Search results

The study covers two different forms of financial support for households, income support for single parents and reimbursements for depression medicines, and explores their relationships with the demand for child protection services.

The data were retrieved from the Sotkanet, the Finnish Indicator Bank, and included 292 Finnish municipalities. It was hypothesised that the effect of income support for single-parent households on the need for child protection is mediated by reimbursements for depression medicines. The hypotheses were tested by using a conditional process analysis program, PROCESS (Model 4).

It was found that income support reduces the proportion of reimbursements for depression medicines in a municipality, which in turn reduces the need for child protection services. At the level of social policy, the study tentatively suggests that the social welfare system may affect the demand for child protection by investing in income support for single-parent households.

The choice of variables does not fully explain the effect of the mechanism. The relationships that are found in this study can have hidden factors which affect them. Further, the data have only 292 cases, which is quite a small sample, and is limited to Finland.

The study suggests that the social welfare system may affect the demand for child protection by investing in income support for single-parent households.

A questionnaire is used to assess the impact of race, current past and future family income, as well as political beliefs on the support for redistribution. Current income maximization predicts those with above average income oppose redistribution. However blacks support redistribution until income is well above average and whites oppose redistribution even if income is well below average. Those with incomes below average expect to move up and this prospect of upward mobility reduces support for redistribution. The rich are more likely to espouse arguments that protect their wealth. Most intriguingly, as blacks become richer, support for redistribution falls especially rapidly.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of agricultural policy reform – specifically the change from market to direct payment support – on income variability of Swiss farming households. In addition, the observed heterogeneity in income risks across farms and time is explained in terms of farm and regional characteristics.

Unbalanced farm‐level panel data of the Swiss farm accountancy network (FADN) are used to construct coefficients of variation of five‐year overlapping time intervals for total household income and gross farm revenues over the period 1992 to 2009. Linear fixed effect models are applied to measure the effect of specialization, off‐farm income, direct payments, farm size, and liquidity on the variability of gross farm revenues and household income in the valley, hill, and mountain regions.

The switch from market‐based support to direct payments has decreased the variability of farm revenues and household income. The strong reliance on direct payments serves as insurance for most farmers and reduces both household income and revenue risk. Off‐farm income can be used by farmers to reduce household income risk but it increases revenue risk in the valley regions. In all of the regions considered, farm size has a positive effect on household income risk and a negative effect on revenue risk. A high degree of specialization increases both gross revenue and household income risk. Potential revenue insurance contracts should specify farmers' off‐farm employment, the degree of specialization, farm size, and regional specific risk profiles.

This paper assesses the complementary effects of specific farm characteristics and risk management strategies with regard to both farm revenue and household income risk. Influences of agricultural policy changes on income risks are also empirically assessed at different spatial scales.

The literature on personal networks suggests that individuals who have a limited ability to contribute to their network run the risk of being socially excluded and are often denied assistance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which poor health and adverse life‐events constitute barriers to support from personal networks among low‐income mothers in the USA.

Using survey data from the Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three City Study (n=1,910), this study estimates a series of ordinary least squares regression and change models to test direct and mediated associations between poor health, adverse life‐events, and perceived support.

Both the cross‐sectional and longitudinal analyses show that mothers who suffer from psychological distress report lower support than their healthier counterparts, so do mothers with poor physical health. Domestic violence is also found to be negatively associated with support, but its effect is mainly driven by poor health. No effect is revealed for either substance abuse or engagement in illegal activities.

The restricted character of the sample may leave differentials by socioeconomic status unrevealed.

The most vulnerable and disadvantaged mothers, those in greatest need for support, are the least likely to have it available from their networks. Hence this study highlights the need of providing support through formal channels in the community.

By treating support as a dependent variable, this study sheds light on the factors related to low‐income mothers' social well‐being and helps reveal the conditions that can impede their participation in support networks.

In many countries, individuals can receive welfare support whilst simultaneously being employed. The level of earned income that welfare recipients are allowed to keep has long been a subject of debate. Core issues include whether in-work benefit regulations provide incentives for individuals to expand labour market participation and are thus also socially effective and whether the population perceives welfare benefits for individuals who earn own income as fair. This article contributes to the debate about the social legitimacy of in-work benefit regulations by shedding light on the principles guiding judgements about an adequate amount of in-work benefit receipt.

The authors use a factorial survey experiment to investigate which factors guide judgements about an adequate level of in-work benefit receipt. In the authors' factorial survey, the household composition, health status, and monthly earnings of a hypothetical in-work benefit recipient were varied experimentally. The study investigates Germany's basic income support programme, a means-tested social policy programme that targets both unemployed and employed individuals.

The results show that respondents consider higher earnings retention rates for lower-income earners to be fair. This preference mirrors the German legislation, which is based on the principle of need. Furthermore, the presence of children and of physical as well as mental health impairments are associated with support for higher earnings retention rates.

The findings suggest that citizens support the core features of in-work benefit regulations but do not consider in-work benefit recipients as a homogenous group when assessing the adequate level of benefit receipt.

With the UK Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government reaching its mid-term point, this paper examines its austerity measures and public expenditure reductions in family support and children's services, and its revisions of family support, family intervention, child poverty, child well-being and children's services reform policies in contrast to the former Labour governments.

The paper is informed by policy analysis and research reviews.

The analysis focuses on three dimensions of policy change: first, reductions in income support for children and families and central government funding for children's services; second, refocusing child poverty, child well-being and family policies around the Conservative's “Broken Britain” campaign and the Liberal Democrats targeted social mobility initiatives; and finally, broader children's services reforms. The paper recognises some progressive developments but charts the social welfare implications of reduced welfare entitlements for families and the pressures on support services for families from children's services reforms.

The paper combines reflections on the aims, achievements and limitations of Labour reforms to family support and children's services with a broader analysis of welfare state retrenchment and restructuring under the Coalition. It places current changes in family support and children's services within the context of the ideological influences on the Coalition's social policies and the primacy of its austerity programme and welfare state reform agendas.

Many countries around the world are facing great challenges from their ageing population with shrinking workforce, this will put more pressure on their financial system and will increase the public spending on care costs provided to older people. Egypt is in the phase of establishing a new law for older people care's rights, a law that will organise how older people in need for care would benefit from access to government financial support and how will families support their older relatives financially and how the care costs will be shared between the older people, their families and the government.

The paper examines the suitability two cost-sharing methods and applying them to assess the effect on the individuals and families' income strain.

The preferred approach can be used for sharing costs as it applies a gradual funding withdrawal by the government and provide more fairness and flexibility for application in different regions. Besides, the parameters of this approach can be used by policy makers to control the levels of funding.

The paper will be the first to discuss the intergenerational fairness from a financial perspective in Egypt to avoid forcing older people into poverty or resorting to poverty trade-off.

This “Rapport” proposes to examine the function and effect of British social law in the context of the employment/unemployment debate. This debate is a most significant one for it has not only British, but also European and International dimensions.

The Old Farmer Pension Program (OFPP) represents Taiwan’s long-standing efforts aiming at improving farm household income and well-being; however, how effective the pension program is in terms of achieving the policy agenda has remained unclear. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Based on data drawn from the Survey of Family Income and Expenditure during 1999–2013, two identification strategies are used to examine the effect of OFPP. First the authors apply the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition to address the concern if the program reaches the socially/economically disadvantaged farm households. The second identification strategy involves using the static and dynamic decomposition approaches to identify the major factors contributing to farm household income inequality and the redistribution role of the OFPP.

Results from the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition indicate that about 60 percent of the income gap can be eliminated if the pension recipients’ socio-economic characteristics are the same as the non-recipient group, suggesting it is the disadvantaged group that receives the old farmer pension. Moreover, the results suggest the significant contributions of household investments in health and human capital as well as diversification toward nonfarm activities, to income inequality among Taiwan’s farm households. Results from the dynamic decomposition suggest that the first-wave adjustment of the OFPP enlarges farm household income inequality, the following two waves of adjustment, however, plays an equalizing role.

This study adds to the literature by providing a methodological refinement promoting the view that it calls for the use of the dynamic (change) decomposition framework to investigate the inequality-enlarging or inequality-equalizing role each income determinant plays.

This paper is motivated by a concern about the ability of the average Malaysian income to catch up with the rapidly increasing house prices in Peninsular Malaysia. Financial innovation in financial system now regards houses as a financial asset and speculation vehicle. Therefore, a house purchase is made to acquire not merely a necessity but also a financial asset which can generate future returns. Given the problems in the housing market, this paper aims to examine the determinants of house prices in Malaysia, including those such as income, population, foreign inflow and speculation.

This study adopts panel data analyses, namely, the fixed effect model (FEM) and the pooled mean group (PMG), and uses data at state level in quarterly frequency, spanning from 2005Q1 to 2013Q4.

Based on the results of FEM, these determinants influence house prices significantly. Moreover, the PMG results suggest that there is convergence in the model, which are indicated by the significant and negative sign of the error correction term. In conclusion, the rapidly increasing house price is not caused by speculation activities in the housing market. More precisely, Malaysian income is capable of catching up with the increasing house prices.

As income remains to be one of the major drivers in influencing Malaysian house price, Malaysian Government shall continue the policies of supply low cost houses to the low-income groups and My First Home Scheme (SRP) by offering less stringent rules in applying house loan for the first-time house buyers.

This study used the actual data of foreign housing purchase obtained from Malaysia Valuation and Property Services Department to represent foreign inflow; therefore, the results will reflect the impact of foreign inflow in a better manner.