The purpose of this study is to examine the institutional development of means-tested benefits over the last four decades in a comparative perspective. The countries included in the study are Canada, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Untied States. Since a main objective of...

Great strides have been made in reducing poverty amongst the elderly in most rich countries over the past forty years. But pensioner poverty has not been eradicated, especially in the English-speaking nations. Poverty rates amongst older women are much higher than those for older men and much...

Children experience a higher poverty rate in the U.S. than in most comparable nations a poverty gap traceable to international differences in income redistribution across households rather than to market earnings. Using Luxembourg Income Study data, we find that child poverty rates are higher in...

Social vulnerability due to insufficient income and earnings may come from many sources, both demographic and economic, in a globalizing world. This paper examines the problems of population aging, low wages, growing inequality, and insufficient social spending. Vulnerable groups such as...

Working-age Americans work longer hours than adults in other industrialized countries. At the same time, the United States. has one of the least equal income distributions of any rich country. This paper provides a cross-national analysis of the impact of the exceptional U.S. income distribution...

This chapter compares Canadian policies for families with children under the age of three with policies available in eight other affluent countries (Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, the UK, and the US), three from each of Esping-Andersen's 'three worlds' of welfare capitalism....

We analyze trends in the age of economic independence in six industrialized countries, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The paper compares trends in the household living arrangements, employment rates, earnings levels, and net incomes as young adults...

This study explores the plausibility of extending research on income inequality to incorporate relative living standards based on household head's industry of employment. Data from the Luxembourg Income Study is used to assess the relative level and movement of per capita disposable household...

This paper employs Luxembourg Income Study data for women in five industrialized countries to answer the following questions: Do family gaps in women's wage vary across levels of education? Does educational attainment help to 'insure' a woman against child wage penalties? Cross-national analysis...