Residual Welfare State Research Articles

Confucian Familialism and the Crisis of Care

Abstract This paper critically examines Confucian proposals for social welfare espoused by contemporary Confucian moral and political theorists, who promote a familialist, residual welfare state in which welfare provision should be the family's primary responsibility and public assistance be a last resort only available to the poor without family support. By investigating the situation in South Korea, a country whose welfare system bears a striking resemblance to the Confucian ideal, I argue that the Confucian scheme is inherently flawed. It considers poverty to be a personal failure, idealizes the family as a single unity of common interest free from power hierarchies, and lacks knowledge about social reproduction. Their proposal in actuality humiliates and excludes disadvantaged and marginalized people from social protection, abdicates the state's responsibility for the well-being of citizens, and colludes with capitalism in free riding on women's unpaid labor.

The four global worlds of welfare capitalism: Institutional, neoliberal, populist and residual welfare state regimes

What welfare state regimes are observed when the analysis is extended globally, empirically and theoretically? We introduce a novel perspective into the ‘welfare state regimes analyses’ – a perspective that brings developed and developing countries together and, as such, broadens the geographical, empirical and theoretical scope of the ‘welfare modelling business’. The expanding welfare regimes literature has suffered from several drawbacks: (i) it is radically slanted towards organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) countries, (ii) the literature on non-OECD countries does not use genuine welfare policy variables and (iii) social assistance and healthcare programmes are not utilized as components of welfare state effort and generosity. To overcome these limitations, we employ advanced data reduction methods, exploit an original dataset ( https://glow.ku.edu.tr/ ) that we assembled from several international and domestic sources covering 52 emerging markets and OECD countries and present a welfare state regime structure as of the mid-2010s. Our analysis is based on genuine welfare policy variables that are theorized to capture welfare generosity and welfare efforts across five major policy domains: old-age pensions, sickness cash benefits, unemployment insurance, social assistance and healthcare. The sample of OECD countries and emerging market economies form four distinct welfare state regime clusters: institutional, neoliberal, populist and residual. We unveil the composition and performance of welfare state components in each welfare state regime family and develop politics-based working hypotheses about the formation of these regimes. Institutional welfare state regimes perform high in social security, healthcare and social assistance, while populist regimes perform moderately in social assistance and healthcare and moderate-to-high in social security. The neoliberal regime performs moderately in social assistance and healthcare, and it performs low in social security, and the residual regime performs low in all components. We then hypothesize that the relative political strengths of formal and informal working classes are key factors that shaped these welfare state regime typologies.

Mujeres trabajadoras en Japón: perspectivas institucionales, demográficas y jurídicas de la desigualdad laboral

Este artículo se propone revisar la situación laboral de la mujer en Japón a partir de cuatro componentes: los antecedentes —a partir de la construcción de la familia tradicional y el papel de la mujer en ésta—, el diseño institucional —conforme con el Estado de bienestar residual denominado “familismo”—, la coyuntura demográfica —implicando una baja tasa de natalidad y segregación laboral— y el marco jurídico —compuesto por normas ineficaces e incoercibles—. Después de la revisión propuesta, se argumentará que los cambios en legislación y políticas públicas para alcanzar la igualdad laboral en Japón son y seguirán siendo insuficientes si no toman en cuenta los cuatro componentes en su conjunto. Finalmente, se esbozarán algunas perspectivas de solución y posibles escenarios para el futuro próximo.

The Formative History of the Residual Welfare State in Japan

The Formative History of the Residual Welfare State in Japan

Between the Invisible hand and the Invisible Heart. Italian Welfare Restructuring and the Quest for a New Neoliberal Hegemony

The article looks at the current restructuring of Italian Welfare putting it into perspective with both the structural contradictions of contemporary capitalism and the more contingent and specific condi-tions of contemporary Italy. Relying on the approach taken by the political economy of the Welfare State, the variegated neoliberalization studies and the concept of referentiel, the process is considered and ana-lysed both in its semiotic and material elements. Looking at the transformations of the key-actors in the pre-crisis Welfare Mix arrangement, an on-going entrepreneurial and financial change is identified, open-ing the door to two, complementary, scenarios: a smart-utopia private Welfare one for those able to pay and a repressive residual Welfare state for the poor.

Public Attitudes towards Income Redistribution: Evidence from Hong Kong

AbstractThe drivers of public support for redistributive policy have stimulated academic debate around the world. The majority of studies use cross‐country surveys conducted in the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development countries to contribute to the debate on whether self‐interest or social values have more influence on public attitudes towards redistribution. Drawing on a phone survey conducted in 2013, this study advances the discussion by investigating public attitudes towards redistribution and social policy changes against the backdrop of buoyant government revenues in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong welfare model, best seen as a parallel to the liberal welfare state, is selective and residual. Contrary to the usual assumption, the social values hypothesis, viewing poverty as societal problems instead of individual reasons, has been supported in the Hong Kong context. It lends support to greater redistribution in a residual welfare state. The policy implications of the findings are also discussed.

Protecting Children from Maltreatment in the United States

The U.S., known as a western industrialized country with a residual welfare state, has developed a system to respond to extreme family difficulties by focusing narrowly on children’s safety and risk of harm from parents or other caregivers. In contrast to many European nations, eligibility for family services is highly restricted and prevention services are typically short-term. For children who are ultimately separated from their parents to secure their safety, the U.S. welfare system places a high priority on returning children home as quickly as possible; and for those children whose reunification is forestalled, alternative opportunities for a permanent home are pursued. This paper suggests that a family system with broader eligibility and more saturated prevention services might benefit many more children and families than those currently assisted in the U.S. today.

Single Mothers, Work(fare), and Managed Precariousness

Welfare-to-work initiatives represent a trenchant example of the expansion of the rules and norms of global capitalism and welfare residualism. A study of the everyday experiences of women who parent alone, this article is a case analysis of the residual welfare state as it functions according to the gendered and racialized logic of the market. I examine lone mothers' experiences of the design, delivery, and enforcement of workfare in Ontario, Canada. Specific attention is given to the operation of random and limiting employment-preparation programs; ambiguous and complex regulations; capricious and punitive service delivery; and managed precariousness. I conclude with a discussion of the ways in which women cope and resist, and a challenge to social service providers and policy makers.

The UK as a Third Way: The US Model with a Human Face?

In most of the literature on varieties of capitalism and welfare states as well as within the public policy debates in Europe, the UK is constantly classified alongside the US; the two countries are taken to represent both the so-called Anglo-Saxon liberal market economy model (Hall and Soskice 2001) in contrast to the coordinated market economy and, in welfare state comparisons, the residual welfare state in contrast to social democratic or conservative corporate welfare states (Esping-Andersen 1990). Within the policy debates in Europe the choices are often presented as between following the American or the European social model (for review see Hopkin and Wincott 2006), representing some combination of the social democratic and conservative corporate varieties. Comparative research design often involves comparisons between an example from the selection of liberal market economies against an example or two, chosen from the presumed wider range of coordinated market economy or social democratic/corporate social models. It is rare for comparative research to address in any detail the differences between the liberal market economies or the so-called residual welfare states.

Social inequality in health: Dichotomy or gradient?: A comparative study of problematizations in national public health programmes

Recent public health programmes from four countries: Denmark, England, Norway, and Sweden, are studied to analyse how social inequality in health is described, explained and suggested to be tackled, i.e., the problematization or the discursive process whereby the issue is framed and made accessible to political action. Social inequality in health is defined in these programmes both as a disadvantaged minority with major health problems, in contrast to the rest of the population, i.e., as a dichotomy; and as a gradient in which health problems are seen as increasing with lower social class or educational level. The causes of health inequality are identified as behaviour, social relations and underlying social structures. Policies aimed at reducing health inequality can be characterized as either in accordance with a residual welfare state model, targeting the disadvantaged, or a universal model, addressing the whole population. All countries have policies that are mixtures of these problematizations, but with some systematic differences between the countries. In this field England resembles the Scandinavian countries, as much as they resemble each other dispelling the idea of a Nordic or Scandinavian welfare state model.

Welfare restructuring in Asian newly industrialised countries: a comparison of Hong Kong and Singapore

English This article studies the patterns of welfare restructuring in Asian newly industrialised countries (NICs) in reaction to economic globalisation and socioeconomic change through a comparative study of Hong Kong and Singapore. It argues that Hong Kong has gone through a budget-driven restructuring resulting in the retrenchment of its residual welfare state, while Singapore has undergone a policy-driven restructuring that aims to consolidate the state regulation of the welfare society. The difference in the patterns of restructuring is found to be related to state strength, electoral politics, interest group politics, the production system and the pre-existing institutional arrangement of social programmes. The findings illustrate the characteristics of welfare restructuring in Asian authoritarian NICs.

The Renegotiation of the Social Pact in Hong Kong: Economic Globalisation, Socio-economic Change, and Local Politics

This article discusses the politics of social policy development in Hong Kong following the Asian financial crisis. It examines the cause, mode and political significance of social policy reform in an Asian late industrialiser that has been experiencing the twin pressures of economic globalisation and socio-economic change. Financial austerity has prompted the state to adopt social policy reforms through re-commodification and cost containment, resulting in the retrenchment of the residual welfare state. The state's policy choices are structured by local politics, including the state of political development and the path dependence nature of policy change. The article questions the effectiveness of the social authoritarian approaches adopted by the state in attempting to renegotiate the social pact with its citizens, and contends that progressive development in social policy is inevitably bound to democratisation.

Caring for the poor versus degrading the poor – the case of Hong Kong newspaper charity

This study examined how Hong Kong newspapers constructed charity and what the implications were for Hong Kong's residual welfare state. The Oriental Daily (OD) and the Apple Daily (AD), the two most popular newspapers, with over 50 per cent of Hong Kong's newspaper market, were selected as the objects of study. A total of 155 cases were collected from the social service columns of these two newspapers between 1 August and 31 October 2000. The study found that poor physical health and ‘incomplete family patterns’ were the criteria used to verify the recipients’ dependency, which also formed the basis for charitable welfare entitlements. Moreover, an extremely unequal social status was produced between donors and recipients. The former were accorded high social recognition for their charitable contributions whereas the latter were presented as being desperate, weak and helpless people. In addition, four categories of needs were identified; tradition‐oriented needs, emergency assistance, basic material assistance and basic health needs. The study concluded that Hong Kong newspaper charity has helped to consolidate the basis for a residual welfare state. It also revealed that charity was mainly able to deal only with short‐term and specific needs at a particular point in time. More importantly, it was found that a code of practice is needed for journalists involved in charitable activities in order to safeguard the dignity of recipients.

Pro-Market, Non-Market: The Dual Nature of Organizational Change in Social Services Delivery

New Public Management (NPM) has been adopted in a number of Canadian provinces. NPM is not merely a set of neutral and technical public management strategies, rather it is part of the creation of a minimalist, residual welfare state criss-crossed by pro-market, non-market practices. Drawing on themes emerging from original data gathered as part of a study of social service restructuring, this article elaborates some of the pro-market, non-market processes that dominate state-run and non-profit sections of the Canadian social services sector. Special attention is paid to two processes that have had unexpected but major impacts on the deskilling, disciplining and narrowing of social services work, namely the mandatory licensure and specialization of some workers.

Protecting the ageing poor or strengthening the market economy: the case of the Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund

The Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) launched by the Hong Kong government seems to be a residual welfare state's strategy to cope with an ageing population and, at the same time, preserve a minimal welfare state and further enhance economic development. The MPF can only provide limited protection for a limited number of employees; many older people still have to depend on financial support from their families or have to work. On the other hand, the MPF immediately boosts the economy by creating more jobs for the financial services sector and by providing more business opportunities for banks and insurance companies. Thus, the MPF has consolidated the foundation of Hong Kong's capitalism by socialising and incorporating the whole working population in the market economy but has provided little protection for their old age.

Welfare Policies and the Construction of Welfare Relations in a Residual Welfare State: The Case of Hong Kong

Each welfare system has its own welfare relations for shaping and maintaining certain types of welfare practices and welfare ideologies. Welfare relations concern the distribution of welfare responsibilities among various social institutions, the public’s welfare expectations and entitlements, and the status of welfare recipients. Welfare policies, which are a legal basis of the dominant class’s philosophy as well as a mechanism for policing welfare recipients’ use of benefits, play an important role in shaping and constructing the welfare relations of a country. This paper discusses how welfare policies construct the required welfare relations with regard to Hong Kong’s social security system. It is argued that the persistence of Hong Kong's residual welfare model is partly based on the residual welfare relations which facilitate family‐centred and market‐oriented welfare practices.

Multicultural Community Organizing: A Strategy for Change

The literature on social work practice in the 21st century depicts a grim picture. Demographic projections suggest growth in three populations disproportionately affected by poverty: single-parent families, older people, and people of color (Murdock & Michael, 1996). Projections suggest that income inequality will grow as the movement to reduce government spending leads to decreased federal responsibility and a decentralized, residual welfare state (DiNitto, 1996; Hasenfeld, 1996; Murdock & Michael, 1996). Therefore, the need for human services will increase while resources are eliminated; social work practice will become privatized and focused on methods of serving increasing numbers of people from diverse backgrounds in a context of limited resources (Hasenfeld, 1996). This future vision of a reactive social work profession adapting to a situation of increasing injustice is chilling. Gaining perspective on these trends can provide a vision for proactive practice, policy, education, and research that can fulfill the profession's mission and purpose. What alternatives exist for those committed to increasing social justice and access to needed social supports? An alternative perspective can be developed from studying how social workers can affect these larger trends. By improving the lives of single-parent families, older people, and people of color, social workers can reduce inequality and the need for increased services. This reduction requires developing effective methods for working with diverse communities to influence policy and practice. The scholarship on the future of social work practice has not adequately focused on the implications of these trends for community practice (Raffoul & McNeece, 1996). The increasing shift from federal to local administration of social welfare services suggests greater power for local communities in resource allocation and a significant role for community practitioners in the evolving welfare state. However, the growing ethnic, cultural, and racial diversity of society presents a challenge for community workers. Skills for working in a multicultural environment are important if communities are to be well represented in the planning process. This article identifies how multicultural organizing can help improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities. A literature review on multicultural community practice identifies its dimensions, scope, and methods. Ways in which multicultural organizing can be pivotal for affecting positive change are discussed. Multicultural Perspective on Community Practice Community organization methods are designed to create social environments that support social justice through influencing policies, developing programs, or governing locally. Although the target of change is the community, the forum for change can be individuals, families, groups, or organizations. Organizers emphasize the importance of individual contact in building community change efforts (Burghardt, 1982; Staples, 1984). These contacts can lead to the development of social action organizations that can influence policy affecting economic and social institutions. Community change efforts can range from short and focused activities such as public hearings to long and sustained projects such as the development of alternative services (Kettner, Daley, & Nichols, 1985; Mondros & Wilson, 1994). The concept of social justice is central to the practice of community organizing. Social justice refers to equity, equality, and fairness in the distribution of societal resources (Flynn, 1995). Social justice includes a focus on the structures and outcomes of social processes and how they contribute to equality, places explicit value on achieving social equity through democratic processes, and assumes that the social work role is to develop policy and practice that contribute to these goals (Flynn, 1995; Van Soest, 1994). Although community organizers may work toward local or short-term goals, the overall goal is social justice and social equality. …