Welfare reform
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Welfare reform is a movement for policy change in countries with a state-administered social welfare systems. Welfare reform is a movement to change a government's social welfare policy with aims at reducing recipient dependence on the government. Members of the movement often act based on fears of a government Welfare State. Proponents of welfare reform posit that welfare programs, as they stand, act counter-productively towards their stated goals by perpetuating poverty through creating dependence on the government.
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[edit] The Welfare System and reform in Great Britain
Social welfare is administered in three ways in Great Britain, the National Health Service, the Social Services program, and the Pensions Service program[1] all play a part in the providing social welfare.
[edit] The three branches of welfare
The National Health Service provides a system of government supplied health care. The agency employs over two million doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and other health care workers to achieve this end. It has at its disposal a budget of over £ 60 billion. The National Health Service is the primary implementation mechanism of Department of Health policy. Welfare administration dealing with Social Services, a major branch of welfare, also fall under NHS jurisdiction.
Welfare in Great Britain also consists of a Social Security program that is administered by the Pension Service, and it provides financial aid to individuals and families that qualify. It also promotes what it calls an "equality scheme."[2]
[edit] The Movement for Reform
The recent actions taken towards reforming the welfare system in Britain begin with 1997's New Deal Program[3]. The Labour Party focused on increasing employment through requiring that recipients of aid actively consider seeking employment. This movement is similar in ideal to a workfare system. The Labour Party also introduced a system of tax credits for low-income workers.
The most recent act on welfare reform in Great Britain is the Welfare Act of 2007 [4]. The act provides for "an employment and support allowance, a contributory allowance, [and] an income-based allowance."
[edit] The Welfare System and reform in France
The welfare system in France is based upon a system of social insurance, family allowances, and pensions. A social security program is maintained where workers and employers pay into a fund that the worker can draw from when they become unable to continue working. Contributions are earnings based and both groups, employers and workers, are involved in maintaining the situation. The program's budget is not actually part of the official state budget of France. However, the French government is still crucial in that it regulates the program. Its specific authority in the area is still unclear.
Beginning in the mid-1970s, a deficit in the program began to appear. The deficit saw peaks at 27.75% of the social insurance budget in 1992. This led to a major push by the government to cut back spending in the welfare program. By the end of the 1990s the deficit had been almost completely eradicated. The often large deficits that the program has endured has led to a tremendous amount of opposition to the program as it stands.
[edit] References
- Blank, Rebecca M. “Evaluating Welfare Reform in the United States.” (2002) Journal of Economic Literature 40 (4): 1105-1166. online at JSTOR
- Howard Chernwick, “Fiscal Effects of Block Grants for the Needy: An Interpretation of the Evidence,” Tax and Public Finance 5, no. 2 (1998): 205–33.
- R. Kent Weaver, Ending Welfare As We Know It Brookings Institution, 2000.
- Rebecca M. Blank and Ron Haskins, eds., The New World of Welfare. Brookings Institution Press, 2001.
- Mark H. Greenberg et al., "The 1996 Welfare Law: Key Elements and Reauthorization Issues Affecting Children" The Future of Children, Vol. 12, 2002.
- Ron Haskins, Work over Welfare: The Inside Story of the 1996 Welfare Reform Law. Brookings Institution Press, 2006.
- Michael B. Katz. In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in America (1986)
- Arun Muralidhar and Serge Allegreza (Eds.) (2007), ‘Reforming European Pension Systems’ Amsterdam, NL and West Lafayette, Indiana, USA: Dutch University Press, Rozenberg Publishers and Purdue University Press (essays in memory of Franco Modigliani)
- Longman, Phillip, The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birth Rates Threaten World Prosperity and What to Do About It Basic Books, 2004.
- Polly, John. "Triumph of a Stubborn Lady," Look (February 9, 1965): 64-69. Details on this article re early experiment in Washington State with NDVR (Non-disabled Vocational Rehabilitation).
- Michael D. Tanner, The Poverty of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society. Cato Institute 2003, libertarian approach.
- Gary MacDougal, Make A Difference: A Spectacular Breakthrough in the Fight Against Poverty, St. Martin's Press.
[edit] External links
[edit] Reform in Great Britain
[edit] Reform in the US
- Welfare Reform, Phase Two, City Journal, Winter 2009
- Welfare Reform: Interim Final Regulations from the U.S. HHS
- The Contract with America
- Welfare Reform: Bringing Dignity to Millions (But Not to Bill Clinton) - 1999 U.S. Senate Republican Committee
