International Journal of Social Welfare最新文献

This review essay takes stock of the recent literature about the role of ideas in social policy, with a particular focus on a key issue in social policy research: the changing interactions between states and markets over time. Specifically, our aim is to examine how the ideational literature discusses and explains prominent contemporary social policy evolutions: the rise of social investment and the financialization and technocratization of the welfare state. This is done based on the scholarship on state/market interactions and the role of ideas in social policy, and by utilizing key insights of scholars of ideational influences on state/market interactions. The article ends with a short agenda for future research on ideas and discourses as a crucial factor in the evolution of the welfare state as a key space in which states and markets interact.

Are disengagement risks lower when youths are surrounded by others with similar risk traits? Applying theoretical perspectives of belonging and residential context, this study examines interactional effects between individual and structural risk factors for youth-disengagement. From registry data of 590,085 Norwegians aged 16–24, the study finds less disengagement among youths in municipalities where an above-average rate of individuals shared individual risk-traits of immigrant background, young parenthood, and not completing high school. Youths with parents on social welfare had an increased risk of disengagement in municipalities with above average rates of people on social welfare. Sex-stratified analysis reveals that men and women benefit from belonging to different risk-groups. In challenging the prevailing segmented approach to individual and structural risk factors for youth-disengagement, the findings demonstrate the need for continued examination of gender, belonging and residential context as theoretical perspectives.

Recently in South Korea the increasing prevalence of school dropouts and the declining age at which students leave school have drawn renewed attention to this issue. In line with preventive efforts and recognizing early signs of leaving school, the current study aims to identify a set of variables that are most important for understanding the experience of school dropout among South Korean adolescents. Data from two independent panel studies collected by the National Youth Policy Institute in South Korea were merged and analyzed in this study: Korean Children and Youth Panel Study (N = 1646, age = 15.90, girls = 50.73%) and Dropout Youth Panel Study (N = 609, age = 16.84, girls = 56.16%). We applied machine learning algorithms to classify the experience of school dropout using two analytic methods: random forest and decision tree. A total of 36 features from personal, family, school, peer, and community domains were used in the analyses. Specifically, adolescent behavioral characteristics (truancy, smoking, drinking, media use), family structure, teacher relationship, group bullying victimization, and collective efficacy, were consistently identified as significant features of school dropout in random forest and decision tree models. Such information, which highlights a broad spectrum of important factors within adolescents' ecological systems, may provide a scientific knowledge base for school-level prevention efforts. By identifying these features, social workers and educators may develop early warning systems against school dropouts and accurately screen adolescents with high risk.

This study responds to the recent call in the literature for the interrogation and understanding of how social protection is accessed and distributed among various groups and classes of society. It explores who stands to win and lose from social protection through the lens of social class using the case study of Pakistan, where the elite class holds significant sway over decision-making. Using a unique mixed methods approach, this study offers a two-fold contribution: First, it applies cluster analysis to group households based on their socioeconomic demographics, with clusters serving as proxies for class and thereby giving unique insight into class composition in Pakistan. Second, it provides analysis of access to and experiences with social protection of households in different classes. The study concludes that social protection in Pakistan is insufficient in reaching and aiding lower-class households. Instead, it predominantly benefits the wealthy, reinforcing a cycle of privilege and disadvantage among different socioeconomic classes. This study contributes to the construction of knowledge on how concentration of power within an elite group leads to resource allocation that perpetuates existing inequalities, hinders social progress and amplifies challenges faced by the lower classes.

The aim of the study is to gain knowledge about the transition to living with formal home care for cohabiting partners. Data consist of 14 interviews with partners aged 64–85, most with extensive experience of home care. Grounded in a life course perspective, the study identified the key factors in the process of becoming an ‘inadvertent care user’, and two modes for that transition: (1) adaptions and negotiations that involve adjustments shaped by institutional regulations; (2) new roles and positions, where partners acted as guardians or mediators, but also developed new friendships. The introduction of home care often brought partners a sense of relief. While many adjustments were seen as necessary compromises, the unpredictable nature of staff visits necessitated unwelcome adaptations. The study provides new knowledge about how cohabitating partners' lives are affected by home care and the strategies they employ in the presence of care workers.

While the identification of crisis situations has been one of the major social issues in Korea, the approach to addressing this issue is biased toward a government-centric system, and consequently, there is limited research exploring the significance of a community-driven crisis identification model. Focus group interviews were conducted among local volunteers and project managers actively engaged in the “Good Neighbors Project.” The exploration of the significance of community-driven crisis identification, the challenges associated, and strategies to strengthen the community-driven crisis identification model led to the identification of a total of eight sub-themes. Based on the findings, to effectively identify individuals and families in crisis within the local community, it is necessary to expand the concept of crisis beyond its definition within the public sector, increase opportunities to communicate the significance of community-driven crisis identification involving volunteers from the local community, and emphasize the need to enhance volunteers' competence.

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 explores the relationship between four sociodemographic factors (socioeconomic status, household composition, immigrant background, and gender) and referral patterns to the Norwegian child welfare system (CWS). Using panel administrative data, the article first examines the impact of these factors on risk for referral to the CWS in the entire 2005 birth cohort over a 5-year observation period, from when the cohort was 8 to 12 years old (2013–2017). Next, using a dataset consisting of all CWS referrals regarding children in the birth cohort during this observation period, we explore associations between these sociodemographic factors and registered reasons for referral to the CWS. Our analyses indicate that both risk for referral and registered reasons for referral vary according to sociodemographic factors.

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.