Social policy is often disparaged as being a burden on society, but this book attempts to show that well-designed social protection can be an asset that is critical for sustaining social development. It maintains that to fulfill that potential, however, social protection now needs to recognize...

Growing Unequal? brings together a range of analyses on the distribution of economic resources in OECD countries. The evidence on income distribution and poverty covers, for the first time, all 30 OECD countries in the mid-2000s, while information on trends extending back to the mid-1980s is...

Social policy is often disparaged as being a burden on society, but this book shows that well-designed social protection can be an asset that is critical for sustaining social development. To fulfill its potential, however, social protection now needs to recognise new needs of individuals and...

The global financial and economic crisis beginning in 2008 has highlighted and reinforced the need for effective social protection mechanisms that prevent households from falling into poverty while also being sustainable, thus helping families to improve their earnings permanently. Meanwhile,...

The Russian Federation faces important economic and social challenges. By 1998 national income was little more than half its level in 1990. Life expectancy for men is now about 61 years, compared to 65 years a decade ago. The rate of suicide and self-inflicted injuries is more than three times...

Governments in developed countries have long used, directly or indirectly through their tax systems, policies that subsidise or otherwise encourage the population at large to acquire assets such as financial savings, home ownership, retirement funds, education (human capital) or business...