Department Of Social Security Research Articles

Tax incentives and firm social insurance contributions: Evidence from China

Tax incentives are closely related to employees' income. The relationship between tax incentives and firm social insurance contributions is underexplored in existing literature. We construct a theoretical model to portray the impact of tax incentives on firm social security contributions and use China's accelerated depreciation policy for fixed assets (AD reform) to test it empirically. We find that the tax incentives effectively increase the social security contributions of firms. This effect is more pronounced in large firms, firms with high capital intensity, firms with strong bargaining power of employees, and firms with social security contributions levied by the social security department. Moreover, the AD reform promotes improvements in firm productivity and performance by increasing investment in machinery and equipment, increasing the rents shared by firms with employees, and thus indirectly boosting firms' social security contributions. Overall, Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of rent-sharing between firms and employees, as well as enhancing our understanding of the effective incidence of taxes in less developed regions.

Is ambiguity a source of inequity? Nominalization in sustaining and effacing power asymmetries

This article explores the tendency to nominalization in legal discourse from different perspectives, underscoring arguments from the field of critical discourse analysis (in particular, those related to the detrimental consequences that omitting the agent may entail), and offers a qualitative case study regarding the use of nouns in the informative texts given by the Spanish Social Security department on its web about a minimum wage benefit scheme. For this case study, we have used the framework proposed by Willerton (2015) involving his BUROC model, aimed at identifying the circumstances in which plain language should be a priority. As an answer to the question posed in the title of this article, the findings suggest that excessive nominalization harms the lay reader’s ability to comprehend and, as a result, places him or her in a disadvantageous position in legal settings; however, the results also indicate that it is the writer’s overall lack of empathy towards the reader which ultimately has the most negative impact on legal communication.

‘Fully Diagnosed, Fully Stabilised and Fully Treated’: Succeeding in a Claim for a Disability Support Pension in Australia for Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain

In 2019, Ms Natasha Thomson won an application for a disability support pension (DSP) under the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) before the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). Ms Thomson was taken to the AAT by the Department of Social Security when it appealed a decision of the AAT’s Social Services and Child Support Division. Ms Thomson is the only applicant with chronic pelvic pain and likely endometriosis that has succeeded in her claim for a DSP before the Tribunal since 2005. Endometriosis is an inflammatory condition characterised by endometrial-like tissue growing outside the uterus, which can result in pain and adhesions. It commonly grows on the pelvic organs and peritoneum but has been found in other parts of the body, such as the lungs, diaphragm, kidney and navel. There is no cure at present. Long-term management is required using medical and/or surgical treatment, both of which focus on alleviating symptoms. In this article, I consider the AAT’s determinations and set out what applicants, their legal representatives and their treating doctors can learn from the cases on applicants for a DSP with endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain.

ПЕРВИЧНАЯ ИНВАЛИДНОСТЬ ВЗРОСЛОГО НАСЕЛЕНИЯ ВСЛЕДСТВИЕ ЦЕРЕБРОВАСКУЛЯРНЫХ БОЛЕЗНЕЙ СРЕДИ ГОРОДСКИХ И СЕЛЬСКИХ ЖИТЕЛЕЙ В УДМУРТСКОЙ РЕСПУБЛИКЕ ЗА 2017 – 2019 ГГ. И ЕЁ ДИНАМИКА В ПЕРИОД ПАНДЕМИИ COVID-19 В 2019 – 2021 ГГ.

Significance. Vascular diseases of the brain top the structure of total mortality and disability in Russia and, therefore, are considered the most important medical and social problem. The purpose of the study was to analyze statistical data on primary disability due to cerebrovascular diseases in the Udmurt Republic. Material and methods. The study used the following data: parameters of the Unified Automated Vertically Integrated Information Analysis System for Medical and Social Assessment of the General Bureau of Medical-Social Assessment of the Udmurt Republic of the Russian Ministry of Labor on the contingent of newly identified as primary disabled due to cerebrovascular diseases; Federal State Statistical Observation Form No. 7 (social security department) in the Udmurt Republic in 2017–2021; and official statistical data of the General Bureau of Medical-Social Assessment of the Udmurt Republic of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation. The data were extracted from medical records, the study also used descriptive statistics, calculations of extensive and intensive parameters, analytical analysis, and comparative analysis. Results. Within the analyzed 5-year period (2017–2021), primary disability due to cerebrovascular diseases ranks first in the structure of circulatory diseases and generally equals to 48.3%, with an upward trend from 45.4% in 2017 to 51.5% in 2021. The Udmurt Republic has a lower level of primary disability due to cerebrovascular diseases than the Russian average and the Volga Federal District. A high disability rate among older people in the Udmurt Republic adds to 13.8 per 10,000 population, in general. Males dominate among the disabled, with a trend towards increasing from 59.8% in 2017 to 66.1% in 2021. The third-degree disability is the most common type of primary disability due to cerebrovascular diseases equaling to 39.9% in general. Conclusion. Primary disability due to cerebrovascular diseases ranks first in the structure of disability due to circulatory diseases in the Udmurt Republic in 2017–2021. The age structure of the patients studied is dominated by the elderly (women ≥55 years and men ≥60 years). In the sex structure of adult population newly identified as primary disabled in the Udmurt Republic in 2017–2021 men dominate (62% in general). In terms of disability severity, the third-degree disability prevails. Urban patients are dominant. The consequences of ischemic stroke lead in primary disability due to cerebrovascular pathology (73.0%). The main persistent functional disorders leading to disability due to cerebrovascular diseases include persistent neuromuscular, skeletal, and motor (static and dynamic) disorders. From 2017 to 2019, there was an almost 2-fold increase in the number patients with cerebrovascular diseases not recognized as disabled - from 4.8% in 2017 to 8.5% in 2019, which may be due to incomplete necessary diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitation measures and ungrounded referrals for disability examination. From 2019 to 2021, the number of citizens with cerebrovascular diseases not recognized as disabled fell from 8.5% in 2019 to 1.7% in 2021; this may be due to improvements in the regulation of disability-related issues and creation of unified approaches to the criteria for referring for disability examination within the framework of interdepartmental cooperation with medical organizations. The decrease in the number of patients with cerebrovascular diseases referred for disability examination may be associated with the COVID-19-induced epidemiological situation and introduction of a number of restrictive measures, including in medical organizations.

Does government institutional reform deter corporate tax evasion? Evidence from China.

Exploiting the quasi-natural experiment of the social insurance collection system reform implemented in China in 2000, based on data from China's industrial enterprise database from 1998 to 2006, we use the difference-in-differences method to test the impact of changing the social insurance collection institution on corporate tax evasion. We find that changing the social insurance collection institution from the social security department to the local tax department significantly deters corporate tax evasion. A series of robustness tests also support this conclusion. The reason is changing the social insurance collection institution to the local tax department increases its' social insurance information of the enterprise, and reduces the information asymmetry between the enterprise and the collection institution. Furthermore, we find that the impact of changing the social insurance collection institution on corporate tax evasion is more evident in the samples of labor-intensive enterprises, low labor cost enterprises, and enterprises under the jurisdiction of the local tax department. These results indicate that government institutional reform is a valid way to reduce the information asymmetry between the government and enterprises, which will finally deter corporate tax evasion.

Features of the legal regulation of the adoption of children by foreigners according to the family legislation of foreign countries

In the scientific article, the author conducted a scientific study of the foreign experience of legal regulation of the adoption of children by foreigners, primarily according to the legislation of the European Union states and states adjacent to Ukraine. Based on the conducted research, the author came to the conclusion that in the practice of states adjacent to Ukraine and states members of the European Union, there are three approaches to determining the procedure for adopting children by foreign citizens: through the definition of a national regime for foreigners, similar to that which exists for citizens of the relevant state (Latvia); through the determination of conflicts of laws with respect to the law applicable to adoption, which are defined in civil codes (Germany, France, Czech Republic) or separate laws on international private law (Spain, Switzerland); due to the establishment of a separate procedure for adoption (Bulgaria, Belarus, Moldova, Ireland) or an exceptional case of adoption of a child by foreigners using the same procedure for adoption, as with national adoption (Poland, Hungary). In the latter case, the possibility of international adoption is provided, if the child, after being transferred to a foster family, was not adopted in the state of his/her citizenship, because the measures taken to adopt the child were not successful, moreover, in Poland, exceptions to this rule are provided when there is a kinship relationship between the adopter and the adopted child or if the adopter has already adopted a brother or sister of the child being adopted. In the Republic of Bulgaria, foreigners wishing to adopt a child must obtain a permit for international adoption from the Minister of Justice, in the Republic of Belarus - in addition to the written permission for adoption from the Minister of Education, it is also necessary to obtain the child's consent for adoption, the child's stay in the relevant register for a year and the absence of an initiative by citizens of Belarus to adopt a child. In the case of international adoption of citizens of the Republic of Moldova, the ethnic origin of the child, his/her belonging to a certain culture, religion, language and other features that deserve attention must be taken into account; persons wishing to adopt a child must submit a special application - for international adoption, to the Ministry of Health, of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Moldova and the Department of Social Security and Protection of Family Rights as territorial guardianship bodies carry out preliminary and final selection of foreigners who wish to adopt a child who is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova.

Legal protection of work environment from risks of smoking

This study investigates the great role played by the state’s public sectors and the state’s private sectors in providing an obligation on the administrations and employers to provide a sound work environment for the workforce in all sectors in purpose of protection from passive smoking that affects workers within. Taking control of matters, implementing the anti-smoking law and introducing the general ban on categories of juveniles and children are important. The law must be imposed on the places specified by the legislator including closed and covered places, public transportation and gas stations, with reliance on educational and health institutions to take the lead in implementing this anti-smoking law, taking into account the privacy of providing places designated for smoking in places where smoking is prohibited. Thus the commitment of the administrations and work owners is an obligation to achieve the result of banning smoking, and considering passive smoking as one of the occupational diseases that cause cancers, and then it deserves compensation from the Social Security Department.

ПЕНСИОННОЕ ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЕ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ АКТЮБИНСКОЙ ОБЛАСТИВ ПОСЛЕВОЕННЫЕ ГОДЫ (1946-1953)

The article deals with the issues of pension provision of the population of Aktobe region in the postwar years. The author of the article relies on the database of sources stored in the State Archive of Aktobe region (SAAR), in the fonds of the Aktobe region department of social security and the region committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. The archival materials allow specifying Stalin's strategy of solving problems of social protection of Soviet citizens in the conditions of post-war devastation and restoration of national economy. The paper reveals the peculiarities of pension provision of post-war population and characterizes its mechanisms in terms of efficiency in solving social problems of the society. The article concludes that in the period under review the pensions of the population were miserable, and for most people it was the only means of survival. Significant improvements in the system of pensions occurred only after the adoption of the Law on State Pensions in 1956.

Does Reduction of Contribution Rate Affect the Sustainability of China’s Basic Endowment Insurance Fund?—Based on the Background of National Pooling and Collection Responsibility Transformation

Sustainability is an urgent issue in the basic endowment insurance system in China. The advancement of the national pooling and the transfer of collection responsibility from the social security department to the taxation department are the policy measures taken to ensure the sustainable development of the endowment insurance system. In this circumstance, this paper discusses the solvency of the national pooling account fund of basic endowment insurance when the enterprise contribution rate drops to 16% by constructing an improved theoretical actuarial model. The conclusion shows that under the national pooling mode of peeling off historical debt and personal account, even if the contribution rate drops to 16%, the basic endowment insurance fund in China will still have strong solvency in the long run. In addition, due to the transfer of the collection responsibility of the basic endowment insurance, the proportion of the actual number of payers to the number of in-service insured will gradually increase to 100%, and the calculation results in this paper show that the bankruptcy scope of China’s basic pension insurance funds will be postponed to the year of 2113. This study enriches the relevant literature and solves a policy concern in the reform of China’s basic endowment insurance system: Does reduction of contribution rate affect the sustainability of the basic endowment insurance system?

Collecting system and payroll tax compliance: Evidence from Chinese firm-level data

Abstract This paper quantifies the impacts of collecting system on social insurance contribution compliance, taking advantage of a reform around 2000 in China. Using firm-level data, we find that the actual contribution rate and the probability of participation were raised by 3% and 5 percentage points respectively, after changing the collection department from social security department to local tax department. Mechanism analyses show that the effect is larger in areas where the tax collection capacity is stronger and the reform had no significant effects on SOEs.

Działania operacyjne Wydziału II Wojewódzkiego Urzędu Spraw Wewnętrznych w Pile w zakresie kontrwywiadowczego zabezpieczenia jednostek wojskowych na podległym terenie w 1988 r.

The article introduces the methodology and workflows, which were used at the end of the 1980s by the Second Division of the communistic Security Service (SB) of the WUSW (Voivodship Office of Internal Affairs in Piła). The Department was responsible for the intelligence protection and security of military facilities in the Pila province. The reader has the opportunity to learn about the scope of activities and methods used by the Second Department on the basis of a secret document entitled: „Assessment of the intelligence threats for the Pila region in year 1988”. The document was prepared on December 15, 1988 by the Head of Second Department WUSW in Piła, cpt. Henryk Wołoszyński, in order to report to her supervisor, Deputy Chief of the Social Security Department for the Security Service in Piła, lt. col. Stanisław Zając. This document is currently stored in the archive of the Institute of National Remembrance (pol. IPN) in Poznań.

Attitudes and Evaluations of Service Receivers (Patients) Of Health Institutions on Patient Rights Practices

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı, hizmet alanlar gözünden ülkemizdeki sağlık hizmetlerinin nasıl algılandığı, yaşanmakta olan sağlık sorunlarını algılamaları, hasta hakları ve sorumlulukları konusundaki bilgi ve farkındalık düzeylerinin algılanması, hasta ve hasta yakınlarının tutum ve davranışlarının değerlendirilmesi ile sağlık hizmetlerinden genel memnuniyet düzeylerinin algılanmasına ilişkin genel bir bilgi toplamaktır. Yöntem: Araştırma bağlamında Sakarya ve İstanbul ilinde Haziran-Temmuz 2019’da bir anket çalışması yürütülmüştür. Saha çalışması kolayda örnekleme yöntemi ile belirlenen gönüllülük esasına dayalı olarak 200 katılımcı üzerinde gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bulgular: Araştırma bulgularına göre, sağlık hizmetlerinde yaşanan sorunlar arasında doktorların ilgisizliği, uzun bekleme süreleri, yanlış teşhis ve tedaviler ile çalışan sayısının yetersizliği öne çıkmaktadır. Katılımcıların cevapları genel olarak ele alındığında sağlık hizmetleriyle ilgili yaşanan sorunları dört boyut altında toplanabileceği gözlenmektedir. Bunları sağlık kurumlarında hizmet kalite duyarlılığı, sağlık çalışanlarının ilgisizliği, hasta hakları farkındalık düzeyi ve hastaların kaba ve saygısız davranışları olarak ifade etmek mümkündür. Ayrıca, hastane seçiminde etkili olan faktörler ile hastanede yaşanan sorunlar demografik özelliklere göre de değişmekte olduğu da araştırma bulguları arasındadır. Sonuç: Sağlık sektörünün bir hizmet sektörü olması sebebiyle, hizmetlerin başarısı ve hasta memnuniyeti açısından insan unsuru kritik önem arz etmektedir. Bu bağlamda tüm sağlık çalışanları (hekim, hemşire, tıbbi sekreter ve diğer görevliler) kadar hasta ve hasta refakatçılarının da hak ve sorumluluklarının bilincinde olacak şekilde davranmak zorundadırlar. Sağlık sisteminin etkin işlemesi sadece hakların bilinmesiyle değil, sorumlulukların da bilinmesi ve yerine getirilmesi ile mümkün olacaktır. Ancak hak ve sorumluluklar konusundaki bilgi ve farkındalık düzeyinin yetersiz olduğunu söylemek yanlış olmayacaktır.

Impact de l’expérimentation de coopération entre médecin généraliste et infirmière Asalée sur l’activité des médecins

Dans de nombreux pays, les politiques et réformes ont explicitement encouragé l’intégration des organisations de soins primaires et la coopération pluri-professionnelle afin d’améliorer l’efficience productive et allocative de l’offre de soins et lutter contre l’inégale répartition géographique des médecins. En France, la Direction de la Sécurité sociale et une association dénommée Asalée (« Action de santé libérale en équipe », depuis 2004) ont mis en place une expérimentation destinée à favoriser l’intégration verticale et le travail en équipe entre médecins généralistes et infirmières par la mise en place de nouveaux modes de rémunération et la formation d’infirmières sélectionnées. Cet article évalue l’extension de cette expérimentation sur la période 2010-2016 en étudiant l’influence de cette coopération, mais aussi de l’organisation et des incitations financières à l’œuvre, sur l’activité des médecins généralistes appréhendée à partir de trois indicateurs : le nombre de jours travaillés, de patients rencontrés (en file active et, parmi eux, ceux inscrits médecin traitant) et d’actes (consultations au cabinet et visites à domicile). Nous contrôlons autant que possible des biais d’endogénéité et de sélection en recourant à un design cas-témoins, selon une méthode d’appariement exact, et des méthodes d’estimation en différence de différences sur données de panel. Dans ce cadre, nous montrons un effet positif du dispositif mais relativement modeste sur le nombre de jours travaillés par les médecins (+1,2 %) et un effet plus marqué sur le nombre de patients rencontrés (+7,55 %) et inscrits médecin traitant (+6,87 %). En revanche, aucun effet significatif n’est mis en évidence sur le nombre de consultations et visites. Codes JEL : C31, C33, I11, J22, L23

No children, no DSS, no students: online adverts and “property guardianship”

PurposeThose seeking a new place to live – especially in the private rented sector – now head online to do so. The platforms they use and adverts they see are an important source of information about the properties they will occupy and how their owners’ seek to project them. This paper aims to argue for the importance of property adverts as a source of data, using “property guardianship” to illustrate the value in the approach.Design/methodology/approachThe study draws on an analysis of 503 advertisements published on SpareRoom.co.uk – a leading property search engine – in July 2018.FindingsThe authors put forward four key areas of findings. The first two look at legal understanding, dealing with the context, the advertisement provides for eventual occupation (the “process of construction”) and any indications they provide of legal elements of occupation (“diagnostics”). The final two deal with the broader positioning of the sector, analysing the practice of excluding prospective occupiers, such as the widespread inclusion of “no Department of Social Security” seen elsewhere in the private rented sector, and how the adverts project a certain lifestyle to their viewer.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings demonstrate that further research into property advertisements would be valuable, particularly into other sub-markets in the private-rented sector, such as student accommodation and “professional” lets.Originality/valueThis study is the only analysis of property guardian advertisements and the first dedicated study of private rented sector advertisements in the UK.

Exploring the Sources of Authority Over the Word Meaning in Transgender Jurisprudence

This paper looks at transgender identities and the law in the context of marriage in common law jurisdictions. It particularly focuses on the nature and sources of authority over word meaning as well as the role of language and definition in classifying transgender individuals into a legal category. When it comes to the legal question of who may marry whom, and what the terms “man” and “woman” actually refer to, there is no statutory definition of the terms “man”, “woman”, “male” and “female”. This has put the onus on judges, especially those who needed to decide whether a transgender person can marry in his/her affirmed sex, to interpret these terms. Two lines of cases in transgender jurisprudence are examined so as to have a close study of how the courts construed these terms and classified transgender people into a category. The first concerns United Kingdom cases, namely Corbett v Corbett (1971), Bellinger v Bellinger (2003) and the Hong Kong case W v Registrar of Marriages (2010), (2011) & (2013). The second consists of Australian cases such as Secretary, Department of Social Security v State Rail Authority (1993) and Re Kevin (2002). This paper discusses these issues by analyzing and comparing different cases in transgender jurisprudence as well as examining how these issues play out in contemporary Hong Kong.

A STUDY ON THE INFLUENCE OF JOB STRESS IN ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS

Today, occupational accidents are considered among the potential threats because of their serious humanitarian, economic, social, and environmental consequences. Occupational accidents and injuries are the third cause of mortality in world and the second one in Iran. In addition, the economic and environmental damages of occupational accidents are catastrophic too.According to International Labor Organization (ILO) report in 1999 the average estimated fatal occupational accident rate was 140/100 000 workers and the number of fatal accidents was 335000. Though the registered number of accidents in Iran cannot be a faultless account of all the accidents happened, but in 2000, about 12000 work related accidents have been registered by the Department of Social Security. Calculations indicated that approximately 345000 fatal occupational accidents occurred in 1998 and that over 260 million occupational accidents causing at least 3 days absence happened in the same year. This work aims to study the relation of occupational stress of workers and the accidents in a rice milling industry. The data was collected using questionnaire. The questionnaire contained 30 questions to measure the perception s of the employees about the management practices. A five point likert scale was used. This was prepared based on review of related literature .The contents of this draft questionnaire were discussed with senior safety professional in the industry. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 software. Descriptive statistics and correlations of the studied variables were first analyzed. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to verify the reliability of the management practices. Regression analysis was conducted to test the goodness of fit of the various models.

Development of a Sustainable Competitive Advantage Model Based On Balanced Scorecard

Nowadays organizations turn to any standard procedure to gain a competitive advantage. If sustainable, competitive advantage can bring about benefit to the organization. The aim of the present study was to introduce competitive advantage as well as to assess the impacts of the balanced scorecard as a means to measure the performance of organizations. The population under study included employees of organizations affiliated to the Social Security Department in North Khorasan Province, of whom a total number of 120 employees were selected as the participants in the research sample. Two researcher-made questionnaires with a 5-point Likert scale were used to measure the competitive advantage and the balanced scorecard. Besides, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to measure the reliability of the instruments that was equal to 0.74 and 0.79 for competitive advantage and the balanced scorecard, respectively. The data analysis was performed using the structural equation modeling and the results indicated the significant and positive impact of the implementation of the balanced scorecard on the sustainable competitive advantage.

Study on optimal model of hypothetical work injury insurance scheme

To explore an optimal model of hypothetical work injury insurance scheme, which is in line with the wishes of workers, based on the problems in the implementation of work injury insurance in China and to provide useful information for relevant policy makers. Multistage cluster sampling was used to select subjects: first, 9 small, medium, and large enterprises were selected from three cities (counties) in Zhejiang Province, China according to the economic development, transportation, and cooperation; then, 31 workshops were randomly selected from the 9 enterprises. Face-to-face interviews were conducted by trained interviewers using a pre-designed questionnaire among all workers in the 31 workshops. After optimization of hypothetical work injury insurance scheme, the willingness to participate in the scheme increased from 73.87%to 80.96%; the average willingness to pay for the scheme increased from 2.21% (51.77 yuan) to 2.38% of monthly wage (54.93 Yuan); the median willingness to pay for the scheme increased from 1% to 1.2% of monthly wage, but decreased from 35 yuan to 30 yuan. The optimal model of hypothetical work injury insurance scheme covers all national and provincial statutory occupational diseases and work accidents, as well as consultations about occupational diseases. The scheme is supposed to be implemented worldwide by the National Social Security Department, without regional differences. The premium is borne by the state, enterprises, and individuals, and an independent insurance fund is kept in the lifetime personal account for each of insured individuals. The premium is not refunded in any event. Compensation for occupational diseases or work accidents is unrelated to the enterprises of the insured workers but related to the length of insurance. The insurance becomes effective one year after enrollment, while it is put into effect immediately after the occupational disease or accident occurs. The optimal model of hypothetical work injury insurance scheme actually realizes cross-regional mobility of workers, minimizes regional differences, and embodies the fairness. The proposed model will, to some extent, protect the rights and interests of enterprises, as well as the healthy rights and interests of workers when they are unemployed.

Mental health system in China: history, recent service reform and future challenges

This paper summarizes the history of the development of Chinese mental health system; the current situation in the mental health field that China has to face in its effort to reform the system, including mental health burden, workforce and resources, as well as structural issues; the process of national mental health service reform, including how it was included into the national public health program, how it began as a training program and then became a treatment and intervention program, its unique training and capacity building model, and its outcomes and impacts; the barriers and challenges of the reform process; future suggestions for policy; and Chinese experiences as response to the international advocacy for the development of mental health.

Poverty in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An Exploratory Study of Poverty and Female-headed Households in Jeddah City

This article reports an exploratory study in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia, which assembled data and information from government and non-governmental organizations about poverty and poverty alleviation policies. A list of poor families which were receiving benefits from the Social Security Department and charitable associations in Jeddah City was constructed, from which female-headed households were identified and classified depending on the circumstances of the female head. The article describes the social, cultural and demographic characteristics of poor female-headed households in Jeddah. The article also uses the results of interviews with 13 poor female heads of households to analyse aspects of their everyday lives. This evidence is used to discuss the ability of the Saudi state's income support system to address poverty as the country undergoes economic and social modernization.