Showing papers in "Journal of Social Policy in 2017"
TL;DR: This article conducted a gender analysis of integration outcomes across a range of areas, namely social networks, language proficiency, health, education, employment and housing, and found significant gender differences in language, self-reported health, ability to budget for household expenses and access to formal social networks and quality housing.
Abstract: The population of refugees in the UK is expanding and will expand further given the UK Government’s response to the European refugee crisis. This paper breaks new ground by undertaking a gender analysis of integration outcomes across a range of areas, namely social networks, language proficiency, health, education, employment and housing, that are highly relevant for social policy. Using the UK’s only longitudinal survey on refugees, we conduct secondary data analysis to examine the factors associated with integration outcomes. We find significant gender differences in language, self-reported health, ability to budget for household expenses and access to formal social networks and quality housing, with women generally faring worse than men and some inequalities enduring or intensifying over time. We call for the recording of refugee outcomes in institutional monitoring data to enable inequalities to be identified and addressed. The findings also enable the identification of social policy areas in which a gender sensitive approach might be necessary.
77 citations
TL;DR: The case is made for a radical new strategy on ageing which focuses on the whole life course with the intention of preventing many of the chronic conditions associated with old age, and the life-course concept of ‘active ageing’ is used to encapsulate the practical measures required.
Abstract: This article makes the case for a radical new strategy on ageing which focuses on the whole life course with the intention of preventing many of the chronic conditions associated with old age. The case is built on recent research evidence and the life-course concept of ‘active ageing’ is used to encapsulate the practical measures required. Combining biological and social science insights it is argued that, while ageing is inevitable, it is also plastic. This means that it not only manifests itself in different ways but also that it can be modified by mitigating the various risk factors that drive it. Such action would have considerable potential to reduce the personal costs of chronic conditions such as strokes and those falling on family carers but, also, to cut the associated health and social care expenditures. The question of why such apparently beneficial policy action is not being taken is discussed and a range of barriers are identified. One of these appears to be the UK's extreme brand of neo-liberalism, which militates against the collective approach necessary to implement a social policy for active ageing. Although the case is made with primary reference to UK policy and practice, the call for action to prevent chronic conditions has global relevance.
56 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors employ interviews with academics involved in health inequalities research, undertaken between 2004 and 2015, to explore perceptions, and experiences, of the "impact agenda" (an analysis which is informed by a review of guidelines for assessing "impact" and relevant academic literature).
Abstract: Of all the social sciences, social policy is one of the most obviously policy-orientated. One might, therefore, expect a research and funding agenda which prioritises and rewards policy relevance to garner an enthusiastic response among social policy scholars. Yet, the social policy response to the way in which major funders and the Research Excellence Framework (REF) are now prioritising ‘impact’ has been remarkably muted. Elsewhere in the social sciences, ‘research impact’ is being widely debated and a wealth of concerns about the way in which this agenda is being pursued are being articulated. Here, we argue there is an urgent need for social policy academics to join this debate. First, we employ interviews with academics involved in health inequalities research, undertaken between 2004 and 2015, to explore perceptions, and experiences, of the ‘impact agenda’ (an analysis which is informed by a review of guidelines for assessing ‘impact’ and relevant academic literature). Next, we analyse high- and low-scoring REF2014 impact case studies to assess whether these concerns appear justified. We conclude by outlining how social policy expertise might usefully contribute to efforts to encourage, measure and reward research ‘impact’.
52 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that policies to address the three key issues of availability, affordability and quality have undergone significant incremental change in response to shifting emphases between the two main goals of increasing children's development and mothers' employment, together with a much firmer orientation towards the importance of growing the childcare market.
Abstract: Provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in England is highly marketised. Since 2010, when the Labour Party lost power to a Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition, followed by a Conservative victory in 2015, there has been a strong austerity agenda. It is therefore surprising that ECEC has continued to be supported and expanded. However, we show that policies to address the three key issues of availability, affordability and quality have undergone significant incremental change in response to shifting emphases between the two main goals of increasing children's development and mothers' employment, together with a much firmer orientation towards the importance of growing the childcare market.
49 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the possibility that life-long learning promotes intergenerational class mobility and found that children from managerial and professional backgrounds seem to benefit most from further education.
Abstract: This paper examines the possibility that life-long learning promotes intergenerational class mobility. The following two research questions are asked. Is it the case that further education provides individuals coming from less advantaged origins with a second chance to improve on their educational attainment? Is it the case that the returns to further qualifications, in terms of chances of upward class career mobility, are greater for children from less advantaged backgrounds than for children from more advantaged backgrounds? The analyses – that are based on the complete educational and class histories of men and women in a British birth cohort – mainly produce negative findings. Children coming from managerial and professional backgrounds seem to benefit most from further education. More specifically, further education appears to be an effective means of career advancement for individuals of managerial and professional origins who start out in their working lives in relatively low-level class positions. Via further education they can increase or update their qualifications, and in turn enhance their chances of being counter-mobile back to their class of origin. Overall, based on the findings of this paper, we can conclude that qualifications attained through life-long learning primarily serve to maintain, rather than to narrow, inequalities attached to social origins in Britain.
47 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Kofman et al. studied the potential trajectory of family rights in the UK after Brexit and found that there is a significant stratification in family rights between and within three groups: migrants, EU migrants, and UK citizens.
Abstract: European Free Movement (EFM) was central to the referendum on the UK’s
membership of the EU Under a ‘hard’ Brexit scenario, it is expected that
EFM between the UK and the EU will cease, raising uncertainties about the
rights of existing EU citizens in the UK and those of any future EU
migrants This article is concerned with the prospects for family rights
linked to EFM, which, we argue impinge a range of families – so-called
‘Brexit families’ (Kofman, 2017) - beyond those who are EU-national
families living in the UK The article draws on policy analysis of
developments in the conditionality attached to the family rights of non-EU
migrants, EU migrants and UK citizens at the intersection of migration and
welfare systems since 2010, to identify the potential trajectory of rights
post-Brexit While the findings highlight stratification in family rights
between and within those three groups, the pattern is one in which class
and gender divisions are prominent and have become more so over time as
a result of the particular types of conditionality introduced We conclude by
arguing that with the cessation of EFM, those axes will also be central in
the re-ordering of the rights of ‘Brexit families’
45 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider how Brexit may affect regional and social development and the need for a corresponding policy response, focusing on the sorts of policies currently supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).
Abstract: Since 1988, when the current EU Cohesion Policy was introduced, it has played an influential role in setting priorities for policies aimed at dealing with the effects of European economic integration on regional and social disparities. Although, latterly, the amount of money spent in the UK through the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) has declined, EU programmes have had a disproportionate effect on the design and implementation of UK policies shaping regional and local economic and social development. This paper starts by recalling how EU Cohesion Policy has functioned in the UK, then considers how Brexit may affect regional and social development and the need for a corresponding policy response, focusing on the sorts of policies currently supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). The paper shows that filling the policy vacuum will be far from straightforward because complementary national policies and institutional frameworks have lacked consistency or coherence. It concludes by examining the wider policy issues arising from rethinking domestic policy outside the ESIF framework. The sub-national level, in particular, will need a fresh approach following Brexit.
44 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the impact of the Great Recession and subsequent public spending austerity on the voluntary sector and found that mid-sized charities, and those in more deprived local areas, have been most significantly affected.
Abstract: There has been extensive concern about the effect of recession and of subsequent public spending austerity on the voluntary sector - but a dearth of systematic sector-wide data to examine this empirically. We construct a unique longitudinal dataset, which follows through time the population of charitable organisations in England and Wales since 1999, and assess the impact of recession and austerity by placing organisations’ recent annual income within the context of longer-term trends. The results reveal the scale of the impact on charities’ incomes for the first time: since 2008 median real annual growth in income has been negative for six consecutive years, leading to sizeable cumulative real income decline over the period. Mid-sized charities, and those in more deprived local areas, have been most significantly affected, consistent with concerns about a ‘hollowing out’ of the charitable sector and about the uneven impact of austerity. However there has also been considerable variation in the fortunes of charities working in different fields of activity. The analysis in this paper helps to widen our perspective on the implications of the Great Recession and of public spending austerity for social policy.
43 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate policy change impacts on ideas mothers have about the best form of care for their children and find that the majority view shifted from conditional attitudes to the suitability of institutional care to "childcare services only" being considered the best care for preschool-age children.
Abstract: The way that welfare policies influence the interpretative processes of social actors is attracting increasing attention. In this article, we investigate policy change impacts on ideas mothers have about the best form of care for their children. The data are taken from representative surveys among mothers of preschool-age children in 2002 and 2010 in Norway. The surveys cover a decade of marked reforms in childcare services with regard to the supply of places, parents’ fees and the right to be given a place in care. Policy change gave rise to major shifts in attitude. From conditional attitudes to the suitability of institutional care, the majority view shifted towards ‘childcare services only’ being considered the best form of care for preschool-age children. This occurred among mothers in all socio-economic groups and in all parts of the country. Based on policy feedback theories, mechanisms likely to have caused this shift – policy visibility, proximity and timing – are considered.
42 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a normative framework for application in this field is proposed, inspired by Ruth Grant's philosophically informed interrogation of the ethics of incentives, and the authors attempt to unsettle any intuitive assumption that non-interventionist approaches are necessarily more morally defensible than interventionist ones.
Abstract: There is intense debate over the legitimacy of interventions which seek behavioural change on the part of street homeless people. ‘Hard’ measures, such as arresting people for begging, are particularly controversial, but ‘softer’ interventions such as motivational interviewing have also prompted objections on grounds that they are paternalistic. At the same time, the ‘non-interventionist’ stance of some service providers has been accused of perpetuating harmful street lifestyles. Inspired by Ruth Grant's philosophically informed interrogation of the ethics of incentives, we propose a normative framework for application in this field. Via systematic exploration of Grant's three ‘legitimacy standards’ (legitimate purpose, voluntary response, effects on character), and an additional outcome-focussed fourth (effectiveness, proportionality and balance), we attempt to unsettle any intuitive assumption that non-interventionist approaches are necessarily more morally defensible than interventionist ones. We also, however, explicate the high ethical and empirical bar required to justify social control measures.
41 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the social construction of user participation policies includes both differences and similarities regarding three user groups: older people, disabled people and people with mental health problems.
Abstract: This article argues that the social construction of user participation policies includes both differences and similarities regarding three user groups: older people, disabled people and people with mental health problems. The article is based on a historical discourse analysis of national documents in Norway. It points at a democracy/social rights discourse, based on the idea of social citizenship, as a common and historically stable discourse for all three user groups and relates this to the specific characteristics of Norwegian welfare policies. A contrasting consumer discourse, stressing users’ consumer role and related to the impact of New Public Management reforms, is only evident in the case of older people and from the 1990s. A co-production/co-partnering discourse, stressing user/professional-partnership, is evident in the current policies directed at older people and those with mental health problems. Both the consumer and co-production discourse remain marginal in the case of disabled people.
Abstract: The relationships between paid work and informal care are critical to understanding how paid work is made possible. An extensive source of childcare in the UK is the intergenerational care grandparents provide. Using data from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative sample of children born in 2000, biprobit and instrumental variables (IV) analysis of mothers’ participation (given the social construction of caring responsibility) identifies a significant causal effect of grandparents’ childcare in that it:
(i) raises the labour force participation of mothers with a child of school entry age on average by 12 percentage points (the average marginal effect);(ii) raises the participation of the group of mothers who use grandparent childcare by 33 percentage points compared to the situation if they did not have access to this care (the average treatment effect on the treated).
Thus grandparent-provided childcare has a substantial impact on the labour market in the UK, an impact that may not be sustainable with forthcoming changes to the state pension age. Grandparents’ childcare increases the labour force participation of lone and partnered mothers at all levels of educational qualifications but by different degrees. Grandparents’ childcare enables mothers to enter paid work rather than extending their hours of paid work.
TL;DR: In this article, a study of community food aid in a multi-ethnic, multi-faith city in the North of England was carried out and the authors examined the potential exclusion of certain groups from receiving food aid, and explored the relationship between food aid providers and the state.
Abstract: This paper derives from a study of community food aid in a multi-ethnic, multi-faith city in the North of England. The paper begins to make sense of the diversity of types of food insecurity assistance, examines the potential exclusion of certain groups from receipt of food aid, and explores the relationship between food aid providers and the state. Faith-based food aid is common in the case study area, particularly among food bank provision to the most ‘destitute’ clients. While food aid is adopting service responsibilities previously borne by the state, this does not imply an extension of the ‘shadow state’. Rather, it appears reflective of a pre-welfare state system of food distribution, supported by religious institutions and individual/business philanthropy, but adapted to be consistent with elements of the ‘Big Society’ narrative. Most faith-based providers are Christian. There is little Muslim provision of (or utilisation of) food aid, despite the local demographic context. This raises concerns as to the unintentional exclusion of ethnic and religious groups, which we discuss in the concluding sections.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the regulatory responses to high charges paid by low-income workers in pension markets in the UK and Israel, and identify an overlooked regulatory welfare state strategy: creating "public option" arrangements whereby a state-run (but not funded) service operates within the market.
Abstract: How does the rising ‘regulatory welfare state’ address social policy concerns in pension markets? This study examines this question by comparing the regulatory responses to high charges paid by low-income workers in pension markets in the UK and Israel. In the UK, with the recognition that the market would not cater to low-income workers, the regulatory response was the creation of a publicly operated low-cost pension fund (NEST), a ‘public option’ within the market. This allowed low-income workers access to a low level of charges, previously reserved for high-income and organised workers. In Israel, regulation sought to empower consumers, while providing minimal social protection by capping pension charges at a relatively high level, thereby leaving most of the responsibility for reducing the charges with the individual saver. By comparing these two cases, the article develops an analytical framework for the study of the regulatory welfare state, making two contributions. First, it highlights different types of regulatory citizenship: minimal regulatory social protection as opposed to a more egalitarian approach. Second, it identifies an overlooked regulatory welfare state strategy: creating ‘public option’ arrangements, whereby a state-run (but not funded) service operates within the market.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show how the poverty reduction potential of child maintenance is affected by whether it is treated as a substitute for, or a complement to, cash benefits, and they make a unique contribution to knowledge by exposing the hidden interaction effects operating in similar child maintenance systems across four countries.
Abstract: In most developed countries, children in lone parent families face a high risk of poverty. A partial solution commonly sought in English-speaking nations is to increase the amounts of private child maintenance paid by the other parent. However, where lone parent families are in receipt of social assistance benefits, some countries hold back a portion of the child maintenance to reduce public expenditures. This partial 'pass-through' treats child maintenance as a substitute for cash benefits which conceivably neutralises its poverty reduction potential. Such neutralising effects are not well understood and can be obscured further when more subtle interactions between child maintenance systems and social security systems operate. This research makes a unique contribution to knowledge by exposing the hidden interaction effects operating in similar child maintenance systems across four countries: the United Kingdom, United States (Wisconsin), Australia and New Zealand. We found that when child maintenance is counted as income in calculating benefit entitlements, it can reduce the value of cash benefits. Using model lone parent families with ten different employment and income scenarios, we show how the poverty reduction potential of child maintenance is affected by whether it is treated as a substitute for, or a complement to, cash benefits.
TL;DR: The authors found that women voters and politicians are likely to prefer in-kind benefits to cash transfers, and that women politicians are more responsive to such demands when there are higher levels of female participation in the labour force.
Abstract: Recent research finds that women's political representation correlates with higher social expenditures. This paper makes two more specific predictions regarding family benefits. First, women voters and politicians are likely to prefer in-kind benefits to cash transfers. This is because the provision of childcare does more than money can do to ameliorate the double burden of work and family duties, thus strengthening women's autonomy. As a consequence female political representation should correlate with spending on in-kind family benefits, but not with expenditures on cash transfers. Second, the pressure on politicians to provide childcare services should be greater when there are higher levels of female participation in the labour force. Assuming that women politicians are more responsive to such demands, we should see a positive interaction effect between female labour force participation and women's political representation on in-kind spending. An analysis of public expenditures for family benefits in 27 OECD nations between 1980 and 2011 bears out both propositions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse whether the increased reliance on marketisation in the provision of social care challenges the universality of eldercare in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.
Abstract: The objective of this article is to analyse whether the increased reliance on marketisation in the provision of social care challenges the universality of eldercare in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify three characteristics of any paradigm, including that a policy paradigm must provide a perspective on the maintenance of the well-being of both society and individuals, and that policy communities proffer the quasi-concepts of social investment and social entrepreneurship in combination as the appropriate ways to govern financing and the delivery of social investments.
Abstract: Policy perspectives of the European Union as well as those of member states currently link the concepts of social investment and social entrepreneurship in order to advocate both where and how to intervene. The argument of this article is that the explicit linking of these two notions, by policy-makers at several different levels and scales of authority, constitutes an emerging policy paradigm. The article identifies three characteristics of any paradigm, including that a policy paradigm must provide a perspective on the maintenance of the well-being of both society and individuals. Despite variation across countries and levels of authority (a characteristic of any paradigm) policy communities proffer the quasi-concepts of social investment and social entrepreneurship in combination as the appropriate ways to govern financing and the delivery of social investments. Therefore, social enterprises are targeted to receive public financing in order to deliver social investments in activation (training, employability, job support and wage supplements) as well as childcare. Reliance on this assemblage is documented across scales from the local through the national, transnational and international.
TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the two explanations for the under-enrolment on the social insurance programme and verified self-selection behavior in programme enrolment. But they did not consider the role of the household registration system and self-selective behavior in the provision of social insurance.
Abstract: The Chinese government has recently expanded the scope of urban social insurance programmes. However, social protection for the labour force of the urban informal sector, which reaches about half the number of urban workers, lags significantly behind. This under-coverage may be due to institutional constraints, particularly the household registration system hukou, and self-selection behaviour related to the limited benefits of social insurance. Drawing on a recent nationwide individual-level survey and city-level statistics, this study examines these two explanations for the under-enrolment on the social insurance programme. First, results suggest that hukou and the intergovernmental fiscal system are major institutional constraints. Second, self-selection behaviour in programme enrolment is verified. Employers in the informal sector are likely to opt out of social insurance. More importantly, employers in the informal sector, with rural or non-local hukou, are likely to opt out of social insurance, which suggests that self-selection behaviour is constrained by institutions. Such findings have important implications for broad theoretical and policy debates on universal social protection.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored barriers experienced to receipt of social care services, such as availability, characteristics of services such as quality, and attitudes of carer and care-recipient to receiving services.
Abstract: Reconciliation of unpaid care and employment is an increasingly important societal, economic and policy issue, both in the UK and internationally. Previous research shows the effectiveness of formal social care services in enabling carers to remain in employment. Using quantitative and qualitative data collected from carers and the person they care for in 2013 and 2015, during a period of cuts to adult social care in England, we explore barriers experienced to receipt of social care services. The main barriers to receipt of services identified in our study were availability, characteristics of services such as quality, and attitudes of carer and care-recipient to receiving services. These barriers have particular implications for carers' ability to reconcile care and employment.
TL;DR: In this article, the role that central and sub-national authorities play in the governance of some social policies may vary considerably across regions in countries that have experienced decentralisation processes, in which some regions (and municipalities) have been very active in financing social assistance programs, others still overwhelmingly rely on resources directly allocated by the central government.
Abstract: In countries that have experienced decentralisation processes, the role that central and sub-national authorities play in the governance of some social policies may vary considerably across regions. In Italy, for instance, whereas some regions (and municipalities) have been very active in financing social assistance programmes, others still overwhelmingly rely on resources directly allocated by the central government. This indicates that, in a ‘regionalised’ system, the development of a sub-national social dimension is not a territorially homogeneous phenomenon. Interestingly, cross-regional variation is mainly explained by differences in the strength of regionalist parties. The share of total social assistance spending allocated by sub-national authorities has increased significantly in those areas of the country where regionalist parties are stronger and does not seem to depend on ideological shifts on the left-right spectrum. Surprisingly, the positive effect of regional economic development on sub-national spending is not as strong as expected. On the other hand, female employment and population ageing seem to explain part of territorial divergence, the former having a positive effect and the latter a negative one on the dependent variable.
TL;DR: A series of age-specific barriers impeding older Australians’ use of housing equity withdrawal and downsizing are uncovered through qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with home owners and professional service providers in related areas of policy and practice.
Abstract: Housing wealth dominates the asset portfolios of the older population in Australia and many other countries. Given the anticipated spike in fiscal costs associated with population ageing, there is growing policy interest in housing equity withdrawal (HEW) to finance living needs in retirement. This paper sheds light on homeowners’ perceptions of the obstacles associated with two forms of HEW: mortgage equity withdrawal (where the in situ home owner increases his/her housing-related debt) and downsizing (where housing equity is released by moving to a lower-valued property). We uncover a series of age-specific barriers impeding older Australians’ use of these forms of HEW through qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with home owners and professional service providers in related areas of policy and practice. To that end, we recommend the development of a range of safeguards that will minimise the risk exposure and other obstacles associated with HEW for older home owners.
TL;DR: The authors argue that early father-infant bonding is best conceived as a process of repeated, embodied performances that are shaped by gendered parenting discourses and conclude that social policies promoting early paternal bonding must engage with and challenge gendered/physiological discourses.
Abstract: Governments are increasingly implementing policies that encourage early father-infant bonding. However, to date, research has not systematically examined fathers’ perspectives and experiences of early bonding. Using a social constructionist embodiment perspective we argue that paternal bonding is best conceived as a process of repeated, embodied performances that are shaped by gendered parenting discourses. Drawing on 100 semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of Australian fathers of young infants, we argue that most men believe they are capable of developing early strong bonds. They assume that bonding is a product of spending sufficient time with a child, irrespective of the parent's gender. In contrast, a sizable minority of fathers assert that physiology means fathers are ‘largely useless’ to very young infants, and tend to remain distant in the early months. We conclude that social policies promoting early paternal bonding must engage with and challenge gendered/physiological discourses.
TL;DR: In this paper, a survey of people's intergenerational time preferences based on a representative sample of nearly 10,000 respondents focused on two sets of policies: health policies to save lives and environmental policies to protect against floods that would severely damage homes, businesses and other infrastructure.
Abstract: Long-range temporal choices are built into contemporary policy-making, with policy decisions having consequences that play out across generations. Decisions are made on behalf of the public who are assumed to give much greater weight to their welfare than to the welfare of future generations. The paper investigates this assumption. It briefly discusses evidence from sociological and economic studies before reporting the findings of a British survey of people's intergenerational time preferences based on a representative sample of nearly 10,000 respondents. Questions focused on two sets of policies: (i) health policies to save lives and (ii) environmental policies to protect against floods that would severely damage homes, businesses and other infrastructure. For both sets of policies, participants were offered a choice of three policy options, each bringing greater or lesser benefits to their, their children's and their grandchildren's generations. For both saving lives and protecting against floods, only a minority selected the policy that most benefited their generation; the majority selected policies bringing equal or greater benefits to future generations. Our study raises questions about a core assumption of standard economic evaluation, pointing instead to concern for future generations as a value that many people hold in common.
TL;DR: Workfare increases requirements on welfare claimants: a major shift in UK social welfare policy post-1980s as mentioned in this paper, and the UK government has claimed that workfare provides value for money in an age of austerity, help and support for the long-term unemployed, and incentive for increased claimant job-seeking.
Abstract: Workfare increases requirements on welfare claimants: a major shift in UK social welfare policy post-1980s. Political, academic and cultural debates surround the ethical basis, and practical operations, of workfare schemes. Moreover, the UK government has claimed that workfare provides value for money in an age of austerity, ‘help and support’ for the long-term unemployed, and ‘incentives’ for increased claimant job-seeking. This article presents results gathered from sociological research into the UK's ‘Work Programme’ workfare scheme in order to contextualise these debates and contribute to wider academic and social policy workfare analyses. It finds a complex picture: a largely pointless scheme, resented by many participants, but providing a basic social service for some others.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on three separate policy principles that form the guiding logic of status centredness, namely the equivalence in security provision, the mechanisms that protect the socio-economic status in the event of unemployment, and the tripartite mode of funding.
Abstract: The German labour market policy regime constitutes a reliable supporting pillar of the highly productive German employment system. Due to the most recent reforms, its core principle of status protection – a basic norm of the German middle-class-related model of social protection for the population of working age – is losing its formative character. Our analysis focuses on three separate policy principles that form the guiding logic of status centredness, namely the equivalence in security provision, the mechanisms that protect the socio-economic status in the event of unemployment, and the tripartite mode of funding. We argue that the ‘Hartz Reforms’ have reinforced the logic of the legal modifications since the mid-1990s, cumulating now in a shift away from the middle-class-oriented status-centred approach of social security provision.
TL;DR: Analysis of the national dataset found no significant relationships between PB uptake and the level and type of alleged abuse; however, analysis of individual-level referral data, from the three selected sites did find some significant associations particularly with financial abuse; and found the main perpetrators of the alleged abuse to be home-care employees.
Abstract: With the continued implementation of the personalisation policy, Personal Budgets (PBs) have moved to the mainstream in adult social care in England. The relationship between the policy goals of personalisation and safeguarding is contentious. Some have argued that PBs have the potential to empower recipients, while others believe PBs, especially Direct Payments, might increase the risk of abuse. This paper provides empirical evidence about levels of uptake of PBs and safeguarding referrals in England based on in-depth analysis of national data at aggregate, local council level in England, covering 152 Councils. This is complemented by analysis of 2,209 individual referral records obtained from three purposively selected study sites. The aim is to explore whether available data could provide evidence of association between the uptake of PBs and safeguarding referrals. Analysis of the national dataset found no significant relationships between PB uptake and the level and type of alleged abuse. However, analysis of individual-level referral data, from the three selected sites did find some significant associations particularly with financial abuse; and found the main perpetrators of the alleged abuse to be home-care employees. The findings are discussed within the context of current policy and practice.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the extent to which steps towards divergence in the two devolved regions have altered the UK's social union and to which the two processes have influenced one another and draw on the findings of qualitative interviews with politicians and civil servants in both regions during a period covering the conclusion of the Smith Commission's work on the future of Scottish devolution and the height of a political impasse over Northern Ireland's Welfare Reform Bill that threatened a constitutional crisis.
Abstract: In 2009, the UK government emphasised that it was ‘deeply committed’ to the maintenance of the state's social union, embodied in a single social security system. Five years later, the future of this social union appeared less certain than at any time since the 1920s. Dissatisfaction with the ‘welfare reform’ agenda of the coalition government was a driver of support for Scottish independence in the 2014 referendum campaign. Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Assembly failed to pass legislation to mirror the Welfare Reform Act 2012, normally a formality due to the convention of parity in social security. Despite Westminster's subsequent extension of the 2012 reforms to the region, divergence in secondary legislation and practice remains likely. This article draws on the findings of qualitative interviews with politicians and civil servants in both regions during a period covering the conclusion of the Smith Commission's work on the future of Scottish devolution and the height of a political impasse over Northern Ireland's Welfare Reform Bill that threatened a constitutional crisis. It considers the extent to which steps towards divergence in the two devolved regions have altered the UK's social union and to which the two processes have influenced one another.
TL;DR: The double crisis approach as mentioned in this paper distinguishes two kinds of challenge confronting modern welfare states: long-term structural problems and short-term difficulties resulting from policy choices which affect the success with which the longterm issues can be addressed.
Abstract: The double crisis approach distinguishes two kinds of challenge confronting modern welfare states: long-term structural problems and short-term difficulties resulting from policy choices which affect the success with which the long-term issues can be addressed. Structural challenges include two main areas: • globalisation and technological changes demanding that governments direct attention to national competitiveness, and • population ageing, requiring more spending on pensions, and health and social care. Recent policy-related problems include the austerity programme since 2010 which has been particularly directed towards benefits and services for working-age people. Responses to both kinds of challenge have set the stage for Brexit.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the role of third sector organisations (TSOs) in the field of community mental health services and find that the status and role of commissioning remains somewhat muddled, both internally to participants within public sector organisations and externally in terms of the experience of interface by TSOs.
Abstract: The concept of commissioning has risen in prominence in recent years as a result of ongoing reforms to the funding and delivery of public services in the UK. The model of commissioning constructed by policy has however been overlaid on existing practices, which themselves differ between different service areas. This paper, focusing on commissioning of third sector organisations (TSOs) in the field of community mental health services, shows that its introduction has not led to the straightforward public sector ‘marketisation’ that advocates desire or that critics fear. Instead, commissioning has led to an indeterminate outcome or 'halfway house' position in which the status and role of commissioning remains somewhat muddled – both internally to participants within public sector organisations and externally in terms of the experience of the interface by TSOs. We found that commissioning as it is actually practiced remains contested and political – it is a highly relational process dependent on personal practices and skills and on personal relationships between stakeholders – and is therefore not fully managerialised or marketised. This has implications for the policy and practice of commissioning and the interpretation of more 'open' public services.