International Journal of Social Welfare最新文献

It is widely acknowledged that individuals with out-of-home care (OHC) experiences, including foster-family care and residential care, face an increased risk of poor labour market attachment during emerging adulthood. However, limited understanding exists regarding how this attachment, conceptualized here as ‘not in employment, education, or training’ (NEET), evolves beyond young adulthood and the degree to which this development is marked by persistence or desistance. Using group-based trajectory modelling and multinomial regression on population-based register data for over 650,000 Swedish men and women (including approximately 14,000 with OHC experience), followed from birth to age 40, the results indicate that OHC-experienced individuals, especially those first placed as teenagers, exhibit a substantially higher risk of persistent NEET compared to peers without OHC experience. Nevertheless, the majority of OHC-experienced individuals followed pathways characterized by desistance. Implications for research, policy and practice are discussed.

This study examines the evolving patterns of precarious work in South Korea over a 20-year period, challenging conventional understandings of labour market segmentation and class formation. Using group-based trajectory modelling on Korean Labour and Income Panel Study data (2002–2021), we identify five distinct trajectories of labour market experiences. Our findings reveal that 34.4% of the sample, categorised into persistently high precariousness and persistent precariousness groups, provides evidence for an emerging, heterogeneous precariat class. This new class formation transcends traditional occupational boundaries and challenges existing class theories. Multinomial logistic regression shows that low-skilled service workers and women are more likely to belong to precarious groups. Our study contributes by (1) providing empirical evidence for a diverse precariat class, (2) demonstrating the need for a multidimensional approach to precarious work, and (3) highlighting the dynamic nature of precarious work over time. We argue for bringing class discussion back into labour market inequality analysis through a new theoretical framework that synthesises traditional class theory with contemporary precariat discourse, offering insights for policy and theoretical development in understanding modern labour markets.

The research questions addressed in this study are: “Who supports basic income (BI) in Korea?” and “What type of BI do supporters endorse?” To understand the support for BI in detail two key factors were considered: job insecurity and the receipt of no-strings cash benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The types of BI were categorized based on regularity, individuality, and adequacy. A series of logistic regression analyses was conducted using nationally representative survey data from 2020. The results revealed that job insecurity and the receipt of no-strings cash benefits during the pandemic were significantly associated with the support for BI. Additionally, the study explored significant correlates of the support for each feature of BI. Job insecurity and the receipt of no-strings cash benefits were significantly associated with the regularity of BI but not with its individuality and adequacy. Interestingly, among the participants who supported universal BI, only 9% believed that BI should be regular, individual, and sufficient to cover the minimum cost of living.

There has been considerable public discourse around courts allegedly “dismissing” mother's allegations of domestic violence and child abuse when a father alleges that he is being alienated from his children by their mother. The purpose of this project is to test whether this discourse is based on an illusory correlation. Published court decisions from 200 family court cases in Canada were sequentially selected if parental alienation was alleged to have happened to the father and abuse was alleged to have been perpetrated by the father. Independent coders recorded the investigative outcomes of the court cases regarding alienation and abuse, and whether the mother lost child custody. Results indicate that there is an illusory correlation between family court cases involving both allegations of abuse and parental alienation, and that mothers are generally not losing custody to abusive fathers in such rarely occurring cases.

In the 2010s, new family benefits were introduced in Hungary, focusing on large families to halt population decline. However, poverty reduction became sidelined, as these schemes benefited higher-income earners. Based on poverty statistics, the article investigates how two family types associated with a higher risk of poverty—large families and single-parent families—fare under this new selective pronatalist system. Furthermore, based on new representative national survey data, the article explores public support for the reforms. Although the income poverty rate for large families significantly decreased during the 2010s, it remained persistently high for single-parent families, especially large single-parent families. The findings indicate strong public support for state assistance to large, single-parent and poor families and state pronatalism. However, the public prioritises support for poor, single-parent families. This underscores a partial mismatch between public attitudes and government policy. Nonetheless, this policy probably secured public legitimacy, chiefly due to the general support for state pronatalism and large families, which were vigorously implemented in family policies, albeit selectively.

Many scholars argue that gender affects welfare attitudes: women support welfare policies more than men in most welfare societies. However, in South Korea, women tend to oppose welfare policies or show no gender gap in welfare attitudes. As welfare programs in South Korea are expanding, I investigate whether women's attitudes towards welfare policies have changed and if they differ based on self-interest. I analysed welfare attitude data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS) for 2013 and 2022 using ordered logistic regression models, finding that women in South Korea supported almost all welfare policies less than men. However, in terms of income redistribution and free preschool and childcare service provision, there were no gender differences observed. Furthermore, cleavages among women were found regarding attitudes towards support for the unemployed and free preschool and childcare service provision based on self-interest. Additionally, progressive women exhibited more supportive attitudes across all domains of welfare.

While the poverty risks of non-standard employment have been explored extensively, this study focuses on the role of activation-oriented social policy in alleviating material deprivation for persons with non-standard employment histories. Using EU-SILC data, individuals over a four-year period were analysed. I focused on substantial earners and distinguished between six non-standard employment histories expected to benefit from activation measures. Multi-level models revealed that compared to standard employment histories, all non-standard employment histories had higher material deprivation risks but to substantially different extents. At the macro level, participation in activation measures, expenditures in formal childcare and minimum income protection reduced material deprivation. Participation in training can be interpreted as an equaliser, as the deprivation gap between standard and most non-standard employment history types diminished. As expenditure- and participation-based measures differed significantly, evaluating the success of activation strategies in reducing inequalities and alleviating poverty highly depends on the measurement of activation.

Severe mental illness (SMI) has long been a focus of public health attention. Due to stigma, people with SMI face strong social discrimination and are one of the most vulnerable groups in a society. Building a sound social welfare system is of paramount importance to address their vulnerabilities. China has accumulated a large body of policy practice, but there is still a lack of critical review in this area. Drawing on the framework developed by WHO, this article provides a comprehensive review of China's policy progress in addressing the health care, rehabilitation, life support and social participation needs of people with SMI, as well as the collaborative governance system and detailed policy arrangements. This review raises a number of policy-related issues for further consideration, such as strengthening community mental health services, improving life support for people with SMI, and reconciling the values of public safety and patients' rights.

This article explored the influence of unemployment perceptions on attitudes towards an EU-wide social policy that guarantees a minimum standard of living for the poor across 18 European countries. The article relied on a theoretical framework that highlights the interaction among economic self-interest, ideology, and perceptions. Using data from Eurostat and the European Social Survey, the results show that Europeans with more negative perceptions of national unemployment or the living conditions of the unemployed were more likely to support an EU minimum income scheme. This association was particularly strong among individuals with non-egalitarian values or right-leaning ideology and remained relatively consistent across different national contexts. Additionally, support was stronger in countries with poor economic and welfare conditions. Overall, the findings reveal a high perceived legitimacy among Europeans for implementing a policy measure that aims to tackle poverty in the EU.