History
Welfare Reforms
Welfare reforms refer to changes made to government social welfare programs and policies. These changes are aimed at improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and equity of welfare systems. Welfare reforms can include adjustments to eligibility criteria, benefit levels, and the structure of welfare programs. They are often driven by social, economic, and political factors, and can have significant impacts on individuals and communities.
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5 Key excerpts on "Welfare Reforms"
- China Development Research Foundation(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
3 The course of development andreforms made in other socialwelfare systems in the world
Social welfare has undergone a long developmental process in different countries in the world, and has seen continuous reform and adjustment. It was originally designed to reduce the personal income risk caused by marketization and industrialization, to maintain social stability and protect the rights of citizens. Countries are now increasingly concerned about the financial affordability and sustainability of their systems. More importantly, many people are now viewing welfare systems in a proactive light, as a way to increase social investment in human resources, improve economic competitiveness, and boost economic development. Welfare systems are regarded less and less as passive measures, set up mainly to deal with the negative effects of economic cycles.History of social welfare systems
The concept and practice of social welfare has a long history. In the ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Greek civilizations, people had already formulated and practiced some basic welfare systems to help the poor and the weak and reduce social contradictions. In China, during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, State expenditures included spending on famine relief. Modern social welfare systems emerged in tandem with industrialization and the rise of market-oriented economies. Industrialization caused large-scale mobility of people, unemployment in urban areas, and severe poverty, which impacted social stability and forced early industrialized countries to begin social interventions. In 1601 Britain promulgated the first Poor Law. According to that law, each parish was responsible for levying a ‘poor tax’ on residents and real estate owners in order to give relief to those who were unable to make a living. This was the earliest legislation that dealt with formal intervention by a government in social welfare via basic living allowances. In 1834 Britain adopted The Poor Law Amendment Act
eBook - PDFGrim Fairy Tales
The Rhetorical Construction of American Welfare Policy
- Lisa M. Gring-Pemble(Author)
- 2003(Publication Date)
- Praeger(Publisher)
The argument developed in this first part is that the historical depictions of welfare recip- ients, providers, and the system continue to shape the contemporary wel- fare debate and legislative activity, lending presence to values of work, family, faith, and individual responsibility. Chapter 2, "American Social Welfare Policy in Context, 1600-1935," chronicles the story of welfare reform from colonial America to the 1935 Social Security Act reforms. It also provides an account of significant steps in welfare reform debates, including societal views about welfare and the legislative acts that punctuate public opinion and perceptions. During this WELFARE LEGISLATION IS SYMBOLIC 13 period, responsibility for public assistance evolved from familial and local obligations to state efforts and, eventually, to national federal initiatives. Building on chapter 2, the third chapter, "American Social Welfare Policy in Context, 1936-2003," recounts the story of welfare reform in America fol- lowing the 1935 Social Security Act to the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act and reauthorization discussions. Throughout this period, responsibility for welfare reform devolved from largely federal initiatives to state and local efforts. Chapter 3 presents a view of contemporary welfare policies as a realization or encapsulation of sociohistorical views on welfare. Part II, "Rhetorical Constructions of Welfare Recipients and Welfare Families in U.S. Congressional Hearings, Debates, and Legislation," focuses on the central representations of welfare recipients that are emer- gent in contemporary legislative deliberations. Chapter 4, "'Are We Going to Now Govern by Anecdote?': A Portrait of the Misfortunate, the Feck- less, the Young, and the Fathers," examines four prominent depictions of welfare recipients constructed in the hearings and debates.
eBook - PDF- Pete Alcock, Tina Haux, Vikki McCall, Margaret May, Pete Alcock, Tina Haux, Vikki McCall, Margaret May(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
Thus, a degree of reform should be pursued by central government to ameliorate the social consequences of the develop-ment of capitalism. 116 HISTORICAL CONTEXT The Liberal Reforms Such reforms became possible following a shift in the leadership of the Liberal government just prior to the publication of the Commission reports. This moment fundamentally changed the nature of wel-fare provision in Britain. In early April 1908, the Prime Minister, Campbell Bannerman, resigned due to ill health. He was succeeded by Asquith, the leader of the Liberal Party’s reforming wing, with Lloyd George as Chancellor and Winston Churchill as President of the Board of Trade overseeing labour market policies. Their programme, boosted by the presence of progressive like-minded civil servants such as William Beveridge, centred on two funda-mental concerns: labour market regulation and the welfare of the future workforce. A series of reforms followed, establishing a range of practices still visible in modern welfare provision. In an early example of social policy ‘borrowing’ (see Chapters 62, 63), social investigation had extended to studies of provisions in other countries, particularly the welfare measures introduced in Germany. Drawing on these, 1908 saw the introduction of the Old Age Pensions Act. Debated in the UK since the 1880s, this tax-based support for older people removed the oldest in society from the Poor Law and potentially the labour market, and established the first national provision in Britain for a category of ‘social casualties’, albeit hedged by eligibility restrictions. Germany had also established social insurance against accident and ill health which had further enhanced its international power (a strong economy and reduced burden of poverty) and generated interest in Britain.
eBook - PDF- OECD(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- OECD(Publisher)
The fight against fraud and abuses has also been heralded many times, with few actual achievements. The reforms introduced since 2010 triggered substantial improvements in a range of areas. However, they are best described as emergency management measures, and cannot be defined as a clear and coherent long-term strategy for reform. Reforms initiated in the past have not been fully implemented. 2 30 – 1. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND SYSTEMIC CONTEXT OF SOCIAL Welfare Reforms IN GREECE GREECE: REFORM OF SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMMES © OECD 2013 Figure 1.4. Total social benefit recipiency in Greece (2000-10) % of working population (15-64 years) Notes: i. The results include the beneficiaries of the main pensions but not the supplements to avoid possible double counting. ii. The data for old-age, survivor’s and other social benefits have not been included in the general results as the data provided was insufficient to draw accurate results. iii. The data for the benefits on unemployment (contributory and non-contributory) are missing for 2000-03. iv. The data for the disability benefits (non-contributory) are only available for 2009 and 2010. For all previous years, the data is missing. v. The data for family benefits (contributory) is incomplete for 2000-07. vi. Incapacity: disability and sickness. Source : Estimates based on data provided by the Greek authorities to the OECD, 2011-12 (administrative data). However, the most recent developments give rise to optimism (Box 1.1). Box 1.1. Recent steps to a strategy Strategic anchors to support reform were put into place in the second half of 2012: • Strategic design decisions have been taken, in the direction of means testing as the basis for social welfare programmes. For example, means testing has been introduced for family benefits. • Key practical implementation anchors are being put in place.
eBook - PDF- Stephen Padgett, William E. Paterson, Reimut Zohlnhöfer, Stephen Padgett, William E. Paterson, Reimut Zohlnhöfer(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Red Globe Press(Publisher)
Chapter 12 Welfare State Reform and Social Policy MARTIN SEELEIB-KAISER During the 1990s and early 2000s Germany was perceived by many observers to be the ‘sick man of Europe’. Slow economic growth and high unemployment were said to be the result of an overregulated and too generous welfare state. Subsequent reforms of the unemployment and old-age social insurance schemes emphasized a greater degree of private provision and self-reliance. For some observers the reforms were crucial for the turnaround in labour market and overall economic performance since 2005. Critics, however, highlight the social costs associated with these reforms that have led to processes of recommodification, i.e. the significant increase in low-paid and other atypical forms of employment as well as income inequality. Furthermore, employment-oriented family policies have been significantly expanded, as they are understood to be a social investment into the future of the German economy. As the duration of the economic crisis was relatively brief in Germany, the economy weathered the storms of the great recession of 2008 quite well without having to resort to policies of welfare state retrenchment. After giving a brief historical overview, this chapter will explore key recent welfare state reforms and their political drivers. Historical overview The German welfare state has a long tradition dating back to Imperial Germany and its Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Historically it heavily relied on social insurance and earnings-related benefits, as the organizing principles of social protection for workers, and the concept of subsidiar-ity with regard to social services. Within the comparative literature the German welfare state has been characterized as a conservative one or a model of the strong male-breadwinner state (Esping-Andersen, 1990; Lewis, 1992). 227 Important elements of continuity have characterized welfare state development from Bismarck to the unified Germany.
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