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Government Benefits (government + benefit)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences60%

Selected Abstracts

The importance of housing costs in cross-national comparisons of welfare (state) outcomes

INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY REVIEW, Issue 2 2003
Veli-Matti Ritakallio
Mainstream comparative research on welfare policy outcomes has focused mainly on the role of government benefits and resulting distributions of income. From the point of view of the economic well-being of households, it is said that this narrow approach has produced results which have exaggerated the difference between continental western Europe and the New World. It has been argued that, to get fair results, comparative studies of welfare outcomes should take into account the differences in housing policies and structures of tenure. The ownership of private houses is more common in the New World nations than in Europe. Home ownership is thought to improve the economic well-being of the typical poverty-prone group, namely older people. This article tests how the cross-national picture of poverty and inequality changes when we approach the economic well-being of households on the basis of disposable incomes after housing costs instead of the traditional, purely income-based approach. The empirical analysis shows that, instead of vast differences in inequality, poverty and, in particular, old-age poverty, the real differences between Australia and Finland are only modest when housing costs are taken into account. [source]

WHO Atlas on Global Resources for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities 2007: Key Findings Relevant for Low- and Middle-Income Countries

JOURNAL OF POLICY AND PRACTICE IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 2 2008
Céline Mercier
Abstract, The World Health Organization (WHO) Atlas-ID project was designed to collect, compile, and disseminate information on intellectual disabilities (ID) services and resources from across the world. This paper aims at selecting findings in the Atlas-ID that can be used as a tool for advocacy, human rights awareness, development planning, and monitoring changes regarding resources for persons with intellectual disabilities and their families in countries with the lowest levels of income in the world. After consultation with experts in the field of ID, a questionnaire and its accompanying glossary were developed. This questionnaire was completed by national respondents from 147 countries, areas, and territories that are WHO members (response rate of 74.6% corresponding to 94.6% of the world population). Cross-tabulations were calculated according to WHO region that the countries belong to as well as their levels of income. The data from the Atlas-ID allowed for documenting similarities and differences among the poorest and the richest countries of the world in relation to ID. The most striking differences pertain to the areas of information, judicial protection, government benefits, financing, availability, and access to services. The Atlas-ID allowed the identification of similarities and differences in resources and services between the four World Bank categories of countries income, and it demonstrated the extent of unmet needs in low-income and low-middle-income countries, as well as some critical gaps between these countries and the high-level income countries. [source]

Is the Welfare State Self-Destructive?

KYKLOS INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, Issue 2 2008
A Study of Government Benefit Morale
SUMMARY The concern that generous welfare state institutions may in the long-run undermine social norms which limit the disincentives of social security systems is as old as the welfare state itself. Already in the 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt warned of the ,moral disintegration' effect of welfare dependency. This study assesses the empirical validity of this concern. Based on the results of four waves of the World Value Surveys the individual and country-specific determinants of benefit morale , defined as the reluctance to claim government benefits without legal entitlement , are analysed. The results support the empirical relevance of these worries: In the long-run an increase of government benefits and unemployment is associated with deteriorating welfare state ethics. [source]

Compassionate Politics: Support for Old-Age Programs Among the Non Elderly

POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2001
Leonie Huddy
This study examines the existence of compassionate support for old-age programs such as Social Security and Medicare among the non-elderly. Past research has focused on merit and equality as a basis for support of social welfare programs by examining views of recipients' deservingness; in contrast, this study considers the extent of program support based on recipients' perceived need. Analysis of data from the 1984 National Election Study and from a local survey (Suffolk County, New York, 1989) shows that non-elderly individuals who view older people as financially impoverished are more likely to support government benefits for the aged. Moreover, compassionate support for old-age programs is distinct from liberal ideology; indeed, political conservatives, not liberals, are most likely to support such programs out of compassion for older people, a finding at odds with Sniderman's (Sniderman & Carmines, 1997) notion of principled conservatism. The analysis also revealed that response to elderly need does not convey the effects of long-term and family-based interests; this result substantiates that support of old-age programs can be considered as other-regarding (i.e., reflecting a concern for individuals that is unrelated to one's personal circumstances). Short-term and long-term interests tend to eclipse rather than promote compassionate support of old-age programs, consistent with the findings of traditional research on self-interest. [source]

Costs of caring for a child with cancer: a questionnaire survey

CHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2007
C. Eiser
Abstract Background Current therapies for childhood cancer have resulted in improved survival rates. However, this has been achieved at considerable price to families, with financial costs including additional expenditure and loss of earnings having been described. The impact of these extra costs for UK families and the extent to which help from charities and government benefits is able to alleviate this is unknown. Methods Questionnaires concerning income, expenditure, employment and financial support were completed by 145 parents, recruited from three United Kingdom Children's Cancer Study Group treatment centres. Results Parents' responses highlighted increased expenditure related mainly to travel to treatment centres. The majority of families (55%) had spent between £50,100 in the past week over and above pre-illness expenditure, with a further 18% spending more than £100. Many parents (mainly mothers) had either given up or reduced outside employment in order to care for their child and this was associated with further financial problems for 42.7% of families. Despite help from charities and government benefits for the majority of families, extra costs were associated with money worries for 68.3% of families. Conclusions Although families are offered timely information about their entitlement to benefits, financial problems are incurred by families of a child with cancer partly because legislation prevents benefits being claimed for the first 3 months of a child's illness , the time when expenses are still at their highest. Furthermore, because benefits are backdated only to the point at which the claim was made, families do not recoup all their costs. Waiving of the 84-day wait period for children undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and the introduction of weekly bridging payments while a Disability Living Allowance claim is being assessed, would ameliorate this problem and so improve the treatment experience for families. [source]