DOCSLIB.ORG

Welfare Dependency: Questioning Common Assumptions

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Welfare Dependency: Questioning Common Assumptions Welfare Dependency: Questioning Common Assumptions by Michael French Smith, Ph.D. There is wide agreement that the welfare system sumed by the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) pro- (means-tested cash and in-kind assistance programs, gram in the 1970s. 'I'he Social Security Act was a chiefly Aid to Families with Dependent Children) is response to political unrest and a burgeoning need for replete with problems.' Mainstream periodicals - such as assistance caused by the Great Depression. It was made Time, Newsweek, Business Week, the New Republic, and politically possible, in part, because prevailing attitudes The Atlantic Monthly - routinely refer to the problems toward poverty changed as a result of the widesprexl of "welfare dependency," the "culture of poverty," or the hardship caused by the 1)eprt:ssion. Thc economist "culture of welfare dependency." The subject of this Bradley Schiller writes: paper is the commonly held assumption that a large per- centage of welfare recipients become dependent on It was not until the depression of the 1890s that m:my public assistance. Related assumptions are that welfare people seriously began to question the proposition that recipients are seduced by the system into a self-perpetu- poverty resulted from sin and slovenliness ....13111 it \vas not until 15 n~illionAmericans simultaneously rxperi- ating culture of dependence, and that the system inad- enced unemployment in the depths of the Great Ikprcs- vertantly increases poverty by swelling the ranks of the sion that a really new perspcctivc on poverty took hold. idle and fostering families headed by single women Only as millions of otherwise re>ponsihle and industri- unable to provide for their children. A review of ous individuals fell abruptly into joblessness :md povcrt) research on welfare dependency and related questions, did the American public begin lo speak of poverty as being outside the control of the individual. Awareness however, finds little support for these contentions. grew that poverty might be the consequence of soci;~l and economic forces rather than of immorality :und L vi~e.~ SHIFTING ATTITUDES ABOUT POVERTY Seeing themselves and others like them plunged into Before the 1030s, assistance to the needy in the poverty or near poverty, middle-class Americans could IJnited States was largely the province of private charity, understand that poverty was not the fault of the poor but with some help from local governments. The current of larger, uncontrollable economic circumstances. They system of public assistance began with passage of the could then accept, even welcome, the use of public Social Security Act of 1035. This act initiated Aid to Fam- funds to assist the poor. However, Schiller also notes that ilies with Dependent Children (AFDC), Unemployment as economic conditions improved there was a tendency Insurance, and the Old Age Assistance program sub- to return to explaining poverty in terms of "the ambi- tions, motivations, ability, and the entire cultural orien- tation of [the] poor."' 'Means-tested cash assistance programs for the poor make up only The welfare system that grew out of a feeling that a small portion of all federally financed transfer payment programs - that is, programs that redistribute income by paying out federal reve- poverty can happen to anybody is still with us. As n~my nues to particular categories of persons. Nonmeans-tested transfer as 25 percent of the U.S. population are estimated to live payments that go in large part to the nonpoor - for example, Social in families that receive or have recieved food stamps or Security, Medicare, and agricultural subsidies - make up most of fed- eral transfer payments. Sar Levitan of George Washington University's benefits from AFDC, SSI, General Assistance (GA), or Center for Social Policy points out that means-tested aid makes up only about one-sixth of federal transfkr payments and AFDC alone accounts for only about 2 percent of all federal transfer payments (see "The Evolving Welfare System," Society, vol. 23, no. 2,Jan./Feh. 1986, LBradley K. Schiller, The Bcorzomics of lhz~ertyand 11i.scriminu- p. 5). Nevertheless, people seldom refer to nonmeans-tested transfer tion (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 19'3). pp. 5-4 payments as welfare. That term is usually reserved for means-tested programs for the poor. -11 IWmPublic Sector Consultants, Inc Knapp's Centre 300 S. Washington Square Suite 401 Lansing, MI 48933 (517)484-4954 other cash assistance programs.' Some remain on the study.' Only 2 percent received more than half their farn- welfare rolls for long periods; much of the criticism of ily income from welfare for eight or more years.' It is this the welfare system centers on these long-term welfare last group - 2 percent of the total population, making up recipients. about 8 percent of all welfare recipients - who should be called "dependent."' The PSID finds that for most wel- In times of relative prosperity, it is commonly argued fare recipients welfare is a temporary expedient that that persisting poverty is not caused by the nature of the supplements income from other sources and accounts economy or the structure of society, but by the poor for less than half of total household income. Further, themselves; that long-term welfare recipients are differ- welfare is usually used primarily to supplement income ent from the rest of :society in their mores, values, and from employment, rather than from other sources such ethics. Some argue i.hat recipients of welfare become as alimony or child support."' (Detailed data on welfare dependent on it, unable or unwilling to break free and recipients like that collected by the PSlD are not availa- become self-reliant. Others contend that welfare pro- ble for Michigan alone.) grams themselves are at fault, that they increase the inci- dence of poverty and help create dependence by making idleness attractive, undermining the desire for self-reli- IS THERE A CULTURE OF POVERTY? ance, and encouraging or facilitating the formation of single-parent, femaleheaded families. More generous The idea that there is a "culture of poverty" - a dis- than branding the poor as inherently shiftless and lazy. tinctive way of life and set of values and attitudes that this suggests that the poor are victims of the welfare sys- give poverty its own self-perpetuating momentum, irre- tem, not of their own nature. All such assumptions, how- spective of the structure or condition of the economy - ever, should be examined. has been around for many years. It has attracted diverse adherents. In 1962, the socialist Michael Harrington wrote in his well-known book on poverty, The Other DOES WELFARE ENCOURAGE America, that "poverty in the United States is a culture - DEPENDENCY? a culture that is radically different from the one that dominates society." More recently, Republican Ronald Listening to much {ofthe public debate on the pressing Reagan warned of the creation of "a permanent culture need for welfare reform, one could come to believe that of poverty - a second and separate America." Many a large percentage of those who receive welfare benefits speak of welfare dependency as both a product and a end up relying heavily on them for many years. The breeding ground of a distinct culture. A 1986 article in facts, however, belie the rhetoric. The New Republic, for example, calls compulsory work programs for welfare recipients "the only way to break Some pertinent data can be found in the Panel Study the culture of poverty,"" and Newsweek speaks of "the of Income Dynamics (PSID), conducted by the liniver- widely shared assumption that the current welfare sys- sity of Michigan Survey Research Center.' The ongoing study has been following members of 5,000 U.S. families for almost twenty years. Published findings for ten years of the study reveal patterns of movement into and out of ' This 4.4 percent of the total population amounts to about 18 per- cent of all those who received any welfxe benefits. Ellwood has used welfare programs and poverty." Approximately 25 per- the PSID data as the basis for estimating the incidence of AFDC receipt cent of the individuals in the study lived in families that alone over a 25-year period. He concludes that about 25 percent of received some of their income from welfare programs those who receive any AFDC benefits will receive at least some bene- fits in 10 or more years over 25 years. Ellwood does not, however, from 1969 through 1978. (See Exhibit 1.) A much smaller distinguish those who receive the greater portion of household percentage, 4.4 percent, lived in families that received income from AFDC. See David T. Ellwood, "Targeting 'Would-Be' Long Term Recipients of AFDC," Prepared for the U.S. Department of some welfare assistance in eight or more years of the Health and Human Services (Princeton, N.J.: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.). Duncan et al., Years of Poverty, pp. 73-76. "he PSID defines welfare dependence as receipt of more than *Greg J. Duncan et a1 , Years of Poverty, Years of Plenty: The half the combined incomes of the heads of a household from welfare. Changing Economic Wrtunes of American Workers and Families Receiving any welfare income for eight years or more is called "per- (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Institute for Social Research, University of Michi- sistent" welfare receipt. The combination of these two factors - gan, 1984), p. 75. receiving the larger share of income from welfare for eight years or more - comes closer to the sense in which the term "welfare depen- dence" is usually used. The PSID definitions, however, refer only to 'In this study, welfare income is defined as payments from AFDC, source of income and not psychological or cultural characteristics. <;A, SSI, and other cash assistance programs, including a number that lo Duncan et al., Years of Poverty, p.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Why Does Cash Welfare Depend on Where You Live? How and Why State TANF Programs Vary
    LOW-INCOME WORKING F AMILIES RESEARCH REPORT Why Does Cash Welfare Depend on Where You Live? How and Why State TANF Programs Vary Heather Hahn Laudan Aron Cary Lou Eleanor Pratt Adaeze Okoli June 2017 ABOUT THE URBAN INSTITUTE The nonprofit Urban Institute is dedicated to elevating the debate on social and economic policy. For nearly five decades, Urban scholars have conducted research and offered evidence-based solutions that improve lives and strengthen communities across a rapidly urbanizing world. Their objective research helps expand opportunities for all, reduce hardship among the most vulnerable, and strengthen the effectiveness of the public sector. Copyright © June 2017. Urban Institute. Permission is granted for reproduction of this file, with attribution to the Urban Institute. Cover image by Tim Meko. Contents Acknowledgments iv Why Does Cash Welfare Depend on Where You Live? 1 A Brief Overview of TANF 2 State TANF Policies 9 Generosity: What a Family Gets, Has, or Can Keep 10 Restrictiveness: What a Family Must or Must Not Do 11 Duration: How Long a Family Can Receive Cash Assistance 12 How State TANF Policy Choices Relate to One Another 14 Racial Implications 18 Explaining State Policy Choices 18 Prior Research 18 State Characteristics 19 State Characteristics Explaining TANF Policy Choices 23 Results 30 Conclusion 33 Appendix A. Data and Methods 34 Appendix B. Correlation and Regression Tables 37 Notes 40 References 43 About the Authors 46 Statement of Independence 47 Acknowledgments This report was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation through the Urban Institute’s Low-Income Working Families initiative, a multiyear effort that focuses on the private- and public-sector contexts for families’ well-being.
    [Show full text]
  • What Do the War on Drugs and Welfare Reform Have in Common?
    The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare Volume 41 Issue 1 March Article 2 2014 Pathologies of the Poor: What do the War on Drugs and Welfare Reform Have in Common? Kalynn Amundson University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, [email protected] Anna M. Zajicek University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Valerie H. Hunt University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw Part of the Public Policy Commons, Social Policy Commons, and the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Amundson, Kalynn; Zajicek, Anna M.; and Hunt, Valerie H. (2014) "Pathologies of the Poor: What do the War on Drugs and Welfare Reform Have in Common?," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 41 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol41/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you by the Western Michigan University School of Social Work. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Pathologies of the Poor: What do the War on Drugs and Welfare Reform Have in Common? KALYNN AMUNDSON Public Policy Ph D Program University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ANNA M. ZAJICEK Department of Sociology University of Arkansas, Fayetteville VALERIE H. HUNT Public Policy Ph D Program University of Arkansas, Fayetteville The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconcilia- tion Act of 1996 (PRWORA) authorized drug testing of welfare recipients as a criterion for assistance eligibility. This raises the question of a possible confluence of War on Drugs and Welfare Reform policies, as indicated by continuity in policymakers’ rheto- ric. We examine federal-level policymakers’ debates surrounding the authorization of drug testing welfare recipients.
    [Show full text]
  • Community Empowerment: Critical Perspectives from Scotland
    Community Empowerment: Critical Perspectives from Scotland Edited by Akwugo Emejulu and Mae Shaw The Glasgow Papers Acknowledgements The Editors would like to thank the Community Development Journal for funding this publication. © The Editors and Contributors September 2010 Edinburgh: Community Development Journal The Glasgow Papers are so-called because the idea of this collection was originally stimulated by a seminar held in Glasgow in 2009, hosted by the Community Development Journal. Contents Editorial introduction 5 Akwugo Emejulu and Mae Shaw 1. Anti-welfarism and the making of the ‘problem’ community 8 Gerry Mooney 2. Preventing violent extremism through community work? Essentialism and manipulation 13 Zakaria el Salahi 3. Anti-social behaviour: Imagining social justice 20 Matthew Priest 4. Trust in the community? Development Trusts in Scotland 28 Ian Cooke 5. Poverty in Scotland: Three challenges for community development 33 Peter Kelly 6. Oor Mad History: Community history as a way of revitalising mental health collective advocacy 40 Anne O’Donnell 7. What’s the problem with communities these days? Learning networks, root causes and solutions 46 Chik Collins 8. The Tenants’ Movement: Incorporation and independence 53 Sarah Glynn 9. Community development for environmental justice 58 Eurig Scandrett 10. Capacity building for activism: Learning from the past for the future 65 Lynn McCabe 11. Partnership in action: A personal reflection 71 Stuart Fairweather 12. Community engagement: For whom? 76 Keith Paterson Biographical details of authors 82 33 44 Community Empowerment: Critical Perspectives from Scotland Editorial Introduction Akwugo Emejulu and Mae Shaw Community development in Scotland has a rich and diverse history. It has emerged from an ambivalent provenance: benevolent paternalism, social welfare (and control), and social and political action ‘from below’ in pursuit of social justice.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cultural Meaning of the "Welfare Queen": Using State Constitutions to Challenge Child Exclusion Provisions
    THE CULTURAL MEANING OF THE "WELFARE QUEEN": USING STATE CONSTITUTIONS TO CHALLENGE CHILD EXCLUSION PROVISIONS RiSA E. KAuftIA.N* I. The Race Discrimination Underlying Child Exclusion Provisions .................................................... 304 A. The Welfare System's History of Discrimination Against African American Women ............................... 305 B. Images of the "Welfare Queen" ......................... 308 C. Illumination of History and Representation via the Cultural Meaning Test ................................... 312 I. The Insufficiency of Equal Protection Doctrine in Eliminating Race Discrimination in Welfare "Reform" Legislation ................................................... 314 III. The Use of State Constitutions for Challenging the Race Discrimination Inherent in Child Exclusion Provisions ...... 321 IV. Conclusion: The Advantages and Limitations of a Cultural Meaning Test ................................................ 326 The stereotype of the lazy, black welfare mother who "breeds children at the expense of the taxpayers in order to increase the amount of her welfare check"1 informs and justifies the ongoing welfare debate. This debate has led to the passage of recent federal welfare "reform" legislation eliminating the federal entitlement program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).2 The debate now continues at the state * Law Clerk, the Honorable Ira DeMent, Middle District of Alabama; J.D., 1997, New York University; B.A., 1994, Talane University. I would like to thank, for their support and guidance, Paulette Caldwell, Martha F. Davis, Barbara Fedders, Lisa Kung, Anne Kysar, Jennie Pittman, Preston Pugh, Lynn Vogelstein, the staff of the N.Y.U. Review of Law and Social Change, and my family. 1. Dorothy Roberts, Punishing Drug Addicts Who Have Babies: Women of Color, Equality and Right to Privacy, 104 HARv. L. REv. 1419, 1443.
    [Show full text]
  • The Myth of Post- Emotionalism
    LSE Research Online Article (refereed) Hartley Dean The third way and social welfare : the myth of post- emotionalism Originally published in Social policy and administration, 37 (7). pp. 695- 708 © 2003 Blackwell Publishing. You may cite this version as: Dean, Hartley (2003). The third way and social welfare : the myth of post- emotionalism [online]. London: LSE Research Online. Available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/archive/00000354 Available online: August 2005 LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (http://eprints.lse.ac.uk) of the LSE Research Online website. This document is the author’s final manuscript version of the journal article, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer review process. Some differences between this version and the publisher’s version remain. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite from it. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk Contact LSE Research Online at: [email protected] The Third Way and Social Welfare: The myth of post-emotionalism Hartley Dean Author’s final draft Published 2003 in Social Policy and Administration, vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Up from Dependency: a New National Public Assistance Strategy
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 316 592 UD 026 5a4 AUTHOR Weinberg, Daniel; Germanis, Peter TITLE Up from Dependency: A New National Public Assistance Strategy. Supplement 4: Research Studies and Bibliography. INSTITUTION Interagency Low Income Opportunity Advisory Board, Washington, DC. PUB DATE Apr 98 NOTE 200p.; For other volumes in this series, see UD 026 579-584 and UD 027 261. AVAILABLE FROM Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) -- Reference Materials Bibliographies (131) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Bibliographies; Community Programs; Employment Programs; Family (Sociological Unit); Federal Programs; Literature Reviews; Migration; Policy Formation; Poverty; *Poverty Programs; Program Development; Program Evaluation? *Public Policy; Research Methodology; Social Science Research; Social Services; State Programs; Taxes; Unwed Mothers; *Welfare Services IDENTIFIERS Aid to Families with Dependent Children; Child Support; *Dependency (Economic); Food Stamp Program ABSTRACT Twenty years after the War on Poverty was launched, dependency on public support remains widespread. Part 1 of this report summarizes current research concerning the following issues affecting welfare programs:(1) evaluating the economic effects of welfare;(2) dynamics of dependency;(3) welfare and work; (4) welfare and family structure;(5) welfare and child support; (6) elfare and migration;(7) attitudes, the upperclass, and the intergenerational transmission of welfare dependency;
    [Show full text]
  • Ending Dependency: Lessons from Welfare Reform in The
    Ending Dependency Ending Dependency Lessons from Welfare Reform in the USA Douglas J. Besharov Peter Germanis Jay Hein Donald K. Jonas Amy L. Sherman with an Introduction by Alan Deacon CIVITAS: Institute for the Study of Civil Society London First published 2001 © The Institute for the Study of Civil Society 2001 email: [email protected] All rights reserved ISBN 1-903 386-12-8 Typeset by CIVITAS in New Century Schoolbook Printed in Great Britain by Contents Page The Authors vi Introduction The Realities of Welfare Reform: Some Home Truths from the USA? Alan Deacon 1 The Florida Devolution Model: Lessons from the WAGES Welfare Reform Experiment Donald K. Jonas 8 Milwaukee After W-2 Amy L. Sherman 24 Welfare Reform: Four Years Later Douglas J. Besharov and Peter Germanis 43 New York Reformed Jay Hein 59 Notes 75 The Authors Douglas J. Besharov is the Joseph J. and Violet Jacobs Scholar in Social Welfare Studies at the American Enter- prise Institute. He is also a professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Affairs and director of its Welfare Reform Academy. He is the author or editor of several books, including Recognizing Child Abuse: A Guide for the Concerned, 1990; Enhancing Early Childhood Programs: Burdens and Opportunities, 1996; and America’s Disconnected Youth, 1999. Alan Deacon is Professor of Social Policy and a member of the ESRC Group on Care, Values and the Future of Welfare at the University of Leeds. He has written widely on the debate about welfare reform in Britain and the United States, most recently in Political Quarterly, 1998; Journal of Social Policy, 1999 and Policy and Politics, 2000.
    [Show full text]
  • America's Uneasy Relationship with the Working Poor A
    Hastings Law Journal Volume 51 | Issue 1 Article 2 1-1999 America's Uneasy Relationship with the Working Poor A. Mechele Dickerson Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation A. Mechele Dickerson, America's Uneasy Relationship with the Working Poor, 51 Hastings L.J. 17 (1999). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol51/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Articles America's Uneasy Relationship With the Working Poor by A. MECHELE DICKERSON* Introduction Americans historically have supported efforts to provide financial assistance to the truly needy members of our society. Indeed, we believe that the government has a duty to give the "deserving" poor enough to help them pull themselves up by their bootstraps and become economically sufficient. We have a long- standing, deep-seated fear, however, that giving cash or other forms of economic assistance to the unemployed but able-bodied is morally corrupting and fosters economic dependency. Thus, while we are happy to give economic assistance to the "truly needy," we want to make sure that none of the assistance goes to the "merely greedy."' * Associate Professor of Law, William and Mary Law School. I am grateful to Professors Veryl Miles and Beverly Moran for the in-depth review and suggestions they provided during a works-in-progress session during the First National Meeting of the Regional People of Color Legal Scholarship Conferences ("POC") on March 27, 1999.
    [Show full text]
  • Welfare and the Problem of Black Citizenship
    Book Review Welfare and the Problem of Black Citizenship Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare. By Linda Gordon.* New York: The Free Press, 1994. Pp. viii, 419. $22.95. The Color of Welfare: How Racism Undermined the War on Poverty. By Jill Quadagno.** New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Pp. viii, 240. $24.00. Dorothy E. Roberts Racial politics has so dominated welfare reform efforts that it is commonplace to observe that "welfare" has become a code word for race. When Americans discuss welfare, many have in mind the mythical Black "welfare queen" or profligate teenager who becomes pregnant at taxpayers' expense to fatten her welfare check.' Although most welfare recipients are not Black, Black single mothers do rely on a disproportionate share of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).' It is likely, then, that the current campaign to slash funding for welfare programs, couched in a rhetoric that condemns welfare's social harms and recipients' irresponsibility, reflects a worsening racial crisis in America. At the same time, the exclusion from the * Florence Kelley Professor of American History, University of Wisconsin, Madison. ** Professor of Sociology and Mildred and Claude Pepper Chair in Social Gerontology, Florida State University. t Professor, Rutgers University School of Law, Newark. This Book Review expands an earlier review of these books, Dorothy E. Roberts, Welfare Yesterday and Today, 24 CONTEMP. Soc. 1 (1995). I would like to thank Joel Handler, Kenneth Karst, and Iris Marion Young for their written comments on an earlier draft of this Book Review. The Review benefited as well from conversations about welfare reform with Marion Smiley and Lucie White.
    [Show full text]
  • Path Dependency and Convergence of Three Worlds of Welfare Policy During the Great Recession: UK, Germany and Sweden
    Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy ISSN: 2169-9763 (Print) 2169-978X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjcs21 Path dependency and convergence of three worlds of welfare policy during the Great Recession: UK, Germany and Sweden Johannes Kiess, Ludvig Norman, Luke Temple & Katrin Uba To cite this article: Johannes Kiess, Ludvig Norman, Luke Temple & Katrin Uba (2017): Path dependency and convergence of three worlds of welfare policy during the Great Recession: UK, Germany and Sweden, Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, DOI: 10.1080/21699763.2017.1281832 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21699763.2017.1281832 Published online: 01 Feb 2017. Submit your article to this journal View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rjcs21 Download by: [146.52.167.50] Date: 02 February 2017, At: 00:42 Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21699763.2017.1281832 Path dependency and convergence of three worlds of welfare policy during the Great Recession: UK, Germany and Sweden Johannes Kiessa*, Ludvig Normanb, Luke Templec and Katrin Ubab aDepartment of Social Sciences, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany; bDepartment of Government, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; cDepartment of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK (Received 10 October 2016; accepted 10 January 2017) This paper investigates policy responses to the Great Recession in Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany. Faced with the global financial crisis in 2007, responses in the respective countries differed considerably and followed the “old” paths of their institutional legacies.
    [Show full text]
  • From Redistributive Welfare to Social Investment - Joe Leung, Department of Social Work and Social Administration the University of Hong Kong
    Shifting Social Welfare Paradigm – From Redistributive Welfare to Social Investment - Joe Leung, Department of Social Work and Social Administration The University of Hong Kong Abstract Social welfare and social policy are contested concepts. Learning from the experiences of the development of welfare states in developed countries and reviewing the strengths of our social and economic policies in the context of the political situation, Hong Kong can clarify its understanding on the values, functions, directions and priorities of social welfare through extensive consultations. Based on this mainstream and cross-sector consensus, different social and economic sectors can assume their social responsibility to build up a just, modern and sustainable society. A new perspective on social welfare is essential to guide the future development of our social welfare system and meet the formidable challenges of new risks due to globalization. Key social policy analysts, political parties and international bodies have advocated that social policy is a social investment in human and social capital that can facilitate economic growth and competitive advantages. Active social policy has to balance between individual rights and responsibilities, encourage active citizenship, provide life-long learning, activate labor market, and facilitate cross-sector collaborations. Introduction: What is welfare? A contested concept – what constitutes a good society and moral choices (Deacon, 2002; Williams, 2000) - It concerns with who gets what, when, where, and how (how resources are distributed), and what are the roles of the government, family individual, market and voluntary organizations (civil society).1 Purpose: Lessons and learning from developments in welfare states - Rapid social and economic changes demand effective social policy responses from developed countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring a Pathway out of Poverty Using the Welfare System
    Walden University ScholarWorks Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection 2020 Exploring a Pathway Out of Poverty Using the Welfare System Cadarrall A. Eddings Walden University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations Part of the Public Policy Commons This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Walden University College of Social and Behavioral Sciences This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation by Cadarrall Eddings has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made. Review Committee Dr. Gregory Campbell, Committee Chairperson, Public Policy and Administration Faculty Dr. Victoria Landu-Adams, Committee Member, Public Policy and Administration Faculty Dr. Lydia Forsythe, University Reviewer, Public Policy and Administration Faculty Chief Academic Officer and Provost Sue Subocz, Ph.D. Walden University 2020 Abstract Exploring a Pathway Out of Poverty Using the Welfare System by Cadarrall Eddings MA, Liberty University, 2015 BS, University of West Alabama, 2005 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Public Policy and Administration – Global Leadership Walden University November 2020 Abstract Individuals dependent on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) encounter multiple contributors that impede economic empowerment and a pathway out of poverty that leads to self – sufficiency.
    [Show full text]