The emergence of social assistance in China

This article outlines the development of China's social assistance programme, including its design, implementation and trends. The Chinese government has given high priority to the establishment and institutionalisation of this programme. To have an effective social assistance programme in the context of an increasingly pluralistic society, China is facing the profoundly challenging task of designing a coherent and over-arching social protection system that would cover retirement, medical care, unemployment and poverty alleviation.     

The impact of social transformation on the non-government welfare sector and the social work profession

This article examines changes to non-government social welfare, their impact on service delivery and on the social work profession. To redress the legacy of the past and the consequent inequalities in social welfare, in the first decade of democracy the government allocated the bulk of its welfare resources to transforming the social security system at the expense of social service delivery. As a result, South Africa has a costly social security budget with social services on the brink of collapse, leaving social workers and other social service professionals with low morale in the face of the huge challenge of providing welfare services with scarce resources, especially in the non-government sector. Nevertheless, social work remains an important role player in social development. From its marginalised position in the first decade of democracy, in the second decade it is repositioning itself as a recognised contributor to reconstruction and development in South Africa.     

社会公平保障体系研究:国外经验及对中国的启示

构建社会公平保障体系,既是建立和谐社会的要求,也是完善中国特色社会主义市场经济制度的题中应有之义。近年来,我国社会保障制度进行了相应的改革,并取得了一定成效。但从根本上说还不完善,影响了社会保障的公平性。我们党提出社会公平保障体系建设,为我国社会保障事业的发展指明了方向。结合国外经验,笔者认为我国社会公平保障体系建设包括:积极推进农村社会保障制度建设;加大社会保障对收入调节力度;加强社会保障的法制建设等。     

From Social Insurance to Social Assistance

In attempting to establish a social security system that would function to smooth the transition from a planned to market economy, the government of China has, for most of the time in the past decades, focused its efforts on setting up social insurance programs in the urban areas. Along with the emergence of urban poverty since the mid 1990s, the emphasis of the government has shifted to means-tested social assistance programs as the major means to combat poverty and maintain social stability. However, with the absence of more equitable social and economic policies that can protect people against the many risks associated with a market economy, the role of social assistance is very limited.     

社会保障立法与社会保障制度建设

我国在计划经济体制向社会主义市场经济体制转换过程中建立的社会保障制度,目前尚存在内容不健全、法制化程度低、实施机制脆弱的不足.比较国外较为成熟的传统型、福利型、储蓄型三种社会保障制度模式,我们可以从中吸取经验,受到启发,进而建立具有中国特色的、保障面宽、保障程度适中的社会保障制度.为此目的,我们必须加强社会保障立法,既要健全社会保障法律体系,又要严格社会保障执行的法律监督.     

Social security reforms in Kenya: Towards a workerist or a citizenship‐based system?

With social security provisions in Kenya remaining under‐reported in the more recent literature, this overview covers recent reforms in key areas of the country's social security system. In the health sector and in old‐age pension provision social security is still mainly workerist (biased toward those in formal employment), and attempts to expand coverage have had limited effect only – cash transfer programmes, for instance, have been expanded but in practice they do not universally cover the entitled categories. Thus, although the Kenyan social security system now has a considerable pro‐poor social assistance component it remains biased toward those in formal employment, to the benefit of the highest income quintile.     

Unemployment compensation and the use of social assistance among second-generation immigrants in Sweden

Previous studies have shown that the participation of first-generation immigrants in the Swedish income security system deviates from that of the native population. However, so far there has been no research that has focused on this issue where second-generation immigrants are concerned. This study shows that the rates of participation in different parts of the income security system vary considerably between different groups of second-generation immigrants. Second-generation immigrants whose parents come from Western Europe have low participa-tion rates in all the studied parts of the income security system. Their participation rates are even lower than for natives with both parents born in Sweden. Second-generation immigrants with parents from southern Europe and from outside Europe, on the other hand, have very high participation rates in especi-ally social assistance. The differences between the groups are of course to a great extent explained by differences in their labour market situation. According to the findings of the study, there are reasons to be concerned about the future labour market integration of second-generation immigrants with parents of non-European origin.     

Survey on Perceptions of Social Fairness and Their Implications for Social Governance Innovation*

At the present stage, social fairness or equity is an important area of governance in China, and increasing the level of fairness is an important theme of work. In 2016, the Chinese government laid down specific arrangements and operations relating to equity in education, social security, market competition, etc. The participatory governance model entails testing policy outcomes in relation to the sense of fairness of the mass of the people. Our survey found that perceptions of fairness are higher among middle- and high-income groups and are lower in the eastern region than in the central and western regions. In social security, however, perceptions of fairness and of improvements in the level of fairness are lower than they are for education and market competition. Overall, specific policies relating to fairness in education have been quite effective in enhancing people's perceptions of fairness. Accordingly, if we are to make effective improvements in the fairness of social governance, we need a more rational distribution system that takes into account public opinion and expands the scope of fairness in social security.     

China's health insurance system in transformation: Preliminary assessment, and policy suggestions

As long ago as the 1980s, in tandem with its gradual implementation of market economy reforms, the Chinese central government also began to introduce changes in the field of social security as part of a move away from the dominant principle of state provision towards a greater espousal of the insurance principle. For demographic reasons, but also in an effort to get the private sector to pay a greater share of the cost, the intention was that future social security should be shaped in a way which combined universal, pay-as-you-go basic provision with individually funded supplementary provision. While the first half of the 1990s saw the establishment of a broadly uniform system of basic pensions, the 1998 attempt to introduce a general system of basic health insurance has not yet proved comprehensively successful, even for the population of the towns and cities, despite the success of pilot projects. This article, based on wide-ranging field studies, seeks to assess progress to date and future prospects for success, from a Chinese and an international perspective. Consideration is given to the situation of both the urban and rural populations.     

社会保障制度改革与政治稳定:西方的经验分析

西方社会保障制度不仅与经济利益紧密相关,而且与政治斗争结伴而来,逐渐成为资本主义政府的一项基本功能,成为资本主义政党政治的一个主要内容,对稳定西方资产阶级统治和国家政权发挥了重要的政治功能.20世纪70年代中期以后,西方各国纷纷改革社会保障制度.由于社会保障制度具有刚性和权威性,甚至已经和西方政治制度融为一体,社会保障政策成了政治体制中不可或缺的组成部分,因此,社会保障制度的改革牵涉到公众的既得利益,要经过复杂的政治程序和相当程度的公民认同,必须谨慎地加以推进.     

构建适应市场经济的中国社会保障制度

社会保障制度作为市场经济运行的"安全阀"和"减震器",担负着保证社会成员的基本生活水平、保持社会稳定、协调公平与效率的使命。鉴于目前城乡社会保障的巨大反差、保障范围覆盖不全、保障基金利用效率低下的实际,构建适应市场经济的中国社会保障制度,应建立和发展多元化、多层次的社会保障体系;拓宽社会保障覆盖面,采用新的社会保障筹资比例和筹资方式;大力推进社会保障的法制建设,调节财富,以建立中国的社会保障安全网;解决好城市化进程中新型城镇人口和农村的社会保障问题。     

Progress of the social service professions in South Africa's developmental social welfare system: Social work,and child and youth care work

This paper examines the progress of the social service professions delivering developmental social welfare in South Africa, a subject we have followed closely over the last 20 years. Being policy-driven, developmental social welfare stemmed from expert social analyses that resulted in technically oriented solutions, including the broadening of social service professions. Twenty years on, it is hard to see developmental social welfare, as envisaged in government policy, in action, since the practice reality does not differ drastically from the prior apartheid system with the government's heavy reliance on social security as a poverty-alleviation measure. The expanded social security budget has led to underfunded services and a crisis for social service professionals. This paper focuses on the regulated professions of social workers, and child and youth care workers. Our examination of critical issues for these occupational groups revealed that South Africa still has a long way to go in building a strong social service workforce.     

The macroeconomic impact of reforming a PAYG system: The Portuguese case

Abstract   The article analyses the impact of various types of reform options on social security pension system financial sustainability and on a range of macroeconomic variables. The HERPOR model is used to consider the likely effects of parametric reforms of the existing pay-as-you-go system, as well as those of a systemic reform. The article concludes that the former are sufficient to ensure financial sustainability, although they should be accompanied by employment implementation measures. The article concludes that a fully pre-funded system does not seem to be a viable option for policy-makers in the redesigning of social security pension systems, due to the high transition costs involved.     

Social Protection in Greece: A Brief Glimpse of a Welfare State

This paper examines the delayed development of the welfare state in Greece and its restructuring since the early 1990s. The emphasis is on factors, such as the rapid shift from pre-Fordist to post-Fordist socio-economic structures, the weak development of contractual relationships and a solidaristic culture, and the extensive reproduction of a statist/clientelist form of social organization strongly linked to a high degree of social fragmentation and a particularistic appropriation of welfare benefits and services, which have hindered the full maturation of social citizenship in Greek society up to now. An expensive trend of social protection in conjunction with some major law reforms in the early 1980s contributed to the development of a “weak form” of universalism. These trends were soon overturned, however, well before Greek society could develop a welfare state, under the pressure of a serious fiscal crisis, low economic growth, increasing international competition, significant demographic changes and a fragile social consensus. Thus, the national health care system has hardly succeeded in establishing universal coverage, the social insurance system has remained highly fragmented and dualist, while policy measures for tackling increasing unemployment, hardship and poverty have been rudimentary. These have caused serious deadlocks and a deep institutional crisis. For this crisis to be overcome, it is essential that a new social balance promoting social solidarity is achieved in the country, while a reinvigorated Social Europe can help enormously in this direction.     

The performance of social security contributory and tax‐financed pensions in Central America,and the effects of the global crisis

Over the last 30 years, Latin America has pioneered structural pension reforms. This article focuses on a representative regional sample of seven Central American countries with diverse levels of development (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) studying contributory and tax‐financed pensions as well as recent pension reforms. It comparatively assesses system performance regarding five social security principles: unity; universal coverage; adequacy of benefits; equal treatment, solidarity and gender equality; and financial sustainability. It also evaluates the impact of the world crisis on these pension systems, highlighting the differences between public and private pensions, and extracts lessons and suggests policies for the future.     

政府在社会救助中的责任及其职能的合理定位

社会救助制度是整个社会保障制度的基础子系统,作为社会保障体系中的“最后一道防线”,它通常被视为政府的当然责任或义务。本文通过对我国社会救助制度中政府失责问题的剖析,探讨了政府在社会救助制度中应承担的责任及其职能的合理定位。     

完善社区社会保障体系的思路和措施

随着我国社会主义市场经济体制的建立,单位体制互解,单位保障逐渐"衰落",企业的社会福利功能在弱化,社区成为社会整合的主要载体,社区社会保障成为保障公民福利的一项重要体系。将社区作为实施社会保障的依托,应树立以人为本社区建设的理念,完善社区管理体制,探索社区社会保障资金的方式和渠道等。     

Poverty and social conditions in Poland during the transformation to a market economy

The social welfare system in Poland was changed during the 1990s. The full employment policy, as a guarantee for social security, was abandoned and the institutions through which social resources were distributed were replaced. State-owned enterprises previously fulfilled certain social functions; the necessary resources came from state subsidies and from obligatory funds: housing and social funds as well as a proportion of wage costs. Thus, the prices of many types of important consumption goods (such as food and housing) were fixed at a relatively low level. The elimination of subsidies resulted in the bankruptcy of many state-owned enterprises which, in turn, led to the diminished importance of the social security function of industrial enterprises. Their role in the newly created social welfare system was taken over by social welfare centers, through which assistance was distributed to those in need. Besides the traditional recipients of social assistance, a growing number of unemployed people, who comprise approximately 14% of the productively active citizens, have also begun collecting assistance.     

China’s social security response to COVID-19: Wider lessons learnt for social security’s contribution to social cohesion and inclusive economic development

China has adopted an array of special social security measures in response to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, to mitigate the downside social and economic impacts caused by the pandemic. Measures include the reduction, exemption and deferral of social security contributions by employers, the extension of benefits coverage for employees, and the provision of more accessible e-services by social insurance agencies. The article points out that a preliminary assessment of those measures would suggest that they have played a key role in supporting social cohesion and in stabilizing the economy. In a critical manner, the article compares the measures adopted in China with those of other countries, and identifies how China could learn from international practice and experience. Finally, and based on recent Chinese experience, the article presents proposals that seek to improve the longer-term contribution made by the Chinese social security system to realize the goals of social cohesion and inclusive economic development. As set out in China’s Social Insurance Law of 2010, the social security system should not only support a fair sharing of benefits of development, but also promote social harmony and stability.