At the Margins of the Welfare State: Social Assistance and the Alleviation of Poverty in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom

ISBN-13: 9781138731035 / Angielski / Miękka / 2019 / 258 str.

Christina Behrendt

Opis

The persistence of poverty in advanced welfare states casts doubt on the fundamental operating procedures of income distribution and redistribution. What are the reasons for this apparent failure of the welfare state in alleviating poverty? Why are some countries more effective than others in this respect and what can explain these variations in effectiveness? Addressing one of the major puzzles in comparative welfare state research, this volume examines why there is income poverty in highly developed welfare states. Focusing on the basic safety net of the welfare state, it offers a systematic analysis of the effectiveness of minimum income schemes in a comparative study across three highly developed welfare states: Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Blending insights from a combination of institutional information and quantitative data from income surveys, the author evaluates the causal mechanisms for the persistence of income poverty in highly developed welfare states and derives conclusions for political reforms

Spis treści

1: Welfare States and the Alleviation of Poverty; 2: Poverty and Poverty Alleviation in Industrialized Welfare States: What Do We Know?; 3: Mapping the Reduction of Poverty through Minimum Income Schemes; 4: Methodological Puzzles and Pitfalls in the Measurement of Poverty; 5: Is the Entire Population Eligible for Social Assistance Benefits?; 6: Do Social Assistance Schemes Provide Adequate Benefits?; 7: Do Social Assistance Schemes Encourage Take-up?; 8: Conclusion

O autorze

Christina Behrendt