International Social Security Series – serie

Over the last decade changing family life and increasing fiscal constraints on welfare expenditures have forced industrialized nations to reconsider how they approach social protection. Faced with fiscal and demographic changes, many countries have been struggling to -develop innovative policy responses. Some involve targeting benefits in order to shrink existing program commitments, to focus welfare expenditures on those most in need, and to give social welfare systems more flexibility in redirecting available resources to meet emerging demands. Targeting Social Benefits: International Perspectives and Trends provides a systematic assessment of the trend toward targeting in seven countries representing a range of industrialized welfare states-New Zealand, the Netherlands, Britain, Israel, the United States, Italy, and Sweden. The contributors to this volume examine the extent to which each country has adopted measures to focus social benefits on specific population groups and particularly social welfare program areas. A summary chapter surveys and categorizes the choices nations have made in targeting methods, culls the lessons learned for recent reforms, and explores the implications of these developments for the future of the welfare state. Specific methods for targeting benefits in different program areas are analyzed, which includes means-tests, income testing, diagnostic criteria, behavioral requirements and the use of socio-demo-graphic categories. This illuminating volume provides an in-depth understanding of alternative approaches to and consequences of policies designed to target social benefits. It will help scholars, professionals, and policymakers deepen their understanding of the alternative methods and consequences of recent policies designed to shift the allocation of social welfare benefits. Neil Gilbert is Chernin Professor of Social Welfare at the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, and Director of the Center for Comparative Family Welfare and Poverty Research. Dr. Gilbert served as a Senior Research Fellow for the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva and was twice awarded Fulbright Fellowships to study European social policy. His numerous publications include 22 books and 100 articles that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Public Interest, Society, Commentary, and other leading academic journals.

Presenting a periodic overview of the most significant developments and trends in the field of social security has become, for the International Social Security Association, a tradition and a firm commitment. Benefiting from the vast quantity of information uniquely available to the ISSA, its triennial review takes stock of the current state of social security world wide and focuses, through expert analyses, on some of the most pressing social security issues. Social Security at the Dawn of the 21st Century, the outcome of the most recent review, is intended to significantly extend the access of an international readership to accurate and up-to-date information and analyses on social security, which has without question developed during the twentieth century into one of the most important publicly financed and administered institutions in modern society. The chapters are grouped into two parts. Part one treats subjects related to policy trends and regional developments, with special emphasis on such important issues as redesigning social security programs, new management practices, and the informal care dilemma. It features major aspects of developments in Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Part two focuses on specific program areas, with special emphasis on problems and reforms in employment policy, pension systems, and public disability schemes. Information is also provided on new approaches to ensuring adequate access to health care and on policies in response to changes in family structures as well as an recent experience with social assistance programs.

The debate about health care reform has gone on for many years. The debate has generated often innovative ideas for reform that transcend national boundaries. For example, proposals have been made for an extension of health insurance with a framework of social protection; progressive development of funding methods; controls on expenditure; bringing benefits into line with what is actually needed; and the application of technological advances.The book concentrates on health insurance policy innovations in selected countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. In addition this book addresses recent institutional economic findings with regard to application of information technology in health insurance systems. Topics discussed include: new approaches in extending coverage in a health insurance system, confronting resource scarcity: innovative strategies, refining benefits to meet current needs, new institutional and administrative frameworks, and transformation through information technology systems. Many of the innovations presented here have already been integrated into existing reforms and the authors refer to concrete developments in individual countries and regions. This book presents those important innovations to social health insurance systems in industrialized and developing countries that have been brought forward in recent years and, as far as possible, already evaluated. In doing so, the intention is to show developments that are valid for more than one country and could have long term impact on health insurance systems. This book is intended to promote deeper exchanges of experience between differing regions, countries, and health insurance systems. In this way it will stimulate ideas for politicians and practitioners, scientists and other experts.

Since the late 1980s welfare policies in France and the United States have increasingly been shaped by a strong emphasis on citizens' obligations to work and be independent, and a weakening of entitlements to income maintenance. Throughout the advanced industrialized nations, welfare reforms incorporate work-oriented measures such as financial incentives, insertion contracts, training, and requirements to search for and accept jobs. The evidence in this volume suggests that while the details may vary, welfare reforms in France and the United States have more in common than is often acknowledged. Welfare Reform provides an in-depth analysis of the development and structure of modern welfare programs and how they function. The dynamics of welfare reform are illuminated by focusing on two programs: the Revenu Minimum d'Insertion in France and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in the United States. Taking various analytic approaches, contributors examine the relations between poverty and work, how U.S. and French models of income support have been transformed in recent times, the relative impacts of economic growth and policy reforms on rates of welfare participation, and what happens to recipients who leave the welfare rolls. Welfare Reform will help researchers and policymakers gain perspective on where they are headed and how best to get there as they journey down the highway of welfare reform. Neil Gilbert is Chernin Professor of Social Welfare at the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, and co-director of the Center for Child and Youth Policy (CCYP). His numerous publications include 25 books and over 100 articles that have appeared in The Public Interest, Society, Commentary, and other leading academic journals. Antoine Parent is associate professor of economics at the University of Paris 8, associate researcher at MATISSE, University of Paris 1--Sorbonne, and research program manager at the Research Division of the French Ministry of Social Affairs.

In recent years, in both the specialist press and the tabloids, the idea of privatization of social security has become a shimmering catch phrase. Politicians base election campaigns on promises of more or less privatization in social security. Many governments introduce private business management methods into their social security systems. Representatives of social security institutions and academics prepare theory papers on the possible outcomes of privatization. And international financial organizations describe doomsday scenarios based on the premise of failure to privatize.What is the role of privatization today in the development of national social security systems? How does privatization concern the developments in different social security programs such as old age, sickness, unemployment, accident insurance and family allowances? What are the visions and effects of privatization in social security?This volume provides an overview of the various positions of supporters and opponents of privatization in the main branches of social security, followed by national experience of privatized or part-privatized social security systems. While the perspective of each of the contributors is markedly different, the overall objective cuts across differences: namely, to develop the most efficient and cost-effective system of social security protection.The authors' views and knowledge are derived from their firsthand experiences with social security in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. Representatives of the leading international organizations dealing with social security issues-the International Labour Organization, the OECD, the World Bank and the World Health Organization-further expand the parameters of the viewpoints and experiences expressed.This multifaceted book allows the reader to learn about the challenge of privatization in the various forms of social security by assembling a set of highly up-to-date, technically complex and legal issues based on practical analysis and actual experience. It will be of interest to those concerned with national social policy in a comparative context. This is the sixth volume in an ongoing series that aims to review social security in a comparative, global context. Xenia Scheil-Adlung is program manager, International Social Security Association, Geneva, Switzerland.

In the struggle against unemployment and marginalization, employability has become the one major tool to counteract this phenomenon. Those who have no chances to develop or enhance their employability will fail in the competitive labor market of the new economic order. While the notion of employability is not exactly new, the weight now being placed upon it is new: to equip job seekers for the far-reaching changes currently taking place in the economy and the world of work. What is at stake? Is employability an instrument for the regulation of the labor market, distinguishing between the employable and the unemployable? Or is it a set of measures to facilitate the insertion or reinsertion of workers into the workforce? Is employability in the future the defining policy framework for labor market policies? What are the consequences of such a development for policy makers? Employability: From Theory to Practice addresses these questions. Its internationally renowned authors provide a valuable contribution to the conceptual and operational content of the notion of employability. The form and content of measures of employability vary by state, but represent a general trend. Part 1 deals with the concepts and instruments of employability. Part 2 evaluates measures implemented in a number of countries to improve employability of job-seekers. The countries involved are the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, and Slovakia. Part 3 showcases a practical approach with Canada, which in 1996-97 moved from an unemployment to an employment insurance. This volume shows both the possibilities and limitations of measures to promote employability. It helps clarify complex policy questions which will contribute to a better understanding of the concept for policy makers and administrators. It will help policy makers, professionals, and scholars assess current trends in the workplace.

There is growing recognition that globalization places major pressures on the development of social security schemes. Internationalization of the economy has important consequences for labor markets: employment is becoming less secure and inequality and social exclusion more pronounced in many countries. At the same time, there are some fundamental socio-demographic changes: new family structures, an aging population, and migration. Increased uncertainty and exclusion intensify the need for social security. Both the public and private sectors are redefining their roles, reshuffling responsibilities between states, markets, families, and individuals. Social Security in the Global Village investigates the new challenges for social security in an increasingly globalized world and analyzes strategies of adjustment. A group of internationally renowned experts in this field assess the variety of effects that globalization has had on national social security schemes. A common theme of a first set of chapters is the relationship between common pressures of globalization and the role of national institutional frameworks in shaping the impact of these pressures on social security. Countries are dealing in different ways with these challenges and follow diverse pathways of adjustment that quite often contradict widespread assumptions about the effects of globalization. A second set of chapters is devoted to challenges in selected policy areas: migration, labor markets, and social cohesion issues. Among the topical issues discussed are the social rights of migrants, the changing rights and obligations in unemployment insurance, lessons to be drawn for the promotion of employment, the relationship between family policy and employment policy for mothers, the management of social risks, and the protection of an adequate income in an active welfare state. Research can help to enlighten and inform the policy debate about the legitimacy of social security in the new, globalized world. This book aims to help those involved-researchers and policy makers alike-advance toward that goal.

"A thoughtful assessment of socioeconomic needs and influences, observing the necessity for benefits as well as the lessons of experience offered by various nations"--Library Bookwatch Over the last two decades, aging populations, changing family structures, market forces of globalization, strains of immigration, and political and ideological realignments have joined to create powerful pressures that are reshaping the design and philosophy of social welfare policies. Changing Patterns of Social Protection analyzes emerging patterns of social welfare and the implications of these trends for the future of social protection to vulnerable groups in France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Examining central policy trends in these countries, contributors explore current reforms of mainline programs: old age pensions, disability and unemployment insurance, family assistance, health care, and social services. The findings highlight how modern dynamics of social protection are manifest through reforms that include diverse social and economic incentives, changing benefit structures, a wide range of work-oriented measures, the resurgence of private activity, and current approaches to targeting benefits. Assessments of the socioeconomic influences that have precipitated these reforms reveal a broad range of common factors as well as country-specific influences such as the clientelistic approach to welfare in Italy, the complexities of reunification in Germany, and the "Dutch disease" of explosive claims for disability benefits. Changing Patterns of Social Protection offers insights into the issues raised by these policy reforms and their possible effects. By clarifying alternative policy designs this work affords a fresh perspective on how to think about the changing structure and function of social welfare arrangements in modern society. Neil Gilbert is Chernin Professor of Social Services and Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley, and director of the Center for Comparative Study of Family Welfare and Poverty Research. His numerous publications include twenty-five books and 100 articles that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Public Interest, Society, Commentary, and leading academic journals. Rebecca A. Van Voorhis is assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Services at the California State University, Hayward. Her publications include Activating the Unemployed and articles in Sociology and Social Welfare, European Journal of Social Work, and Children and Youth Services Review.

In recent years, in both the specialist press and the tabloids, the idea of privatization of social security has become a shimmering catch phrase. Politicians base election campaigns on promises of more or less privatization in social security. Many governments introduce private business management methods into their social security systems. Representatives of social security institutions and academics prepare theory papers on the possible outcomes of privatization. And international financial organizations describe doomsday scenarios based on the premise of failure to privatize.What is the role of privatization today in the development of national social security systems? How does privatization concern the developments in different social security programs such as old age, sickness, unemployment, accident insurance and family allowances? What are the visions and effects of privatization in social security?This volume provides an overview of the various positions of supporters and opponents of privatization in the main branches of social security, followed by national experience of privatized or part-privatized social security systems. While the perspective of each of the contributors is markedly different, the overall objective cuts across differences: namely, to develop the most efficient and cost-effective system of social security protection.The authors' views and knowledge are derived from their firsthand experiences with social security in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. Representatives of the leading international organizations dealing with social security issues-the International Labour Organization, the OECD, the World Bank and the World Health Organization-further expand the parameters of the viewpoints and experiences expressed.This multifaceted book allows the reader to learn about the challenge of privatization in the various forms of social security by assembling a set of highly up-to-date, technically complex and legal issues based on practical analysis and actual experience. It will be of interest to those concerned with national social policy in a comparative context. This is the sixth volume in an ongoing series that aims to review social security in a comparative, global context. Xenia Scheil-Adlung is program manager, International Social Security Association, Geneva, Switzerland.

"A thoughtful assessment of socioeconomic needs and influences, observing the necessity for benefits as well as the lessons of experience offered by various nations"--Library Bookwatch Over the last two decades, aging populations, changing family structures, market forces of globalization, strains of immigration, and political and ideological realignments have joined to create powerful pressures that are reshaping the design and philosophy of social welfare policies. Changing Patterns of Social Protection analyzes emerging patterns of social welfare and the implications of these trends for the future of social protection to vulnerable groups in France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Examining central policy trends in these countries, contributors explore current reforms of mainline programs: old age pensions, disability and unemployment insurance, family assistance, health care, and social services. The findings highlight how modern dynamics of social protection are manifest through reforms that include diverse social and economic incentives, changing benefit structures, a wide range of work-oriented measures, the resurgence of private activity, and current approaches to targeting benefits. Assessments of the socioeconomic influences that have precipitated these reforms reveal a broad range of common factors as well as country-specific influences such as the clientelistic approach to welfare in Italy, the complexities of reunification in Germany, and the "Dutch disease" of explosive claims for disability benefits. Changing Patterns of Social Protection offers insights into the issues raised by these policy reforms and their possible effects. By clarifying alternative policy designs this work affords a fresh perspective on how to think about the changing structure and function of social welfare arrangements in modern society. Neil Gilbert is Chernin Professor of Social Services and Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley, and director of the Center for Comparative Study of Family Welfare and Poverty Research. His numerous publications include twenty-five books and 100 articles that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Public Interest, Society, Commentary, and leading academic journals. Rebecca A. Van Voorhis is assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Services at the California State University, Hayward. Her publications include Activating the Unemployed and articles in Sociology and Social Welfare, European Journal of Social Work, and Children and Youth Services Review.

In the struggle against unemployment and marginalization, employability has become the one major tool to counteract this phenomenon. Those who have no chances to develop or enhance their employability will fail in the competitive labor market of the new economic order. While the notion of employability is not exactly new, the weight now being placed upon it is new: to equip job seekers for the far-reaching changes currently taking place in the economy and the world of work. What is at stake? Is employability an instrument for the regulation of the labor market, distinguishing between the employable and the unemployable? Or is it a set of measures to facilitate the insertion or reinsertion of workers into the workforce? Is employability in the future the defining policy framework for labor market policies? What are the consequences of such a development for policy makers? Employability: From Theory to Practice addresses these questions. Its internationally renowned authors provide a valuable contribution to the conceptual and operational content of the notion of employability. The form and content of measures of employability vary by state, but represent a general trend. Part 1 deals with the concepts and instruments of employability. Part 2 evaluates measures implemented in a number of countries to improve employability of job-seekers. The countries involved are the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, and Slovakia. Part 3 showcases a practical approach with Canada, which in 1996-97 moved from an unemployment to an employment insurance. This volume shows both the possibilities and limitations of measures to promote employability. It helps clarify complex policy questions which will contribute to a better understanding of the concept for policy makers and administrators. It will help policy makers, professionals, and scholars assess current trends in the workplace.

Aging populations are creating tremendous pressures on social security systems throughout the world, lifting the need for reform to the top of policy agendas. Proposed reforms often have different implications for men and women. At the same time, traditional family and gender roles are changing with the decline in fertility rates and the rapid rise in women's participation in the paid labor force.While trying to adapt social security systems to the fiscal demands of aging societies, policymakers face the compelling challenge of how to design pension reforms that achieve fair outcomes for women. Gender and Social Security Reform examines how different countries are attempting to meet this challenge. Drawing on comparative studies of European and Latin American countries along with a series of case studies of individual countries, the book provides insights into the gender dimensions of alternative designs for reform. All of the countries studied have recently reformed or are about to reform their pension systems, with a clear trend towards tightening the link between contributions and benefits in order to secure the long-term sustainability of pensions. The book also alerts policymakers to other issues: Should pension systems be gender-neutral or compensate for inequalities in paid and unpaid labor? Does compensation preserve gender discrimination? Are unisex life tables a reliable or fair redistributive tool for women? Or should annuities be linked directly to life expectancy, differentiated by sex and potentially other factors? Does a minimum pension guarantee risk compromising the principle of individual responsibility and work? How can recognition for caring work be balanced with work incentives? What can be done to help social security systems preserve freedom of choice in terms of work-family balance for women, men or the modem family unit as a whole?In analyzing the gender implications of recent social security policies and practices this book reframes the conventional discourse of reform.

The debate about health care reform has gone on for many years. The debate has generated often innovative ideas for reform that transcend national boundaries. For example, proposals have been made for an extension of health insurance with a framework of social protection; progressive development of funding methods; controls on expenditure; bringing benefits into line with what is actually needed; and the application of technological advances.The book concentrates on health insurance policy innovations in selected countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. In addition this book addresses recent institutional economic findings with regard to application of information technology in health insurance systems. Topics discussed include: new approaches in extending coverage in a health insurance system, confronting resource scarcity: innovative strategies, refining benefits to meet current needs, new institutional and administrative frameworks, and transformation through information technology systems. Many of the innovations presented here have already been integrated into existing reforms and the authors refer to concrete developments in individual countries and regions. This book presents those important innovations to social health insurance systems in industrialized and developing countries that have been brought forward in recent years and, as far as possible, already evaluated. In doing so, the intention is to show developments that are valid for more than one country and could have long term impact on health insurance systems. This book is intended to promote deeper exchanges of experience between differing regions, countries, and health insurance systems. In this way it will stimulate ideas for politicians and practitioners, scientists and other experts.

Presenting a periodic overview of the most significant developments and trends in the field of social security has become, for the International Social Security Association, a tradition and a firm commitment. Benefiting from the vast quantity of information uniquely available to the ISSA, its triennial review takes stock of the current state of social security world wide and focuses, through expert analyses, on some of the most pressing social security issues. Social Security at the Dawn of the 21st Century, the outcome of the most recent review, is intended to significantly extend the access of an international readership to accurate and up-to-date information and analyses on social security, which has without question developed during the twentieth century into one of the most important publicly financed and administered institutions in modern society. The chapters are grouped into two parts. Part one treats subjects related to policy trends and regional developments, with special emphasis on such important issues as redesigning social security programs, new management practices, and the informal care dilemma. It features major aspects of developments in Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Part two focuses on specific program areas, with special emphasis on problems and reforms in employment policy, pension systems, and public disability schemes. Information is also provided on new approaches to ensuring adequate access to health care and on policies in response to changes in family structures as well as an recent experience with social assistance programs.

There is growing recognition that globalization places major pressures on the development of social security schemes. Internationalization of the economy has important consequences for labor markets: employment is becoming less secure and inequality and social exclusion more pronounced in many countries. At the same time, there are some fundamental socio-demographic changes: new family structures, an aging population, and migration. Increased uncertainty and exclusion intensify the need for social security. Both the public and private sectors are redefining their roles, reshuffling responsibilities between states, markets, families, and individuals. Social Security in the Global Village investigates the new challenges for social security in an increasingly globalized world and analyzes strategies of adjustment. A group of internationally renowned experts in this field assess the variety of effects that globalization has had on national social security schemes. A common theme of a first set of chapters is the relationship between common pressures of globalization and the role of national institutional frameworks in shaping the impact of these pressures on social security. Countries are dealing in different ways with these challenges and follow diverse pathways of adjustment that quite often contradict widespread assumptions about the effects of globalization. A second set of chapters is devoted to challenges in selected policy areas: migration, labor markets, and social cohesion issues. Among the topical issues discussed are the social rights of migrants, the changing rights and obligations in unemployment insurance, lessons to be drawn for the promotion of employment, the relationship between family policy and employment policy for mothers, the management of social risks, and the protection of an adequate income in an active welfare state. Research can help to enlighten and inform the policy debate about the legitimacy of social security in the new, globalized world. This book aims to help those involved-researchers and policy makers alike-advance toward that goal.

Over the last decade changing family life and increasing fiscal constraints on welfare expenditures have forced industrialized nations to reconsider how they approach social protection. Faced with fiscal and demographic changes, many countries have been struggling to -develop innovative policy responses. Some involve targeting benefits in order to shrink existing program commitments, to focus welfare expenditures on those most in need, and to give social welfare systems more flexibility in redirecting available resources to meet emerging demands. Targeting Social Benefits: International Perspectives and Trends provides a systematic assessment of the trend toward targeting in seven countries representing a range of industrialized welfare states-New Zealand, the Netherlands, Britain, Israel, the United States, Italy, and Sweden. The contributors to this volume examine the extent to which each country has adopted measures to focus social benefits on specific population groups and particularly social welfare program areas. A summary chapter surveys and categorizes the choices nations have made in targeting methods, culls the lessons learned for recent reforms, and explores the implications of these developments for the future of the welfare state. Specific methods for targeting benefits in different program areas are analyzed, which includes means-tests, income testing, diagnostic criteria, behavioral requirements and the use of socio-demo-graphic categories. This illuminating volume provides an in-depth understanding of alternative approaches to and consequences of policies designed to target social benefits. It will help scholars, professionals, and policymakers deepen their understanding of the alternative methods and consequences of recent policies designed to shift the allocation of social welfare benefits. Neil Gilbert is Chernin Professor of Social Welfare at the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, and Director of the Center for Comparative Family Welfare and Poverty Research. Dr. Gilbert served as a Senior Research Fellow for the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva and was twice awarded Fulbright Fellowships to study European social policy. His numerous publications include 22 books and 100 articles that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Public Interest, Society, Commentary, and other leading academic journals.

Since the late 1980s welfare policies in France and the United States have increasingly been shaped by a strong emphasis on citizens' obligations to work and be independent, and a weakening of entitlements to income maintenance. Throughout the advanced industrialized nations, welfare reforms incorporate work-oriented measures such as financial incentives, insertion contracts, training, and requirements to search for and accept jobs. The evidence in this volume suggests that while the details may vary, welfare reforms in France and the United States have more in common than is often acknowledged. Welfare Reform provides an in-depth analysis of the development and structure of modern welfare programs and how they function. The dynamics of welfare reform are illuminated by focusing on two programs: the Revenu Minimum d'Insertion in France and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in the United States. Taking various analytic approaches, contributors examine the relations between poverty and work, how U.S. and French models of income support have been transformed in recent times, the relative impacts of economic growth and policy reforms on rates of welfare participation, and what happens to recipients who leave the welfare rolls. Welfare Reform will help researchers and policymakers gain perspective on where they are headed and how best to get there as they journey down the highway of welfare reform. Neil Gilbert is Chernin Professor of Social Welfare at the School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, and co-director of the Center for Child and Youth Policy (CCYP). His numerous publications include 25 books and over 100 articles that have appeared in The Public Interest, Society, Commentary, and other leading academic journals. Antoine Parent is associate professor of economics at the University of Paris 8, associate researcher at MATISSE, University of Paris 1--Sorbonne, and research program manager at the Research Division of the French Ministry of Social Affairs.