Diminishing Welfare: A Cross-National Study of Social Provision

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Compares the nature and extent of changes in social welfare programs and labor markets in nine industrialized countries. Particularly in the 1990s, social welfare programs have been cut back in a number of countries. Indeed, the phrases "ending welfare as we know it" or "dismantling the welfare state" have been used to describe this trend. In this analysis by well-recognized social welfare scholars, the nature and extent of changes in social welfare programs in key industrial or post-industrial countries is scrutinizeo. Determining if and how social welfare and employment prospects have been cut back in the United States, Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Japan helps to identify the population groups hardest hit by cutback. In the United States, for example, poor, single-mother families have suffered major reductions in income support, while more powerful groups have avoided major losses. This cross-national study not only sheds light on general trends in social welfare but also provides clues to what constitutes successful reform and what has failed. This major comparative analysis will be of interest to scholars, students, policy makers, and professionals as well as the general public concerned with social welfare issues, full employment, poverty, and economic inequality.

Reviews

"An indispensable resource for social policy researchers and teachers. It shows, in well-documented detail, how safety nets for the elderly, families, and children, are on a steady decline in much of the Western world."-Leon Ginsberg Carolina Distinguished Professor College of Social Work University of South Carolina
"Diminishing Welfare offers an inspired choice of comparisons about different countries' social provision. It transcends the standard tripartite division of social democratic, conservative, and "liberal"(the meanest) welfare states.t is a marvellous resource for students of many disciplines."-Jocelyn Pixley Senior Lecturer School of Sociology The University of New South Wales
"The editors of Diminishing Welfare, Gertrude Schaffner and Marguerite G. Rosenthal, have assembled a fine array of comprehensive but accessible and interesting studies on the fate of the welfare state in nine nations, spanning three continents. This book will be an asset to intellectual and political debates on the future of the welfare state and an invaluable tool for courses in social policy, social work, political sociology, social inequality, and political science, among others. The introductory chapter, covering the stages of emergence, growth and crisis, and a concluding essay reviewing major themes, issues and theoretical perspective and providing a bibliography of key works in the social policy field makes this book particularly useful for both graduate and undergraduate students."-Gregg M. Olsen Sociology University of Manitoba Canada author of The Politics of the Welfare State: Canada, Sweden and the United States
"This systematic analysis of welfare state retrenchment will spur debates. This is an indispensable and comprehensive work. It sets the stage for 21st century model building to promote economic and social justice."-Katharine Briar-Lawson School of Social Welfare State University of New York at Albany
[t]his is a fine collection of case studies by contributors, many of whom are recognized as experts in their areas. The case studies provide very useful summaries of developments in the individual countries and good starting points for students or researchers interested in more in-depth study. The concluding chapter provides not only a synthesis of the ideas, but also raises some important issues in welfare state development.-American Journal of Sociology
Diminishing Welfare is guaranteed a place in the literature on welfare state change and transformation.-Politics, Social Movements and The State
In addition to the cogent assessment of the question posed by the title, the work is recommended for the wealth of detail that forms a veritable compendium of social legislative history within the countries discussed....Whether rising costs are viewed as a problem within the welfare state or an attack on the institution itself remains to be seen. This collection marshals substantial evidence for a knowledgeable debate on the topic.-Social Service Review
Scrutinizes the nature and extent of changes in social welfare programmes in key industrial or postindustrial countries. Adopting a cross-national perspective, not only sheds light on general trends in social welfare but also provides explanations for the successes and failures of reform.-International Socail Society Review
This book should be read by anyone interested in the changes taking place in social welfare policies and services, particularly in the so-called 'welfare states'. It is also relevant to anyone interested in the political and economic trends influencing those changes, as well as in at least one major perspective concerning the possible future of global social provision. The introductory chapter by Goldberg is itself worth the price of the book....This is not a happy book, but it is an important one for anyone involved in or even concerned about the present state of social provision in industrial countries, how it got where it is, the directions in which it seems to be headed, and what might be done.-Jounral of Sociology and Social Welfare
[p]rodigious and important.- Monthly Labor Review
[p]rodigious and important.-Monthly Labor Review
[p]rodigious and important.Monthly Labor Review
"prodigious and important."-Monthly Labor Review
"this is a fine collection of case studies by contributors, many of whom are recognized as experts in their areas. The case studies provide very useful summaries of developments in the individual countries and good starting points for students or researchers interested in more in-depth study. The concluding chapter provides not only a synthesis of the ideas, but also raises some important issues in welfare state development."-American Journal of Sociology
"[p]rodigious and important."-Monthly Labor Review
"[t]his is a fine collection of case studies by contributors, many of whom are recognized as experts in their areas. The case studies provide very useful summaries of developments in the individual countries and good starting points for students or researchers interested in more in-depth study. The concluding chapter provides not only a synthesis of the ideas, but also raises some important issues in welfare state development."-American Journal of Sociology
"Diminishing Welfare is guaranteed a place in the literature on welfare state change and transformation."-Politics, Social Movements and The State
"In addition to the cogent assessment of the question posed by the title, the work is recommended for the wealth of detail that forms a veritable compendium of social legislative history within the countries discussed....Whether rising costs are viewed as a problem within the welfare state or an attack on the institution itself remains to be seen. This collection marshals substantial evidence for a knowledgeable debate on the topic."-Social Service Review
"Scrutinizes the nature and extent of changes in social welfare programmes in key industrial or postindustrial countries. Adopting a cross-national perspective, not only sheds light on general trends in social welfare but also provides explanations for the successes and failures of reform."-International Socail Society Review
"This book should be read by anyone interested in the changes taking place in social welfare policies and services, particularly in the so-called 'welfare states'. It is also relevant to anyone interested in the political and economic trends influencing those changes, as well as in at least one major perspective concerning the possible future of global social provision. The introductory chapter by Goldberg is itself worth the price of the book....This is not a happy book, but it is an important one for anyone involved in or even concerned about the present state of social provision in industrial countries, how it got where it is, the directions in which it seems to be headed, and what might be done."-Jounral of Sociology and Social Welfare

Author Bio

GERTRUDE SCHAFFNER GOLDBERG is Professor of Social Policy, Adelphi University School of Social Work, and was for a number of years the director of its Center for Social Policy. Professor Goldberg has published widely on issues of public assistance, the feminization of poverty, comparative social-welfare systems, and social administration. Among her earlier books is The Feminization of Poverty: Only in America (Praeger, 1990) and Washington's New Poor Law: Welfare Reform and the Roads Not Taken: 1935 to the Present. MARGUERITE G. ROSENTHAL is Professor of Social Policy, School of Social Work, Salem State College. Her previously published works are on the Swedish welfare state, juvenile delinquency policy, and privatization.