverty Reduction

Disappointing poverty trends suggest limitations to employment-centred welfare reform and downward pressures on the redistributive capacity of welfare states. Innovative empirical analyses of the links between poverty, labour market participation and social redistribution are presented. The observations are linked with a broader perspective on the socio-economic, demographic and paradigmatic evolutions in contemporary welfare states.

'Reconciling Work and Poverty Reduction' examines the link between poverty and labor market participation and the distributive capacity of welfare states. Focusing on the working-age population and the evolutions in Europe during the 'good economic years' before the financial crisis, this book asks the complex policy question: Why did poverty not decrease during Europe's prosperity prior to the crisis? Although this volume is not the first to observe worrying trends in poverty or inequality, the specific approaches within provide well-structured and accessible perspectives on the socioeconomic, demographic, and paradigmatic evolutions in contemporary welfare states. To gain a better understanding of the nexus of labor market participation, social redistribution and poverty, the authors focus on the distinction between work-poor and work-rich households. This book goes beyond the traditional pre-post approach of the impact of social transfers and refines the common method of measuring the redistributive effect of social expenditure, particularly for in-kind benefits. Cantillon and Vandenbroucke introduce the reader to the various ways to measure poverty and exclusion; innovative empirical analyses of the links between poverty, labor market participation and social redistribution; and even important data limitations. The book is well suited for readers interested in social exclusion and anti-poverty policy, the role of the European Union in social policy, and comparative social policy.

In 2000, the first social agenda in the history of the European Union was launched, and the endeavor to combat poverty came increasingly to the forefront as a specific area for EU policy cooperation and coordination. Regrettably, however, little progress has been achieved so far, either at the national or European level. On the contrary, the EU's social fabric is under major stress: convergence in national living standards has halted or reversed while progress in terms of poverty reduction in the last decades has been disappointing in most EU Member States. In Europe, despite high social spending and work-related welfare reforms, poverty often remains a largely intractable problem for policymakers and a persistent reality for many European citizens. In Decent Incomes for All, the authors shed new light on recent poverty trends in the European Union and the corresponding responses by European welfare states. They analyze the effect of social and fiscal policies before, during, and after the recent economic crisis and study the impact of alternative policy packages on poverty and inequality. The volume also explores how social investment and local initiatives of social innovation can contribute to tackling poverty, while recognizing that there are indeed structural constraints on the increase of the social floor and difficult trade-offs involved in reconciling work and poverty reduction. Academics and graduate students in comparative social policy, inclusion and anti-poverty policy, sociology, and public economics will find the book to be a particularly helpful resource in their work.

Poverty has dire consequences on the ability to fulfil one’s aspirations for life. Poverty has strong implications for social cohesion and societies’ abilities to function in harmonious ways. This book presents the readers with the core concepts, latest development and knowledge about policies that work to eliminate absolute poverty. This volume shows what the consequences are for the quality of life of those living in poverty. It describes life for people in poverty in general, but also deals more specifically with children, in-work poverty and the elderly, thus providing a life, generational and global perspective on poverty, including the impact on people’s happiness levels. The book also discusses policies aimed at poverty reduction, such as changes to the labour market – including the risk of working poor – and shows that there is a variety of possible instruments available to reduce poverty. These range from direct provision of social security to ensuring education and a better functioning labour market. Written in an engaging and accessible style, the book provides a succinct insight into the concept of poverty, how to measure it, the situation of poverty around the globe as well as different types of possible interventions to cope with poverty. Supporting theory with examples and case studies from a variety of contexts, suggestions for further reading, and a detailed glossary, this text is an essential read for anyone approaching the study of poverty for the first time.

Parents around the world grapple with the common challenge of balancing work and child care. Despite common problems, the industrialized nations have developed dramatically different social and labor market policies—policies that vary widely in the level of support they provide for parents and the extent to which they encourage an equal division of labor between parents as they balance work and care. In Families That Work, Janet Gornick and Marcia Meyers take a close look at the work-family policies in the United States and abroad and call for a new and expanded role for the U.S. government in order to bring this country up to the standards taken for granted in many other Western nations. In many countries in Europe and in Canada, family leave policies grant parents paid time off to care for their young children, and labor market regulations go a long way toward ensuring that work does not overwhelm family obligations. In addition, early childhood education and care programs guarantee access to high-quality care for their children. In most of these countries, policies encourage gender equality by strengthening mothers' ties to employment and encouraging fathers to spend more time caregiving at home. In sharp contrast, Gornick and Meyers show how in the United States—an economy with high labor force participation among both fathers and mothers—parents are left to craft private solutions to the society-wide dilemma of "who will care for the children?" Parents—overwhelmingly mothers—must loosen their ties to the workplace to care for their children; workers are forced to negotiate with their employers, often unsuccessfully, for family leave and reduced work schedules; and parents must purchase care of dubious quality, at high prices, from consumer markets. By leaving child care solutions up to hard-pressed working parents, these private solutions exact a high price in terms of gender inequality in the workplace and at home, family stress and economic insecurity, and—not least—child well-being. Gornick and Meyers show that it is possible–based on the experiences of other countries—to enhance child well-being and to increase gender equality by promoting more extensive and egalitarian family leave, work-time, and child care policies. Families That Work demonstrates convincingly that the United States has much to learn from policies in Europe and in Canada, and that the often-repeated claim that the United States is simply "too different" to draw lessons from other countries is based largely on misperceptions about policies in other countries and about the possibility of policy expansion in the United States.

While it has become abundantly clear that neither overall economic growth nor targeted microlevel interventions inevitably reduce poverty in developing countries, much of the development literature continues to focus on these two approaches. Exploring a third, and more promising, avenue, Fighting Poverty offers a systematic analysis of the link between employment and pro-poor economic growth.The authors provide both conceptual frameworks and rich empirical evidence to demonstrate precisely how employment can serve to link growth with poverty reduction. They include in-depth case studies of Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Uganda, and Vietnam.Rizwanul Islam is director of the Employment Strategy Department of the International Labour Organization.Contents: Introduction?R. Islam. Exploring the Employment Nexus: The Analytics of Pro-Poor Growth?S.R. Osmani. The Nexus of Economic Growth, Employment, and Poverty Reduction: An Empirical Analysis?R. Islam. Employment Policies for Poverty Reduction?A. Rahman. Bangladesh: Linkages Between Economic Growth, Employment, and Poverty?R.I. Rahman and M.N. Islam. Bolivia: Employment-Poverty Linkages and Policies?L.C. Jemio and M. del Carmen Choque. Ethiopia: Growth, Employment, Poverty, and Policies?M. Demeke, F. Guta, and T. Ferede. India: Employment-Poverty Linkages and Policy Options?K. Sundaram and S.D. Tendulkar. Indonesia: Poverty, Employment, and Wages?I. Islam. Uganda: Economic Growth, Employment, Poverty, and Pro-Poor Policies?K.I.B. Kabananukye, A.E.K. Kabananukye, J. Krishnamurty, and D. Owomugasho. Vietnam: Employment Poverty Linkages and Policies for Pro-Poor Growth?Pham Lan Huong, Bui Quang Tuan, and Dinh Hien Minh. Conclusion?R. Islam.

The past decade has been characterized by a burgeoning interest in new concepts of individual and social well-being. The impetus for this new research has stemmed from increased demand from policy makers and civil society for measures of progress that go beyond the traditional measures of GDP, as well as improved datasets allowing individuals and households to be tracked over their life course. The aim of this Handbook is to chart these developments and provide extensive surveys of many of the recent themes that have emerged in the research literature. Some of the topics addressed include poverty. relative deprivation and satisfaction, economic insecurity, social exclusion and inequality, income and social polarization, and social fractionalization and diversity. Each topic is first analyzed from a theoretical perspective, followed by detailed empirical discussion.

Abstract: This paper reviews empirical findings from economic analyses of the role of gender equality and women's empowerment in reducing poverty and stimulating growth. Going beyond the large literature documenting the impact of female education on a range of development outcomes, the paper presents evidence on the impact of women's access to markets (labor, land, and credit) and women's decision-making power within households on poverty reduction and productivity at the individual and household level. The paper also summarizes evidence from studies examining the relationship between gender equality and poverty reduction and growth at the macro level. Although micro level effects of gender equality on individual productivity and human development outcomes have been well documented and have important ramifications for aggregate economic performance, establishing an empirical relationship between gender equality and poverty reduction and growth at the macro level has proven to be more challenging. The paper concludes by identifying priority areas for future research.