Transformation and continuity of the Argentine welfare state -- evaluating social security reform in the 1990s

Beginning after World War II, Argentina institutionalized a limited conservative corporatist welfare state where occupation-linked social insurance held a central position and social assistance had a residual character. This was called a limited conservative corporatist welfare state, because the huge population within the informal sector was excluded from the main system. A populist government supported by trade unions and the economic model of import-substituting industrialization were the background for the formation of this type of welfare state. During the 1990s, elements of a liberal regime were added to the Argentine welfare state under the reform carried out by the Menem Peronist government. However, social insurance reform and labor reform were not as drastic as the economic reform. They still retained a certain continuity from the traditional systems. The government intended to carry out more drastic social security and labor reform, but was unable to do so due to the legacy of corporatism of the Peronist government.

Magyar alkalmazkodás az Európai Unió foglalkoztatás és szociálpolitikájához – tanulságok (The experiences from the Hungarian adaption to the common employment and social policy of the European Union)

A tanulmányban áttekintjük az európai foglalkoztatás- és szociálpolitika kialakulását és történetét, valamint a területen alkalmazott speciális koordinációs módszert. Ezt követően a csatlakozási tárgyalások elemzésével bemutatjuk a hazai politika helyzetét a csatlakozás időpontjában. Az elmúlt időszak foglalkoztatási adatai segítségével megvizsgáljuk a hazai és európai foglalkoztatás- és szociálpolitikai intézkedések hatásait. A cikk zárásaként a magyar EU-elnökség prioritásait és az aktuális közösségi terveket vesszük szemügyre. ______ The article gives a review on the history of the common employment and social policy in the European Union, with special attention to the coordination methods used in the field. The article also analyses the accession negotiations and the domestic policy situation at that time of Hungary's accession to the EU. With the data of recent years, the effects of the Hungarian and common EU measures are also examined. Finally, the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency of the European Council along with the current common policy plans are also demonstrated.

Social justice and high-quality human services : visioning the place of a contemporary professional association

The current world situation is plagued by “wicked problems” and a widespread sense of “things are going to get worse”. We confront the almost imponderable consequences of global habitat destruction and climate change, as well as the meltdown of the financial markets with their largely yet to be seen damage to the “real economy”. These things will have considerable negative impacts on the social system and people's lives, particularly the disadvantaged and socially excluded, and require innovative policy and program responses delivered by caring, intelligent, and committed practitioners. These gargantuan issues put into perspective the difficulties that confront social, welfare, and community work today. Yet, in times of trouble, social work and human services tend to do well. For example, although Australian Social Workers and Welfare and Community Workers have experienced phenomenal job growth over the past 5 years, they also have good prospects for future growth and above average salaries in the seventh and sixth deciles, respectively (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2008). I aim to examine the host of reasons why the pursuit of social justice and high-quality human services is difficult to attain in today's world and then consider how the broadly defined profession of social welfare practitioners may collectively take action to (a) respond in ways that reassert our role in compassionately assisting the downtrodden and (b) reclaim the capacity to be a significant body of professional expertise driving social policy and programs. For too long social work has responded to the wider factors it confronts through a combination of ignoring them, critiquing from a distance, and concentrating on the job at hand and our day-to-day responsibilities. Unfortunately, “holding the line” has proved futile and, little by little, the broad social mandate and role of social welfare has altered until, currently, most social programs entail significant social surveillance of troublesome or dangerous groups, rather than assistance. At times it almost seems like the word “help” has been lost in the political and managerial lexicon, replaced by “manage” and “control”. Our values, beliefs, and ethics are under real threat as guiding principles for social programs.

The Australian welfare state : who benefits now?

This text outlines the links between Australian's conceptions about welfare and the redistributive outcomes of the welfare state, canvassing theoretical explanations about why many Australians develop and maintain misconceptions of the broad disyributive mechanisms of the Ayustralian welfare state and hold negative attitudes towards its social welfare element. The book is an indispensable resource for students undertaking studies in sociology, social policy, public administrion and social work.

Does improving school level attendance lead to improved school level achievement? An empirical study of indigenous educational policy in Australia

Current federal government policy initiatives in Aboriginal education and social welfare reform are based on assumptions about the relationship between increased attendance and increased student performance on standardized tests. There are empirical assumptions underlying these policy interventions and their accompanying public debates. Our aim here is to empirically explore the relationships between patterns of student attendance and patterns of student achievement in schools with significant cohorts of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students at the school level. Based on an analysis of the publicly available data reported on the ‘MySchool’ website, we find that reforms and policies around attendance have not and are unlikely to generate patterns of improved achievement. Questions about the rationale and rhetoric of government policy focused at the school level as opposed to the need to focus on pedagogy and curriculum are discussed.

In the shadow of the welfare state : the role of payday lending in poverty survival in Australia

A defining characteristic of contemporary welfare governance in many western countries has been a reduced role for governments in direct provision of welfare, including housing, education, health and income support. One of the unintended consequences of devolutionary trends in social welfare is the development of a ‘shadow welfare state’ (Fairbanks, 2009; Gottschalk, 2000), which is a term used to describe the complex partnerships between statebased social protection, voluntarism and marketised forms of welfare. Coupled with this development, conditional workfare schemes in countries such as the United States, Canada, the UK and Australia are pushing more people into informal and semi-formal means of poverty survival (Karger, 2005). These transformations are actively reshaping welfare subjectivities and the role of the state in urban governance. Like other countries such as the US, Canada and the UK, the fringe lending sector in Australia has experienced considerable growth over the last decade. Large numbers of people on low incomes in Australia are turning to non-mainstream financial services, such as payday lenders, for the provision of credit to make ends meet. In this paper, we argue that the use of fringe lenders by people on low incomes reveals important theoretical and practical insights into the relationship between the mixed economy of welfare and the mixed economy of credit in poverty survival.

Políticas de igualdade : o Bolsa-Família e a nova social-democracia

Os programas de transferência de renda condicionada tornaram-se uma política social constante nas agendas dos mais variados países da América Latina; entre eles, o Brasil. Inicialmente classificados como um modelo de política de tempos neoliberais, programas como o brasileiro Bolsa Família apresentam, porém, características que os aproximam, cada vez mais, de políticas social-democratas, agora desenhadas para um contexto de maior escassez de recursos e de globalização da produção. Alguns trabalhos, tais como de Esping-Andersen (2002), identificam determinados programas de transferência como uma alternativa de política social para a promoção do bem-estar. Fortalecido e oficialmente lançado em 2003, o Programa Bolsa Família, de transferência de renda condicionada, configurou-se como uma das principais e mais abrangentes políticas sociais do governo de centro-esquerda do Partido dos Trabalhadores, durante a presidência de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Não contributiva, fortalece o processo de transformação no padrão de proteção social predominante no país até os dias de hoje. Além disso, segundo apontam estudos, é uma das principais responsáveis pela queda da desigualdade e aumento da renda. Esses fatores, bem como aspectos que dizem respeito a sua sustentação política na esfera eleitoral, evidenciam a existência de uma agenda de política social própria da centro-esquerda, a qual perdura, a despeito de uma suposta homogeneização nas preferências diante das limitações fiscais.

Income tax progressivity, growth, income inequality and welfare

This paper analyzes the effects of personal income tax progressivity on long-run economic growth, income inequality and social welfare. The quantitative implications of income tax progressivity increments are illustrated for the US economy under three main headings: individual effects (reduced labor supply and savings, and increased dispersion of tax rates); aggregate effects (lower GDP growth and lower income inequality); and welfare effects (lower dispersion of consumption across individuals and higher leisure levels, but also lower growth of future consumption). The social discount factor proves to be crucial for this third effect: a higher valuation of future generations' well-being requires a lower level of progressivity. Additionally, if tax revenues are used to provide a public good rather than just being discarded, a higher private valuation of such public goods will also call for a lower level of progressivity.

O controle social na construção e democratização da política de Assistência Social: o papel dos conselhos e a realidade de um município da Baixada Fluminense

A presente dissertação tem como propósito, a partir do processo de construção e democratização da Política de Assistência Social no Brasil, pós SUAS, analisar o controle social tendo como objeto o Conselho Municipal de Assistência Social do município de Mesquita, na região da Baixada Fluminense / RJ e as condições de trabalho dos Assistentes Sociais nesses espaços. Inicialmente, abordamos a Política de Assistência Social no Brasil, desde a criação da extinta Legião Brasileira de Assistência Social (LBA), até os dias atuais, ressaltando os avanços na parte jurídico-legal-normativa desta política, o que tem se tornado um campo propício e amplo para o mercado de trabalho dos assistentes sociais na contemporaneidade. No debate do controle social na Política de Assistência, destacamos três importantes temáticas: a relação das entidades da sociedade civil com os conselheiros governamentais, nos espaços de representação política, democrática, deliberativa e paritária nos conselhos de assistência social; a participação dos segmentos de usuários dos serviços sócio assistenciais do município de Mesquita e, ainda, as condições em que vem ocorrendo à participação dos assistentes sociais nos espaços de controle social no município, através de relações de trabalho precárias, no que se refere à desregulamentação de direitos sociais trabalhistas dos profissionais. Para o estudo, analisamos as Atas do período de 2011-2012, e realizamos entrevistas semi-estruturadas com os conselheiros governamentais e não governamentais do Conselho Municipal de Assistência Social de Mesquita (CMAS), que atuaram no mesmo período, gestão empossada em Dezembro de 2011, após resultado do processo eleitoral das entidades da sociedade civil do CMAS. Dentre os achados da investigação, a partir do material empírico, mediado pelo pensamento de autores que discutem esta temática e pela legislação destacam-se: a superioridade da Representação Governamental sobre a Representação da Sociedade Civil no CMAS; não monitoramento e fiscalização do saldo orçamentário pelo CMAS / Mesquita; precarização das relações de trabalho na SEMAS / Mesquita; descontinuidade do Programa de Capacitação dos Conselheiros do CMAS / Mesquita; despreparo técnico dos conselheiros para apreciação de prestação de contas no CMAS, com ausência de tempo hábil para análise; manipulação política por parte da representação governamental no CMAS; o poder de influência do governo é maior do que da sociedade civil; necessidade de capacitação técnica, e principalmente capacitação ética e política dos conselheiros governamentais e da sociedade civil; precariedade dos equipamentos públicos dos SEMAS / Mesquita; parca participação dos Usuários dos Serviços Socioassistenciais na esfera do conselho, dentre outros aspectos que serão tratados nesta dissertação. Em suma, estes são as principais conclusões de forma resumida e sintética que abordaremos mais detalhadamente nas considerações finais deste trabalho.

The reform of Welfare Regimes in Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay

The aim of this article is to analyze the social policy in Latin America in a context of emerging welfare states. To understand the changes one takes into consideration the theories about institutional reform and the transformations produced in the XX century and the beginning of the XXI to substitute a social security regime mainly based on segmentation of benefi ts and on programs to fi ght poverty by another with an institutional and redistributive nature. The paper pays attention in particular to the path of the most developed welfare states of Latin America: Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay.

Welfare Effort and Poverty from the Monetary and Capabilities Approach: A Cross-Country Analysis in Latin American and the Caribbean (1990-2010)

There is abundant empirical evidence on the negative relationship between welfare effort and poverty. However, poverty indicators traditionally used have been representative of the monetary approach, excluding its multidimensional reality from the analysis. Using three regression techniques for the period 1990-2010 and controlling for demographic and cyclical factors, this paper examines the relationship between social spending per capita —as the indicator of welfare effort— and poverty in up to 21 countries of the region. The proportion of the population with an income below its national basic basket of goods and services (PM1) and the proportion of population with an income below 50% of the median income per capita (PM2) were the two poverty indicators considered from the monetarist approach to measure poverty. From the capability approach the proportion of the population with food inadequacy (PC1) and the proportion of the population without access to improved water sources or sanitation facilities (PC2) were used. The fi ndings confi rm that social spending is actually useful to explain changes in poverty (PM1, PC1 and PC2), as there is a high negative and signifi cant correlation between the variables before and after controlling for demographic and cyclical factors. In two regression techniques, social spending per capita did not show a negative relationship with the PM2. Countries with greater welfare effort for the period 1990-2010 were not necessarily those with the lowest level of poverty. Ultimately social spending per capita was more useful to explain changes in poverty from the capability approach.

El contexto y el centro residencial para las personas adultos mayores en Colombia y España. La empresa social una alternativa para el bienestar

La protección a los adultos o personas mayores se ha convertido en una política de Estado, esto debido al creciente registro de vulneración de los derechos de los mismos. Por lo tanto, conocer estas políticas gubernamentales y sociales que se encuentran vigentes, también el actual sistema de seguridad social y su cobertura para ésta población tanto en España y Colombia, así como su contexto legal y social, además de identificar los espacios donde un adulto mayor encuentra la alternativa de vivir y compartir sus años longevos, ya sea en los llamados hogares geriátricos, residencias o centros de atención a mayores, como también el papel que las empresas solidarias juegan en la oferta y demanda de un mercado donde el segmento del adulto mayor de acuerdo a las necesidades en este contexto, genera mayores demandas de productos y profesionales especializados con sentido social. Este tejido de relaciones en pro del Bienestar hacía el adulto mayor, conlleva a presentar los resultados parciales de una investigación realizada en hogares o residencias para personas mayores ubicados en Ávila, Madrid y Santiago de Cali.

The Great Recession and the changing distribution of economic vulnerability by social class:The Irish case

Ireland provides an interesting case study of the distributional consequences of the Great Recession. To explore such effects we develop a measure of economic vulnerability based on a multidimensional risk profile for income poverty, material deprivation and economic stress. In the context of conflicting expectations of trends in social class differentials, we provide a comparison of pre and post-recession periods. Our analysis reveals a doubling of levels of economic vulnerability and a significant change in multidimensional profiles. Income poverty became less closely associated with material deprivation and economic stress and the degree of polarization between vulnerable and non-vulnerable classes was significantly reduced. Economic vulnerability is highly stratified by social class for both pre and post-recession periods. Focusing on absolute change, the main contrast is between the salariat and the non-agricultural self-employed and the remaining classes; providing some support for notions of polarization. In terms of relative change the higher salariat, the non-agricultural self-employed, the semi-unskilled manual and those who never worked gained relative to the remaining classes. This provides support the notion of ‘middle class squeeze’. The changing relationship between social class and household work intensity reflected a similar pattern. The impact of the latter on economic vulnerability declined sharply, while it came to play an increasing role in mediating the impact of membership of the non-agricultural middle classes. Responding to the political pressures likely to be associated with ‘middle class squeeze’ while sustaining the social welfare arrangements that have traditionally protected the economically vulnerable presents formidable challenges in terms of maintaining social cohesion and political legitimacy.