We analyze the impact of the state on the incidence of poverty in the working-age population of 14 advanced capitalist democracies between 1970 and 1997 using an unbalanced panel design. We utilize poverty measures based on micro-level data from the Luxembourg Income Study in conjunction with...

In combating poverty, whether or not to design a universal program or a targeted program has been a perpetual dilemma. The objective of this paper is to conduct an international comparison of the 'universality' and 'targeting' of social security systems. The paper presents an outline of...

This study examines low income in agriculture. It uses microeconomic data and provides an analysis of the incidence of low incomes in farm households compared to other households. Social security policies as they affect agricultural households are described and the impact of taxes and transfers...

The belief that single motherhood is the pre-eminent cause of poverty in America has become a bipartisan cliché. The welfare reform enacted in 1996 was designed, among other things, to discourage single parenthood and to promote marriage. Yet a look at the experiences and policies of other...

This article presents a series of measures of the extent to which social policies in twenty-one OECD countries are oriented towards the support of elderly (over 65 or in formal retirement) and non-elderly (under 65 and not retired) population groups. Employing breakdowns by age in spending on...

This paper presents a social accounting model to examine the entrants, exits and transitions of individuals among a wide range of benefit categories in New Zealand. Transition rates and flows are estimated separately for periods before the global financial crisis (GFC) and periods following the...

This paper examines the simulated labour supply responses to the personal tax and transfer policy changes introduced in New Zealand in 2010, and the implications for revenue and income distribution. The main changes examined are the increase in the GST rate from 12.5 to 15 per cent, along with...

This paper analyzes policy shifts in two core welfare state programs in Germany: old-age pensions and health care. Both programs are prototypes of Bismarckian/conservative program design (benefits are based on occupational and family status; financing is based on payroll contributions, and...

Das Papier widmet sich der Frage, warum ein Reformhandeln in manchen sozialstaatlichen Handlungs-bereichen schwer fällt und Pfadabhängigkeiten nicht überwunden werden. Als wichtige Ursache wird die unzureichende Berücksichtigung spezifischer Adressatengruppen durch Politik und...

Gemessen am Leistungsstand der Schülerinnen und Schüler verharrt die Bildungsarmut in Deutschland auf hohem Niveau. Die Folgen sind ungünstige Einkommens- und Beschäftigungsperspektiven für die Betroffenen sowie hohe fiskalische Kosten und volkswirtschaftliche Wachstumseinbußen aufgrund...