Why, contrary to Meltzer and Richard's prediction (1981), do nations with low levels of wage inequality have large welfare states? Why in turn, consistently with MR (1981), do many of these same nations have large levels of market income inequality? This paper points to the role of second order...

I begin with a review of the literature that considers the gendered assumptions upon which many welfare states base their social policies. Next I present my research questions, discuss data and methods, and present analyses of how welfare states affect the poverty rates of mothers, single...

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...

This paper offers a supply-side explanation of the variation in long-run growth and inequality across countries. In the model education simultaneously affects growth and income inequality. More human capital may increase or decrease growth but also measured inequality. In contrast to some recent...

The prevalence of low income for children, especially for children in lone-parent families, varies considerably across countries. This paper considers five sets of hypotheses that may explain this cross-national variability of child poverty. The tentative conclusion from this analysis in 20...

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...

Over the past three decades, the wellbeing of people over retirement age has improved, not only absolutely but also relatively. Being old is no longer synonymous with being poor. This improvement has occurred across almost all of the main OECD countries, and has occurred almost regardless of the...

Aging involves not one but several transitions. People move from working to not working, from relying upon labor income to relying on transfers. They also tend to live in smaller households, not only because any children will have moved away but also because, at some stage, a spouse dies. People...

Despite the considerable influence of Esping-Andersen's categorization of three 'worlds' of welfare capitalism, researchers have largely neglected investigation of his dimensions of welfare state policy and politics. Building on and extending the foundations provided by Esping-Andersen, we...

The purpose of this study is to summarize and comment upon what we know about the determinants of both the level and trend in economic inequality over the past two decades, and to relate these findings to the progress of globalization in these nations. While the fruits of economic progress in...