A ‘Children's Government’ in England and Child Impact Assessment

Despite structural changes made to central government and the development of the Every Child Matters programme in England, compartmentalised child policy proposals are often created for service settings and in response to a specific political imperative. This article provides a rationale for child impact assessment — a systematic process in which proposals for policy and legislation are reviewed and assessed for their potential impact on children and young people — and reviews project work in England involving the National Children's Bureau and the Children's Legal Centre.     

Financial inclusion through a public works programme: Does left‐wing extremism make a difference?

Using district‐level household data, the study investigates the impact of left wing extremism (LWE) violence on financial inclusion in India. Exploiting the staggered roll‐out of a major public works programme, we find that the programme has the potency to improve financial inclusion, notwithstanding the deleterious effects of higher LWE violence. These findings are, however, different in the post‐Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (Prime Minister's People Money Scheme) phase, especially in the short run wherein there is an increase in both access to and use of finance. The findings are consistent with the citizen support model and suggest that demonstrable government commitment in the form of spending on public works has the capacity to raise financial inclusion, even if the programme occurs in LWE‐affected districts.     

Designing a Programme to Support Smallholder Agriculture in Mexico: Lessons from PROCAMPO and Oportunidades

This article argues that there is a gap in current Mexican rural development policy that could be filled by a smallholder‐targeted programme. The gap exists because agricultural programmes tend to benefit better‐off farmers, while social programmes tend to focus on long‐term investment in human capital, specifically for the children of today's poor. Drawing on lessons from PROCAMPO and Oportunidades, it offers a specific design for such a programme at a time when the government is considering how to reform PROCAMPO, given that, after 15 years, it is due to come to an end.     

Bringing Back Community: Family Support From the Bottom Up

This paper presents findings of an evaluation of a one‐off, small scale, pilot project. Picking up where Sure Start, the government programme for families of newborns to threes, leaves off, ‘Families in Focus’ works with children aged four to 16 on a disadvantaged council estate in London. Through this route, the programme also reaches out to the families, providing a high level of on the spot local support. Feeding into the government's social exclusion agenda, the impact of the project has been significant, not least in restoring a strong sense of community to a previously alienated problem estate.     

Paddling on One Side of the Canoe? The Changing Nature of New Zealand's Development Assistance Programme

New Zealand's aid policy has undergone a revolution under the National Party government elected in 2008. Prior to this, NZAID, a semi‐autonomous unit, had evolved to manage aid in line with internationally agreed principles. Under the new government, NZAID was reincorporated into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, its focus was shifted from poverty reduction to economic growth, and its programme was aligned with foreign policy. This article aims to provide an overview of the shifts in New Zealand's aid policy over four decades, to explore the relationship between the global aid regime and national practice, and to analyse the influence of politics, and of key individuals, in setting the direction of aid policy.     

Peer connections as an intervention with children of families where a parent has a mental illness: Moving towards an understanding of the processes of change

Prevention and early intervention programmes have been found to impede the transmission of mental illness from parents to children. However, the extant processes of change in such programmes are less clear. This study focuses on the impact of a peer support programme developed for children and adolescents who have a parent with a mental illness and examines the processes of change which might promote positive outcomes for youth. A mixed methods research approach was employed with participants aged between 8 and 12 years old; 69 completed pre- and post-questionnaires and 18 of these same participants engaged in telephone interviews post programme. Results demonstrate improved mental health knowledge and children reported that they were more likely to use an anonymous telephone helpline after attending the programme. Children indicated that the programme provided a place of respite from caring for their parent with a mental illness, an opportunity to connect with peers, and a positive change in perception of their parent's mental illness. The reported findings are moving towards an understanding of the process of change in programmes.     

Confucius Institute in the Sino-Thai relations: A display of China's soft power

The establishment of Confucius Institutes (CIs) is a great endeavor by the Chinese government to spread Chinese language and culture in neighboring countries. It is commonly regarded by foreign countries as part of China's soft power initiative. With the implementation of BRI, it becomes a platform to promote systematic connections with countries along the route. Based on the examination of CIs’ programmes run in Thailand, this article finds that CIs made extensive efforts in these respects and garnered the support of the Thai government, Thai royal family and local business. In this sense, CIs also serve as a soft power for the Thai government and royalty to cement their Sino-Thai relationship. Within the local community, there are varying voices. While some supported the Chinese language and cultural programme, others have expressed some dissatisfaction over the role of the CIs in the community.     

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION,LAND MARKET,AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: EVIDENCE FROM CHINESE CITIES

This article investigates how government intervention in land market affects China's urban development, using data from prefecture‐level cities between 2000 and 2010. We find that government intervention enlarges the impact of positive productivity shocks on housing price appreciation, through mainly the government control over residential land supply. However, we find no significant evidence that high government intervention constrains population growth and leads to wage increase. Such patterns of urban dynamics can be explained by the fact that migrant workers are the driving force behind China's urbanization, but they have limited housing demand and are not well compensated. (JEL P52, R12, H11)     

A complex solution to a complicated problem? Early messages from the national evaluation of the Children's Fund Prevention Programme

This paper is concerned with exploring the research and policy base that underpinned the development of the Children's Fund Prevention Programme. It discusses how the initiative developed, how it is being evaluated and how it is now contributing to the new policy agenda around prevention services. Early findings are discussed highlighting some of the challenges local projects have to manage around partnership working, participation of children and young people in the programme, and the embedding of prevention strategies in local practice. Finally the conclusion sets the Children's Fund in forthcoming central government policy activity and examines how the evaluation can best inform the development of collaborative preventative services to children and their families.     

Report on the implementation and evaluation of an interprofessional learning programme for inter‐agency child protection teams

Effective collaborative working between the different professions and agencies working to safeguard children is essential. Lack of knowledge of others' roles, perceived differences in status and expertise, and negative stereotypes are examples of why this can be difficult to achieve. A facilitated interprofessional learning (IPL) programme was implemented to assess if such an intervention could overcome some of the barriers to effective interprofessional and inter‐agency team working. Six teams based in primary and secondary care trusts took part with participants from health, education, police and social services. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from individual participants using a pre‐validated team climate inventory and reflective statements. Findings from this study demonstrate statistically significant changes in five out of six categories in the inventory. Reflective statements suggested that overall the programme offered a positive learning experience at both an individual and team level. The importance of outside facilitation to maintain the team's momentum was acknowledged, as was the difficulty of maintaining a good level of activity once the programme had ended. Nevertheless, the IPL programme provided a timely opportunity to reflect upon the interprofessional and inter‐agency team working needed within Children's Trusts and the implications for staff involved with regard to skills development. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alleviating poverty or reinforcing inequality? Interpreting micro‐finance in practice,with illustrations from rural China

Academic and political discussions about micro‐finance have been found lacking in predictive power, because they are based on orthodox economic theory, which does not properly comprehend the social components of credit. I take a better approach, utilizing credit theory – specifically, Ingham's explication of how the nature of money as credit leads to social inequality. I also expound the perspective that morality is not separate from considerations borrowers make in micro‐finance programmes on the micro level. I draw upon illustrations from my fieldwork in rural China, where a group‐lending micro‐finance programme was administered as part of a larger government‐initiated effort across the country.     

Outcomes for children's health and well‐being

Health outcomes are implicit in the government's major policies on reducing poverty, unemployment and social exclusion, and in environmental regeneration, as well as in explicitly targeted policies for modernising the National Health Service. The impact of policies in childhood are regarded as a key feature in determining socioeconomic outcomes in many domains, among which mental health plays a particularly important part. But although early intervention is recognised as crucial in the achievement of socioeconomic and health policy aims, outcomes in children and for children have only recently received full recognition. This article outlines the impact that government policies may have on health outcomes for children. However, the assessment of changes in health status is difficult and mostly relies on proxy measures. The evidence that any changes can be related to policy is extremely limited and mostly based on small‐scale and locally specific projects. What can be learnt from these and from collective analysis of linked projects, such as those funded through the CAMHS Innovation Grant, is discussed. Because of the attention paid by the government to evidence‐based policy, outcomes in all domains will become known before long for major national children's policy initiatives such as the Sure Start programme, highlighting the crucial and continuing need for evaluation of the ways in which policies are implemented. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Addressing multiple dimensions of gender inequality: the experience of the BRAC Gender Quality Action Learning (GQAL) programme in Bangladesh

Recent analyses have highlighted that poverty reduction in Bangladesh has been accompanied by growing inequality in society, measured by household income. This article considers what the implications are for development actors who are concerned with empowering the poor in society, and who understand poverty from a gender and women's rights perspective. We draw on experience from BRAC's work to address these issues, focusing on the Gender Quality Action Learning (GQAL) programme. A focus on women's self-employment alone does not result in challenging the structures of patriarchal inequalities. Gender inequality and its link to economic inequality needs to be much more centrally positioned than it currently is in development discourse. Currently economic empowerment is widely seen as a potential route to gender equality, but the GQAL programme shows work to challenge gender inequality is necessary as an entry-point to ensure effective economic empowerment.     

Gendered Congregations,Gendered Service: The Impact of Clergy Gender on Congregational Social Service Participation

Using data from the 1998 National Congregations Study, I present empirical evidence that shows that the gender of a congregation's leadership makes a difference in the likelihood that a congregation will participate in a social service programme. The results from binary logistic regression indicate that the odds of congregations with women head clergy participating in a social service programme are four times greater than those with men head clergy. In addition, as the percentage of women on a congregation's governing board increases the probability that a congregation will participate in a service project also increases. The specific types of social service programmes a congregation pursues also differ by gender of leadership, with women‐led congregations significantly more likely to pursue service projects that could be labelled feminine while avoiding programmes that are clearly feminist. To explain this gendered behaviour I incorporate Acker's (1990 ) theory of gendered organizations.     

Workfare's Cousin: Exploring a Labour‐force Enhancement Experiment in Cape Breton*

Bien que les Néo‐Ecossais n'aient pas encore été soumis au type de réformes d'aide sociale édictées dans d'autres provinces, certains programmes visant à promouvoir la participation de la main‐d'?uvre par les bénéficiaires de paiements de transfert gouvernementaux ont récemment été mis en place à l'île du Cap‐Breton, la région de la province la plus marginale sur le plan économique. Cet article étudie la structure de l'un de ces programmes, parrainé par le gouvernement fédéral. L'analyse présentée ici avance l'idée que, en dépit du discours public officiel, la conception du programme n'apporte que peu d'avantages à la collectivité locale et à ses citoyens le plus dans le besoin, mais véhicule des avantages idéologiques importants pour l'état. Même si le programme ne peut être appelé un programme de travail obligatoire, au sens strict de l'expression, il reflète la même idéologie néo‐libérale que celle qui a inspiré des réformes sociales plus draconiennes. Though Nova Scotians have not yet been subjected to the type of provincial welfare “reforms” enacted in other provinces, some programs aimed at promoting work‐force participation by recipients of government transfer payments have recently been introduced to Cape Breton, the province's most economically marginal region. This paper examines the structure of one such program, sponsored by the federal government. The analysis presented here suggests that, despite public rhetoric, the program's design delivers limited benefits to the local community and to its neediest citizens, but carries major ideological benefits for the state. While the program cannot be called workfare, in the strict sense of the term, it does reflect the same neo‐liberal ideology that has inspired more Draconian social reforms.     

Can Economic Crime Control be Sustained? The Case of Finland

In this paper, we present some findings from research conducted in Finland on the emergence and nature of the Finnish government's Action Plans to Reduce Economic Crime and the Grey Economy. We set out the origins of the Finnish economic crime control programme, a programme that, if not unique, is peculiar in its concerted effort to attack this particular form of crime. We then address at length the prospects of such a programme - which has had some initial successes - being sustained. We consider this question through three forms of material: first, through seeking to draw some 'lessons' from other countries' experiences of efforts to control economic crime, and indeed some general international trends in this regard; second, via a conceptual consideration of the processes whereby economic crime control efforts are likely to slip down crime control agendas; and, third, through a brief analysis of the extent to which the conditions which gave rise to the Finnish initiative in the 1980s have since passed. In a discursive concluding section, we present some data on the changing levels of support for, and interest in, the programme within Finland.     

SECTORAL COMPOSITION OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND MACROECONOMIC (IN)STABILITY

This article examines the quantitative interrelations between sectoral composition of public spending and equilibrium (in)determinacy in a two‐sector real business cycle model with positive productive externalities in investment. When government purchases of consumption and investment goods are set as constant fractions of their respective sectoral output, we show that the public‐consumption share plays no role in the model's local dynamics, and that a sufficiently high public‐investment share can stabilize the economy against endogenous belief‐driven cyclical fluctuations. When each type of government spending is postulated as a constant proportion of the economy's total output, we find that there exists a trade‐off between public consumption versus investment expenditures to yield saddle‐path stability and equilibrium uniqueness. (JEL E32, E62, O41)     

Migration at a Time of Global Economic Crisis: The Situation in Spain

In this paper, we offer an initial assessment of the impact of the economic crisis on Spain's migration flows. After a period of intensive economic growth and the ensuing immigratory appeal (1995–2007), Spain has been hit hard by the recession. This has modified the trends that had so far characterized foreign immigration in Spain. The impact of the economic recession has been particularly severe in the case of immigrant workers and, consequently, from an institutional point of view, the Spanish government has adopted various measures to restrict the arrival of new immigrants: it has reduced work permit quotas and it has modified the Foreign Residents Law, toughening residence permit requirements. It has also tried to encourage voluntary returns with a programme devised to provide assistance to immigrants originating from countries with which Spain has social security agreements. The response to this programme has, however, been very limited. Immigration flows have continued and rates of return have stayed low, although new trends are also detectable, such as a decrease in the number of irregular arrivals and a rise in informal employment, as well as differences in the impact of unemployment according to nationality and gender. This reveals the complexity of migration processes beyond the supply and demand of labour and the political will to regulate human mobility. Consequently, immigration patterns in Spain reveal the degree of complexity reached by human mobility, which has increased beyond the logic of the labour market and the government's attempts at regulating migration flows by means of institutional measures. The immigrants' hope of raising their standard of living and the socio‐economic differences between source and receiving countries, even at a time of severe economic crisis, do still serve as explanations for current migration networks, one of the key points in the current debate on international migration.     

THE ESTIMATED EFFECT OF MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT ON CHILDREN UNDER MANDATORY AND NON-MANDATORY EMPLOYMENT CIRCUMSTANCES

Maternal employment's association with young school-age children's academic and behavioural outcomes was examined in a sample of families currently or recently receiving welfare. The sample comprised 1,197 African-American mothers and their preschool-age children who were randomly assigned either to the ‘human capital development’ (HCD) programme, the ‘labor force attachment’ (LFA) programme or to the control group in the Atlanta site of the Child Outcomes Study, a substudy of the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies (NEWWS). Once observed selection effects were controlled, maternal employment — regardless of whether obtained under mandatory or non-mandatory circumstances — was largely unrelated to contemporaneous measures of five to seven year olds’ academic school readiness and behaviour. There was one exception: maternal employment secured through Atlanta's HCD programme significantly predicted fewer and/or less frequent antisocial behaviours even after observed selection factors were controlled. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.     

Cultural inclusion and social trust: Evidence from China

This paper investigates the relationship between a region's cultural inclusion and its residents’ social trust. Based on the individual-level survey data from China, we find a positive correlation between cultural inclusion and average levels of social trust at the city level. When instrumenting culture inclusion using government spending on the construction of culture and fixed assets, we find a consistent positive correlation between cultural inclusion and social trust. We also find that higher levels of cultural inclusion are positively correlated with the happiness and optimistic social attitudes of residents and are negatively correlated with the probability of misperception and conflicts.