Riccardo Di Leo, Mariaelisa Epifanio, Thomas J. Scotto, Vera E. Troeger
Motherhood is widely believed to be an important factor slowing down the career progression of women. We present a novel database that combines an original survey of women and mothers working in the UK Higher Education sector with data on the occupational maternity benefits offered by academic employers. This allows users to track, at the individual level, child‐bearing experiences and employment histories simultaneously. We describe several aspects of mothers' experiences in academia and how those evolve over the years. We also conduct an empirical analysis of the determinants of maternity leave uptake, showing that women's employment status and family arrangements significantly impact the types of maternity leave – paid or unpaid – taken.
{"title":"Motherhood in academia: A novel dataset of UK academic women with an application to maternity leave uptake","authors":"Riccardo Di Leo, Mariaelisa Epifanio, Thomas J. Scotto, Vera E. Troeger","doi":"10.1111/spol.13057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13057","url":null,"abstract":"Motherhood is widely believed to be an important factor slowing down the career progression of women. We present a novel database that combines an original survey of women and mothers working in the UK Higher Education sector with data on the occupational maternity benefits offered by academic employers. This allows users to track, at the individual level, child‐bearing experiences and employment histories simultaneously. We describe several aspects of mothers' experiences in academia and how those evolve over the years. We also conduct an empirical analysis of the determinants of maternity leave uptake, showing that women's employment status and family arrangements significantly impact the types of maternity leave – paid or unpaid – taken.","PeriodicalId":47858,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"95 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141864023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Growing income and wealth inequality have rekindled interest in questions of social mobility versus intergenerational persistence. Specifically at the low‐end of the inequality distribution, rising poverty risks amongst working‐age households have raised concerns regarding later‐life consequences of childhood poverty. This paper investigates cross‐country and ‐cohort variations in the intergenerational transmission of financial disadvantage, by pooling cross‐sections from EU‐SILC (2005‐2011‐2019) for 31 European countries. Similar to previous research, adolescent financial disadvantage contributes significantly to income poverty risks in adulthood. In only about half of European countries, such impacts are explained by close relationships between parental family structure and adolescent financial disadvantage, or mediated by labour market‐related status attainment from parents to children. Next, compared with older cohorts, for younger respondents coming of age in the era of enhanced globalization and dualization since the 1990s, and during the post‐financial crisis and austerity years, a trend towards enhanced stratification of current poverty with regard to adolescent financial disadvantage emerges. Multilevel analyses based on these younger cohorts indicate that more generous active (outsider spending) and passive (social exclusion spending) welfare benefits aimed at compensating poorer households for the consequences of labour market and welfare state dualization significantly mitigate current income poverty of those who experienced financial disadvantage in adolescence. Welfare reforms implying reductions in social spending disproportionally affecting ‘outsider’‐households (intended or unintended) may therefore be costly in the long run, as the intergenerational transmission of financial disadvantage might intensify.
{"title":"The intergenerational transmission of financial disadvantage across Europe","authors":"Caroline Dewilde","doi":"10.1111/spol.13073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13073","url":null,"abstract":"Growing income and wealth inequality have rekindled interest in questions of social mobility versus intergenerational persistence. Specifically at the low‐end of the inequality distribution, rising poverty risks amongst working‐age households have raised concerns regarding later‐life consequences of childhood poverty. This paper investigates cross‐country and ‐cohort variations in the intergenerational transmission of financial disadvantage, by pooling cross‐sections from <jats:italic>EU‐SILC</jats:italic> (2005‐2011‐2019) for 31 European countries. Similar to previous research, adolescent financial disadvantage contributes significantly to income poverty risks in adulthood. In only about half of European countries, such impacts are explained by close relationships between parental family structure and adolescent financial disadvantage, or mediated by labour market‐related status attainment from parents to children. Next, compared with older cohorts, for younger respondents coming of age in the era of enhanced globalization and dualization since the 1990s, and during the post‐financial crisis and austerity years, a trend towards enhanced stratification of current poverty with regard to adolescent financial disadvantage emerges. Multilevel analyses based on these younger cohorts indicate that more generous active (outsider spending) and passive (social exclusion spending) welfare benefits aimed at compensating poorer households for the consequences of labour market and welfare state dualization significantly mitigate current income poverty of those who experienced financial disadvantage in adolescence. Welfare reforms implying reductions in social spending disproportionally affecting ‘outsider’‐households (intended or unintended) may therefore be costly in the long run, as the intergenerational transmission of financial disadvantage might intensify.","PeriodicalId":47858,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141863826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Charitable food aid is gaining new relevance in mature welfare states: the number of beneficiaries increases while the subsidization by and collaboration with the state intensifies. We distinguish three rationales to this further institutionalization: poverty mitigation, and ecological and paternalistic reasonings. In this explorative study we assess the validity of these rationales in the actual set‐up of food aid in Belgium. Specifically, we apply three different in‐kind transfer valuation methods (production cost, market and recipient value) to robustly estimate the value of food aid. This mixed‐methods study builds on purpose‐collected field work data on distributed food aid packages, Household Budget Survey data on common consumption patterns, and a thorough document analysis into food aid spending data. The estimated value of food aid strongly depends on the valuation method: the annual total value of food aid in Belgium ranges from 57 to 148 million euros. Importantly, we observe a discrepancy between prevalent rationales and the actual set‐up of food aid. In contrast to the ecological reasoning of fighting food waste, large part of the total value stems from new food purchases, which involve paternalistic choices. Yet, the composition of food aid packages only partly complies with nutritional recommendations. Moreover, they do not fully meet recipients' preferences and needs, which generates a welfare loss. Food aid may nonetheless seem efficient from a policy perspective: a ‘charity multiplier effect’ appears to translate the government production cost in a higher market value. Still, its unpredictable and mismatched nature likely reduces its poverty mitigating effect.
{"title":"Exploring the practical relevance of food aid rationales in Belgium: Lessons from applying in‐kind transfer valuation methods","authors":"Karen Hermans, Sarah Marchal","doi":"10.1111/spol.13072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13072","url":null,"abstract":"Charitable food aid is gaining new relevance in mature welfare states: the number of beneficiaries increases while the subsidization by and collaboration with the state intensifies. We distinguish three rationales to this further institutionalization: poverty mitigation, and ecological and paternalistic reasonings. In this explorative study we assess the validity of these rationales in the actual set‐up of food aid in Belgium. Specifically, we apply three different in‐kind transfer valuation methods (production cost, market and recipient value) to robustly estimate the value of food aid. This mixed‐methods study builds on purpose‐collected field work data on distributed food aid packages, Household Budget Survey data on common consumption patterns, and a thorough document analysis into food aid spending data. The estimated value of food aid strongly depends on the valuation method: the annual total value of food aid in Belgium ranges from 57 to 148 million euros. Importantly, we observe a discrepancy between prevalent rationales and the actual set‐up of food aid. In contrast to the ecological reasoning of fighting food waste, large part of the total value stems from new food purchases, which involve paternalistic choices. Yet, the composition of food aid packages only partly complies with nutritional recommendations. Moreover, they do not fully meet recipients' preferences and needs, which generates a welfare loss. Food aid may nonetheless seem efficient from a policy perspective: a ‘charity multiplier effect’ appears to translate the government production cost in a higher market value. Still, its unpredictable and mismatched nature likely reduces its poverty mitigating effect.","PeriodicalId":47858,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141863837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sara Marcora, Verena Seibel, Marleen Damman, Marcel Lubbers
Old‐age state pension is central to European welfare states. Despite the growing number of migrants in Europe, little is known about their attitudes towards state pension. Pension systems are designed for a ‘sedentary’ population, as they require many years of contribution or residency in the country. This often affects first‐generation migrants, who arrive in the residence country only at a later point in their lives. In this paper, we draw on self‐interest theory, which is commonly used to explain individuals' support towards welfare institutions and theorize on how the migration experience adds to the standard model of self‐interest in relation to support for government spending on old‐age state pensions. Hence, we move beyond traditional indicators of self‐interest such as education and employment status and we test hypotheses on how migrant‐specific characteristics like length of stay and settlement intention in the residence country are related to migrants' support for government spending on old‐age state pensions. We use data from the Migrants' Welfare State Attitudes (MIFARE) survey (2016), the first cross‐national survey that focuses on migrants' attitudes towards the welfare state that was collected in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands among nine different migrant groups from within and outside the EU. We find that migrants living in the country for over 5 years and those with longer settlement intentions have a higher support for government spending on pensions. We conclude that it is crucial to take migrants' unique migration experiences into account when assessing their attitudes towards state pension.
{"title":"Understanding migrants' attitudes towards state pension: The role of length of stay and settlement intention","authors":"Sara Marcora, Verena Seibel, Marleen Damman, Marcel Lubbers","doi":"10.1111/spol.13059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13059","url":null,"abstract":"Old‐age state pension is central to European welfare states. Despite the growing number of migrants in Europe, little is known about their attitudes towards state pension. Pension systems are designed for a ‘sedentary’ population, as they require many years of contribution or residency in the country. This often affects first‐generation migrants, who arrive in the residence country only at a later point in their lives. In this paper, we draw on self‐interest theory, which is commonly used to explain individuals' support towards welfare institutions and theorize on how the migration experience adds to the standard model of self‐interest in relation to support for government spending on old‐age state pensions. Hence, we move beyond traditional indicators of self‐interest such as education and employment status and we test hypotheses on how migrant‐specific characteristics like length of stay and settlement intention in the residence country are related to migrants' support for government spending on old‐age state pensions. We use data from the Migrants' Welfare State Attitudes (MIFARE) survey (2016), the first cross‐national survey that focuses on migrants' attitudes towards the welfare state that was collected in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands among nine different migrant groups from within and outside the EU. We find that migrants living in the country for over 5 years and those with longer settlement intentions have a higher support for government spending on pensions. We conclude that it is crucial to take migrants' unique migration experiences into account when assessing their attitudes towards state pension.","PeriodicalId":47858,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141780442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Developed nations have experienced a longstanding trend of reshaping the labour market's occupational structure. This trend, named job market polarization, describes how middle‐level jobs have decreased their relative share of the labour market in favour of high‐ and low‐complexity jobs. The literature has pointed to technological change as the main factor in setting this configuration, which accompanied the transition to a knowledge economy as a source of competitive advantages. Still, the narratives of technological change are anchored to specific technologies and times that do not fit the emerging challenges of the fourth industrial revolution and the increasing relevance of the digital economy. In this paper, I explore how job polarization dynamics have interacted with active labour market policies' effectiveness by focusing on job training skill premiums. I use nationally representative data to evaluate cross‐sectionally and longitudinally the relationship between job training access, job polarization, and wages. The results show that polarization poses a wage penalty while it increases the relative value of training skill premium. I discuss how the setting of a polarized market could be considered for future skill‐based interventions concerning digital technologies.
{"title":"Job training in polarizing job markets: A longitudinal analysis using administrative microdata","authors":"Nicolas Didier","doi":"10.1111/spol.13061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13061","url":null,"abstract":"Developed nations have experienced a longstanding trend of reshaping the labour market's occupational structure. This trend, named job market polarization, describes how middle‐level jobs have decreased their relative share of the labour market in favour of high‐ and low‐complexity jobs. The literature has pointed to technological change as the main factor in setting this configuration, which accompanied the transition to a knowledge economy as a source of competitive advantages. Still, the narratives of technological change are anchored to specific technologies and times that do not fit the emerging challenges of the fourth industrial revolution and the increasing relevance of the digital economy. In this paper, I explore how job polarization dynamics have interacted with active labour market policies' effectiveness by focusing on job training skill premiums. I use nationally representative data to evaluate cross‐sectionally and longitudinally the relationship between job training access, job polarization, and wages. The results show that polarization poses a wage penalty while it increases the relative value of training skill premium. I discuss how the setting of a polarized market could be considered for future skill‐based interventions concerning digital technologies.","PeriodicalId":47858,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141780440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daniel Nettle, Coralie Chevallier, Benoît de Courson, Elliott A. Johnson, Matthew T. Johnson, Kate E. Pickett
Poverty is associated with psychological variables such as increased anxiety, increased depression, steeper time discounting and greater risk aversion. However, less is known about whether short‐term changes in financial circumstances are coupled to immediate psychological responses. We present data from the Changing Cost of Living study, in which panels of adults in France (n = 232) and the UK (n = 240) completed financial and psychological surveys every month for a year (September 2022–August 2023). We found the expected overall socioeconomic gradients in anxiety, depression and time discounting. In addition, monthly fluctuations in financial situation were associated with fluctuations in depression, anxiety and risk preference. Increases in essential costs, considered separately from fluctuations in income, had an immediate impact on depression. Social support, the instrumental and emotional assistance derivable from one's social network, buffered the effects of short‐term financial fluctuations on depression and time discounting, but did not mitigate the overall gradients. We conclude that declines in income or increases in the cost of living have immediate and measurable psychological impacts, which must be borne in mind in the formulation and evaluation of social policy.
{"title":"Short‐term changes in financial situation have immediate mental health consequences: Implications for social policy","authors":"Daniel Nettle, Coralie Chevallier, Benoît de Courson, Elliott A. Johnson, Matthew T. Johnson, Kate E. Pickett","doi":"10.1111/spol.13065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13065","url":null,"abstract":"Poverty is associated with psychological variables such as increased anxiety, increased depression, steeper time discounting and greater risk aversion. However, less is known about whether short‐term changes in financial circumstances are coupled to immediate psychological responses. We present data from the Changing Cost of Living study, in which panels of adults in France (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 232) and the UK (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 240) completed financial and psychological surveys every month for a year (September 2022–August 2023). We found the expected overall socioeconomic gradients in anxiety, depression and time discounting. In addition, monthly fluctuations in financial situation were associated with fluctuations in depression, anxiety and risk preference. Increases in essential costs, considered separately from fluctuations in income, had an immediate impact on depression. Social support, the instrumental and emotional assistance derivable from one's social network, buffered the effects of short‐term financial fluctuations on depression and time discounting, but did not mitigate the overall gradients. We conclude that declines in income or increases in the cost of living have immediate and measurable psychological impacts, which must be borne in mind in the formulation and evaluation of social policy.","PeriodicalId":47858,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141745234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Combining quantitative data from a national survey (n = 252) with qualitative interviews with frontline social workers (n = 16), this manuscript examines the ways in which bureaucracy and managerialism has impacted social work in Northern Ireland, with specific attention to relationship‐based practise. Although policy documents emphasise the importance of relationship‐based practise, quantitative and qualitative data demonstrate social workers are spending increasingly more time on administrative tasks to the detriment of direct work with service users. A whole institutional response is necessary to develop conditions conducive to placing relationships at the heart of practise, and promotion in practise guidelines and policy documents alone is insufficient.
{"title":"The impact of bureaucracy and managerialism on relationship‐based practise: A mixed methods study of frontline social work in Northern Ireland","authors":"Katheryn Margaret Pascoe","doi":"10.1111/spol.13068","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13068","url":null,"abstract":"Combining quantitative data from a national survey (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 252) with qualitative interviews with frontline social workers (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 16), this manuscript examines the ways in which bureaucracy and managerialism has impacted social work in Northern Ireland, with specific attention to relationship‐based practise. Although policy documents emphasise the importance of relationship‐based practise, quantitative and qualitative data demonstrate social workers are spending increasingly more time on administrative tasks to the detriment of direct work with service users. A whole institutional response is necessary to develop conditions conducive to placing relationships at the heart of practise, and promotion in practise guidelines and policy documents alone is insufficient.","PeriodicalId":47858,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141780441","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ciara Fitzpatrick, Alexandra Chapman, Siobhán Harding
Between 2022 and 2024, there was no devolved government functioning in Northern Ireland. This protracted absence of government occurred in the aftermath of the Covid‐19 pandemic and during what is arguably the worst economic crisis of recent years. Women are more vulnerable to hardship during economic crisis and thus it is unsurprising that the Cost‐of‐Living Crisis is hitting women hardest. This paper examines increasing food insecurity for women in Northern Ireland and the implications for the realisation of their human right to an adequate standard of living. The UK Government has ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which provides a legal duty to ensure that everyone has adequate access to food. However, increasing numbers of food banks and ill health related to insufficient food intake indicates that there is a fundamental problem. This article draws on 20 focus groups with 250 women on a low‐income to explore their experiences of the Cost‐of‐Living Crisis in Northern Ireland. The research found that women routinely skipped meals; described feelings of shame and guilt associated with struggling to feed their children; and discussed difficulties associated with purchasing food. Much of the pain associated with the hunger experienced by these women and children is hidden within the private sphere of the home. This article intends to shine a light on women's experiences and will reflect on the necessary policy change required to ensure compliance with international human rights obligations.
{"title":"Social policy in a political vacuum: Women's experiences of hunger during the Cost‐of‐Living Crisis in Northern Ireland","authors":"Ciara Fitzpatrick, Alexandra Chapman, Siobhán Harding","doi":"10.1111/spol.13063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13063","url":null,"abstract":"Between 2022 and 2024, there was no devolved government functioning in Northern Ireland. This protracted absence of government occurred in the aftermath of the Covid‐19 pandemic and during what is arguably the worst economic crisis of recent years. Women are more vulnerable to hardship during economic crisis and thus it is unsurprising that the Cost‐of‐Living Crisis is hitting women hardest. This paper examines increasing food insecurity for women in Northern Ireland and the implications for the realisation of their human right to an adequate standard of living. The UK Government has ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which provides a legal duty to ensure that everyone has adequate access to food. However, increasing numbers of food banks and ill health related to insufficient food intake indicates that there is a fundamental problem. This article draws on 20 focus groups with 250 women on a low‐income to explore their experiences of the Cost‐of‐Living Crisis in Northern Ireland. The research found that women routinely skipped meals; described feelings of shame and guilt associated with struggling to feed their children; and discussed difficulties associated with purchasing food. Much of the pain associated with the hunger experienced by these women and children is hidden within the private sphere of the home. This article intends to shine a light on women's experiences and will reflect on the necessary policy change required to ensure compliance with international human rights obligations.","PeriodicalId":47858,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141745301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ludovica Gambaro, Clara Schäper, C. Katharina Spiess
Informal childcare care by grandparents, other relatives or friends is an important source of support in many Western countries, including Germany. Yet the role of this type of care is often overlooked in accounts of social policies supporting families with children, which tend to focus on formal childcare. This article examines whether the large formal childcare expansion occurring in Germany in the last two decades has been accompanied by similar or opposite trends in informal childcare usage. It argues that accounting for both formal and informal childcare can offer a more accurate assessment of defamilisation effects of family policies. Drawing on representative data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel the analysis identifies long‐run developments of childcare arrangements for children aged 1–10 between 1997 and 2020, offering for the first time a comprehensive picture of how families with children of different ages mix informal care and service provision. Results show that on average the expansion of formal childcare was not associated with an equal reduction in informal childcare, lending little support to the crowding‐out hypothesis. Further analyses distinguishing between population groups with different propensity to use formal childcare reveal, unexpectedly, remarkable similarities in the use of informal care throughout the period examined. The only exception are families with a migrant background, who tend to use informal childcare less than their counterparts. The general trend is, however, one whereby informal and formal care are increasingly combined.
{"title":"Crowded‐out? Changes in informal childcare during the expansion of formal services in Germany","authors":"Ludovica Gambaro, Clara Schäper, C. Katharina Spiess","doi":"10.1111/spol.13067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13067","url":null,"abstract":"Informal childcare care by grandparents, other relatives or friends is an important source of support in many Western countries, including Germany. Yet the role of this type of care is often overlooked in accounts of social policies supporting families with children, which tend to focus on formal childcare. This article examines whether the large formal childcare expansion occurring in Germany in the last two decades has been accompanied by similar or opposite trends in informal childcare usage. It argues that accounting for both formal and informal childcare can offer a more accurate assessment of defamilisation effects of family policies. Drawing on representative data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel the analysis identifies long‐run developments of childcare arrangements for children aged 1–10 between 1997 and 2020, offering for the first time a comprehensive picture of how families with children of different ages mix informal care and service provision. Results show that on average the expansion of formal childcare was not associated with an equal reduction in informal childcare, lending little support to the crowding‐out hypothesis. Further analyses distinguishing between population groups with different propensity to use formal childcare reveal, unexpectedly, remarkable similarities in the use of informal care throughout the period examined. The only exception are families with a migrant background, who tend to use informal childcare less than their counterparts. The general trend is, however, one whereby informal and formal care are increasingly combined.","PeriodicalId":47858,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141745299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Morven G. McEachern, Basma Ellahi, D. L. Muzahid Khan
Food insecurity is acknowledged as a key social determinant of health among older adults. Despite recording significantly higher levels of poverty in comparison to white ethnic groups, older individuals from ethnic minorities are under‐represented as recipients of food aid. Thus, there are knowledge gaps in our understanding of older people and their experiences of food insecurity within ethnic minority communities. Through the theoretical lens of Individual and Community Resilience, we empirically advance our understanding of food security and resilience within South Asian communities via in‐depth interviews with community stakeholders and older individuals from Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities across the Greater Manchester region. Our findings reveal that the integration of temporal, environmental and social constructs within a resilience framework reveals significant potential for further negative social, cultural and economic impact on older ethnic minorities in the future, especially as current food support services do not appear to cater for ethnic dietary preferences, language accessibility and/or cultural norms regarding asking for help/charity outside the home. We predict therefore, in combination with the identified persistent stressors, that food insecurity issues within older ethnic minority communities are likely to get much worse, resulting in the need for extensive resilient capacities to cope with future cost‐of‐living challenges. In acknowledging previous limitations within previous resilience frameworks, we propose an incremental contribution to theory and conclude by identifying culturally and operationally appropriate food support system approaches, which can be used to address the increasing prevalence of “silent poverty” within ethnic minority communities.
{"title":"Food insecurity: The resilient, but “silent poverty” perspectives of older ethnic minority individuals within UK communities","authors":"Morven G. McEachern, Basma Ellahi, D. L. Muzahid Khan","doi":"10.1111/spol.13064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13064","url":null,"abstract":"Food insecurity is acknowledged as a key social determinant of health among older adults. Despite recording significantly higher levels of poverty in comparison to white ethnic groups, older individuals from ethnic minorities are under‐represented as recipients of food aid. Thus, there are knowledge gaps in our understanding of older people and their experiences of food insecurity within ethnic minority communities. Through the theoretical lens of Individual and Community Resilience, we empirically advance our understanding of food security and resilience within South Asian communities via in‐depth interviews with community stakeholders and older individuals from Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities across the Greater Manchester region. Our findings reveal that the integration of temporal, environmental and social constructs within a resilience framework reveals significant potential for further negative social, cultural and economic impact on older ethnic minorities in the future, especially as current food support services do not appear to cater for ethnic dietary preferences, language accessibility and/or cultural norms regarding asking for help/charity outside the home. We predict therefore, in combination with the identified <jats:italic>persistent stressors</jats:italic>, that food insecurity issues within older ethnic minority communities are likely to get much worse, resulting in the need for extensive resilient capacities to cope with future cost‐of‐living challenges. In acknowledging previous limitations within previous resilience frameworks, we propose an incremental contribution to theory and conclude by identifying culturally and operationally appropriate food support system approaches, which can be used to address the increasing prevalence of “silent poverty” within ethnic minority communities.","PeriodicalId":47858,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141745300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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