Mending Nets in the South: Anti‐poverty Policies in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain
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Citations
Social Assistance Policies and Decentralization in the Countries of Southern Europe
Handbook of Quality of Life in the Enlarged European UnionHandbook of Quality of Life in the Enlarged European Union, edited by AlberJens, FaheyTony, and SaracenoChiara. New York, NY: Routledge, 2008. 430 pp. $190.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780415424677.
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References
The 'Southern Model' of Welfare in Social Europe:
Why we need a new welfare state
Poverty in Europe
Towards a European welfare state
Related Papers (5)
Frequently Asked Questions (18)
Q2. What are the future works mentioned in the paper "Mending nets in the south" ?
The future of anti-poverty policies and, in particular, minimum income programmes will ultimately rest on political considerations.
Q3. What was the first step towards a modern welfare state?
The democratic revolution of 25 April 1974 introduced a set of social rights and institutions formally defining a modern welfare state.
Q4. What is the role of the family in the social protection system in southern Europe?
South European families historically functioned as an effective (though informal) safety net: a social “shock absorber” active across a whole range of policy areas such as child care, unemployment assistance, care for the elderly, housing or social assistance.
Q5. How many people were still in receipt of benefits?
By December 2001, 752 thousand persons (7.5% of total population) had at some time participated in the programme, of which 354 thousand (3.6% of population) were still in receipt of benefit.
Q6. How many people claim unemployment benefits in 1999?
Unemployment benefit is contributory and of limited duration (12 months), as a result of which only 44% of registered unemployed claimed benefit in 1999.
Q7. What was the response to the expectations of large sections of society?
The unprecedented growth in social spending was a response to the expectations nurtured by large sections of society over decades of politically motivated discrimination.
Q8. What are the affected by the lack of social assistance?
Those affected include the long-term unemployed (whose eligibility to benefit has been exhausted), new entrants to the labour market (ineligible for unemployment insurance because never employed), the precariously employed (with no social entitlements to draw upon in the event of temporary loss of earnings) and others.
Q9. What is the correct functioning of the minimum income scheme?
the correct functioning of its insertion component rests on an articulated system of active labour market policies and family-supporting social services.
Q10. How much of the spending on social security was on non-contributory benefits?
non-contributory benefits accounted for 16.3% of all spending on social security in 2001, while income-tested benefits for a mere 4.7%.
Q11. What was the main argument in favour of abolishing RMG?
Although abolishing RMG was not on any political agenda, the need to cut public expenditure and the risk of a poverty trap were used to argue in favour of changes in the scheme.
Q12. What is the effect of the phasing out of basic farmers pensions?
The gradual phasing-out of basic farmers pensions since 1998 and the abolition of the income test on “many-children benefits” in 2002 (9.3% and 1.9% respectively of all expenditure on social security) will further reduce the space reserved to these two types of benefits within Greece’s social protection system.
Q13. What are the main reasons why the southern model of welfare is so expensive?
Low rates of female employment, especially in Spain, Italy and Greece, clearly indicate the high social costs of the southern model of welfare (Saraceno 2000).
Q14. What is the main reason why people in poverty are not receiving social benefits?
[TABLE 1]Poor anti-poverty performance is partly linked to limited reach of those in poverty: in Greece and Italy, where the problem is most serious, only 31% of persons in the lowest income quintile received “social benefits other than pensions” (Marlier & Cohen-Solal 2000).
Q15. What is the verdict on the south european safety nets?
On the whole, the verdict must remain open: in spite of positive developments in the 1990s, south European safety nets still remain rather frail – in terms of institutional design as well as political support and legitimacy.
Q16. What was the role of the invalidity pensions in the South?
Until then invalidity pensions operated as de facto minimum incomes, particularly in the South, and were hard currency for clientelist exchanges between politicians and voters (Ferrera 1996).
Q17. What was the plan for the implementation of minimum income programmes?
the regions began to implement minimum income programmes (Rentas Mínimas de Inserción) along the lines of the French RMI.
Q18. What is the significance of the creation of an effective, universal safety net?
Seen in this light, the creation of an effective, universal safety net assumes additional importance, as it becomes instrumental for the enfranchisement of “outsiders” and the maintenance of social cohesion.