Targeting Social Benefits International Perspectives And Trends

Over the last decade changing family life and increasing fiscal constraints on welfare expenditures have forced industrialized nations to reconsider how they approach social protection. Faced with fiscal and demographic changes, many countries have been struggling to -develop innovative policy responses. Some involve targeting benefits in order to shrink existing program commitments, to focus welfare expenditures on those most in need, and to give social welfare systems more flexibility in redirecting available resources to meet emerging demands. Targeting Social Benefits: International Perspectives and Trends provides a systematic assessment of the trend toward targeting in seven countries representing a range of industrialized welfare states-New Zealand, the Netherlands, Britain, Israel, the United States, Italy, and Sweden. The contributors to this volume examine the extent to which each country has adopted measures to focus social benefits on specific population groups and particularly social welfare program areas. A summary chapter surveys and categorizes the choices nations have made in targeting methods, culls the lessons learned for recent reforms, and explores the implications of these developments for the future of the welfare state. Specific methods for targeting benefits in different program areas are analyzed, which includes means-tests, income testing, diagnostic criteria, behavioral requirements and the use of socio-demo-graphic categories. This illuminating volume provides an in-depth understanding of alternative approaches to and consequences of policies designed to target social benefits. It will help scholars, professionals, and policymakers deepen their understanding of the alternative methods and consequences of recent policies designed to shift the allocation of social welfare benefits. Neil Gilbert is Chernin Professor of Social Welfare at the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, and Director of the Center for Com

Over the last decade changing family life and increasing fiscal constraints on welfare expenditures have forced industrialized nations to reconsider how they approach social protection. Faced with fiscal and demographic changes, many countries have been struggling to -develop innovative policy responses. Some involve targeting benefits in order to shrink existing program commitments, to focus welfare expenditures on those most in need, and to give social welfare systems more flexibility in redirecting available resources to meet emerging demands. Targeting Social Benefits: International Perspectives and Trends provides a systematic assessment of the trend toward targeting in seven countries representing a range of industrialized welfare states-New Zealand, the Netherlands, Britain, Israel, the United States, Italy, and Sweden. The contributors to this volume examine the extent to which each country has adopted measures to focus social benefits on specific population groups and particularly social welfare program areas. A summary chapter surveys and categorizes the choices nations have made in targeting methods, culls the lessons learned for recent reforms, and explores the implications of these developments for the future of the welfare state. Specific methods for targeting benefits in different program areas are analyzed, which includes means-tests, income testing, diagnostic criteria, behavioral requirements and the use of socio-demo-graphic categories. This illuminating volume provides an in-depth understanding of alternative approaches to and consequences of policies designed to target social benefits. It will help scholars, professionals, and policymakers deepen their understanding of the alternative methods and consequences of recent policies designed to shift the allocation of social welfare benefits. Neil Gilbert is Chernin Professor of Social Welfare at the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, and Director of the Center for Comparative Family Welfare and Poverty Research. Dr. Gilbert served as a Senior Research Fellow for the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva and was twice awarded Fulbright Fellowships to study European social policy. His numerous publications include 22 books and 100 articles that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Public Interest, Society, Commentary, and other leading academic journals.

Over the last decade changing family life and increasing fiscal constraints on welfare expenditures have forced industrialized nations to reconsider how they approach social protection. Faced with fiscal and demographic changes, many countries have been struggling to -develop innovative policy responses. Some involve targeting benefits in order to shrink existing program commitments, to focus welfare expenditures on those most in need, and to give social welfare systems more flexibility in redirecting available resources to meet emerging demands. Targeting Social Benefits: International Perspectives and Trends provides a systematic assessment of the trend toward targeting in seven countries representing a range of industrialized welfare states-New Zealand, the Netherlands, Britain, Israel, the United States, Italy, and Sweden. The contributors to this volume examine the extent to which each country has adopted measures to focus social benefits on specific population groups and particularly social welfare program areas. A summary chapter surveys and categorizes the choices nations have made in targeting methods, culls the lessons learned for recent reforms, and explores the implications of these developments for the future of the welfare state. Specific methods for targeting benefits in different program areas are analyzed, which includes means-tests, income testing, diagnostic criteria, behavioral requirements and the use of socio-demo-graphic categories. This illuminating volume provides an in-depth understanding of alternative approaches to and consequences of policies designed to target social benefits. It will help scholars, professionals, and policymakers deepen their understanding of the alternative methods and consequences of recent policies designed to shift the allocation of social welfare benefits. Neil Gilbert is Chernin Professor of Social Welfare at the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, and Director of the Center for Comparative Family Welfare and Poverty Research. Dr. Gilbert served as a Senior Research Fellow for the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva and was twice awarded Fulbright Fellowships to study European social policy. His numerous publications include 22 books and 100 articles that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Public Interest, Society, Commentary, and other leading academic journals.

Same time, the glaring systemic deficiencies of extant welfare systems-and the psychological toll of welfare dependency--became increasingly apparent, even to welfare's supporters.

Welfare Reform in Canada provides systematic knowledge of Canadian social assistance by assessing provincial welfare regimes and emphasizing changes since the late twentieth century. The book examines activation, social investment, and economic inequalities and provides nuanced perspectives on social welfare across Canada's provinces in relation to trends and issues in the country and beyond. These conceptual, international, and historical perspectives inform in-depth case studies of social assistance reform in each province. The key issues of social assistance in Canada, including gender relations, immigrants, Aboriginal peoples, and the impact of activation programs, are addressed, as is the possibility of convergence taking place in provincial welfare policy. This book is the second volume in the Johnson-Shoyama Series on Public Policy, published by the University of Toronto Press in association with the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, an interdisciplinary centre for research, teaching, and executive training with campuses at the Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan.

What are the objectives of social security and social assistance provisions? How can we establish whether these provisions are effective? How do countries differ in the design and effectiveness of their social security systems? This introductory textbook provides a foundation for the systematic study of social security and means-tested social assistance. The book is structured around a model of policy evaluation, which focuses attention on the multiple objectives and outcomes of social security and provides the basis for a multi-disciplinary approach. It progresses from an examination of the varied objectives of social security, via a consideration of key implementation issues, to the establishment of measures of effectiveness and efficiency. Throughout the text theoretical issues are illustrated with reference to the experiences of six countries: the United Kingdom, the USA, Australia, Germany, Sweden and South Korea, to provide an international comparative framework. This is a key textbook for students of social and public policy and economics and essential reading for anyone interested in social security, social welfare and the welfare state.

This is the second volume of the Proceedings of The Migration Conference 2020. The Migration Conference 2020 was held online due to COVID-19 Pandemic and yet, in over 80 parallel sessions and plenaries key migration debates saw nearly 500 experts from around the world engaging. This collection contains contributions mainly dealing with migration and integration debates. These are only a subset of all presentations from authors who chose to submit full short papers for publication after the conference. Most of the contributions are work in progress and unedited versions. The next migration conference is going to be hosted by Ming-Ai Institute in London, UK. Looking forward to continuing the debates on human mobility after the Pandemic. | www.migrationconference.net | @migrationevent | fb.me/MigrationConference | Email: [email protected]

In 2000, UN member states pledged to halve world poverty by 2015, among other Millennium Development Goals (MDG's). But progress has been elusive since. The chapters in this volume address disparate problems in achieving the UN Development Agenda, from the complex effects of trade and financial liberalisation to the realities of development aid, itself a central pillar of the MDGs. The unifying theme is one of economic and social integration, and an emphasis on long-term strategic investments in education, health and infrastructure.