Tagging and redistributive taxation with imperfect disability monitoring

This paper studies the optimal income redistribution and optimal monitoring when disability benefits are intended for disabled people but some of the disabled do not claim disability benefits and enter the labor force. Classification errors also occur. Some able applicants with high distaste for work are falsely granted disability benefits (type II errors) and some disabled applicants are denied disability benefits (type I errors). The accuracy of monitoring depends on the resources devoted to it. Labor supply responses are at the extensive margin. The paper derives the optimal income tax-transfer schedule that incorporates welfare and disability benefits and takes into account monitoring costs. The cost of monitoring and the co-existence of welfare and disability benefits play in favor of Earned Income Tax Credits for disabled workers who forgo disability benefits as well as for disabled workers who forgo welfare assistance.     

Claiming a Space for International Social Work: Voices From the Field

Despite the rise in interest in international social work, surprisingly little empirical evidence exists outlining the knowledge, values, and skills required of social workers to succeed in the global arena. This qualitative study conducted from the spring through winter months of 2013 involved 10 semi-structured interviews with experienced international social workers triangulated with a content analysis of 52 international job postings. Findings suggest that social work professional perspectives including eco-systemic thinking, social justice principles, strength-based analyses, and foundational skills, such as developing empowering person-centered relationships, exhibiting cultural humility, implementing participatory approaches to research and practice, and demonstrating reflexivity, are not always valued by international colleagues nor sought in job advertisements. Furthermore, upon graduation, MSW social workers may lack key areas of expertise expected of international workers such as program monitoring and evaluation, grant writing, policy development, and communicating with media and high-level officials. Ultimately, the invisibility of foundational social work skills and lack of other technical expertise may not only challenge social workers' competitiveness on the global market but also threaten their maintenance of a professional social work identity over time. The authors provide guidance for schools of social work and accrediting bodies to improve social workers' readiness for international work and strengthen their presence in the international arena.     

The Impact of Electronic Communication and Social Media on Child Welfare Practice

One hundred and thirty-six child welfare workers completed an online survey examining their experiences regarding the impact that electronic communication and social media use has had on their practice with youth and families. Workers reported e-mail and text message use have made work with youth easier, yet distinct difficulties have emerged for practitioners in relation to electronic communication and social media use. New elements have also emerged including issues with harassment and the ethics related to monitoring clients' online activities. Comparisons with a previous study conducted by Finn indicate that the use of technology within social work practice has evolved over time. Implications for social work practice and future research are also discussed.     

Care in a Time of Austerity: the Electronic Monitoring of Homecare Workers’ Time

Austerity places intense pressures on labour costs in paid care. In the UK, electronic monitoring technology has been introduced to record (and materially reduce) the working time and wages of homecare workers. Based on empirical findings, we show that, in a ‘time of austerity’, care is reductively constructed as a consumption of time. Service users are constructed as needy, greedy, time‐consumers and homecare workers as resource‐wasting time‐takers. We point to austerity as a temporal ideology aimed at persuading populations that individual deprivation in the present moment, self‐sacrifice and the suppression of personal need in the here and now is a necessary requirement to underpin a more secure national future. Accordingly, women in low‐waged care work are required to eschew a rights‐bearing, present‐tense identity and are assumed willing to suppress their entitlements to lawful wages as a sacrifice to the future. By transforming our understandings of ‘care’ into those of ‘time consumption’, and by emphasizing the virtue of present‐tense deprivation, a politics of austerity appears to justify time‐monitoring in care provision and the rationing of homecare workers’ pay.     

Piece rate pay

The theory of piece-rate pay suggests firms may be able to adjust their variable costs by altering work standards and the piece rate itself. Another argument holds that piece-rate systems can economize on the cost of monitoring worker output, that such systems are a substitute for management. Union positions on these points have supported the notion that piece-rate pay can be both a benefit and a cost to workers, depending on the cost of monitoring. However, competitive forces ultimately force all pay systems to reflect the opportunity costs of all factors of production.     

Research in progress

Current proposals for reorganising social work training concentrate too heavily upon initial qualifying training. The greater need is to devise a system for career long development and performance monitoring related to credentials associated with training, experience and responsibilities. Many American states have certification regulations governing social work. Adaptation of such schemes to Britain would have advantages for both public and social workers and could be incorporated into present proposals for the reorganisation of training. A structure is proposed charged with responsibility for monitoring all professional development. Training beyond the initial would become obligatory and reduce the unreasonable expectations placed upon basic training for career long competence.     

Midlife and older displaced workers: A comparison of predisplacement and new earnings

The economic consequences of business closings and worker layoffs are of great concern to today's work force. The study compares earnings of 755 workers previous to displacement to 422 displaced workers with new earnings. Variables are identified using the data supplement of the 1988Current Populations Survey: Displaced Workers. Displaced workers employed in professional and white-collar positions have more favorable predisplacement earnings and new earnings than workers from other job sectors, but displaced workers who are homeowners and those who have health care coverage before and following job displacement have a decline in earnings. Displaced workers with some high school education and workers with 30 to 39 years of job tenure also experience decreased wages. Overall, displacement of American workers stifles the economy and negatively influences the human capital of the nation's work force. Her major research interests include displaced worker issues, work and family policy, and the economics of aging. Her major research interests include labor force participation of midlife and older persons.     

Work organization and health: a qualitative study of the perceptions of workers

Workplaces comprise a large component of life partcipation. The complexity of work organization makes it challenging to understand how the environment impacts the health of workers and who is responsible for creating a healthy workplace. This investigation sought to understand the views of workers about workplace health. A qualitative approach was used to gain understanding of workers' experiences of how work organization (WO) impacts their health and needs to change. Four individual interviews and 7 focus groups with workers were conducted. Data were thematically analyzed. Findings comprised two common themes: 1. The need for support and respect in the work place; and 2. The need for organizational commitment to safe work practices and healthy work environments. Findings suggest workers want and need to be involved in creating a healthy workplace. Opportunities to involve workers more in workplace health are discussed.     

Utilisation of Medical Services—Difficulties and Solutions

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to look at how social workers and bilingual community workers work with the Chinese community in Sydney to address the inequalities in health amongst the Chinese and other eon-English speaking communities. These workers must use their knowledge and skills in radical practices to police health inequalities and accomplish change through the development of effective initiatives in promoting active participation amongst Chinese Australians and obtaining more public funding for transcultural health. Active participation can be promoted in four areas: the development of a charter of health rights for people of non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB), an increase in representation of people of NESB on health boards, an increase in the number of bilingual and bicultural professionals and the establishment of mechanisms for regular monitoring of medical care provision for people of NESB. More public funding for transcultural health can be secured through a number of political fund raising activities. These include: to develop both formal and informal relationship with and to be able to influence ministers, ministerial advisers and senior public servants; to gain representation on statutory boards and committees; and, to express the need for access and equity through the ballot boxes.     

The influence of the tasks characteristics in physical performance and psychosocial aspects of workers

The work and life conditions have influence on the health and life quality of workers. Physically active persons can demonstrate a life style that are and affect the physical performance, psychosocial aspects and work capacity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical activity level and work capacity in different tasks characteristics, one with more physical exertion and other with more cognitive exertion. A total of 193 workers from an institution of higher education and 457 workers from a metallurgical industry participated in the current study. All participants completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-short) and Work Ability Index (WAI). The results indicated that both groups were classified as having high level of physical activity while only few of them were considered sedentary (less than 27%). However, the group of metallurgical workers had greater indices (82%) than the workers from higher education institution (74%). Overall, the workers reported their work ability as moderate to excellent, suggesting that overall they are satisfied with their working and health conditions. It can be concluded that even though workers performed tasks with different demands (cognitive versus physical), they demonstrated similar level of physical activity as well as work ability.     

Evaluation of the impact of shiftwork and chronotype on the workers of the imprint and cutting/welding sectors of a flexible packaging manufacturer

This article presents a study on the impact of shiftwork and chronotype on the perception of the work conditions, workload and adjustment to shiftwork by the workers of two sectors of a flexible packaging manufacturer, which operates in three fixed shifts. The workers are allocated in one of the shifts (morning, evening and night shifts) without evaluation of their chronotype and/or social needs. The workers' evaluation of the shift system and their work show that they prefer a fixed shift and to work in a shift compatible with their chronotype. The workers with chonotype uncompatible with the shift time tend to be less satisfied with the work conditions and content and feel more discomfort/pain.     

Mental health in vietnam and the move to incorporate social work: A mixed methods study of staff perceptions and expectations

In 2010, Vietnam established social work as a profession. As part of their strategic plan, the government aims to incorporate social work into existing hospitals and health care facilities in the country, including psychiatric hospitals and mental health care centers. This paper, based upon survey and focus group data from 194 people working in three major mental health facilities in Hanoi, explores direct care staffs’ perceptions of this historic incorporation of social work, with a particular eye to the benefits and challenges of the transition. Results show most staff members thought social workers would provide great support to the many unmet needs of their largely underserved and impoverished patients. They also viewed social workers as a potential resource to the treatment team by reducing work overload. Existing staff, however, were less attuned to the clinical functions of social workers in mental health settings, often equating social work with community development and social movements. Some were concerned about social workers taking on their tasks; others about new social workers being hindered by the professional hierarchy in which doctors were placed at the top. Successful integration of social workers will hinge on strong support from policy-makers and leaders of mental health systems.     

The role of age in the relationship between work social characteristics and job attitudes

Despite the amount of research on the link between work social characteristics and job attitudes, there is a lack of work on moderators of this relationship. In the present study, we examine the role of age as a moderating effect of this relationship using life-span development theory. The aim of this paper is to study the moderator effect of age in the relationship between two work social characteristics (interaction outside the organization and interdependence) and job attitudes (i.e., general job satisfaction and work engagement). Participants were 258 workers from private organizations. Data were collected at two time points (2 to 4 weeks between T₁ and T₂). Results showed that the relationship between interdependence and work engagement was stronger for older workers than for younger workers. In addition, the relationship between interaction outside the organization and general job satisfaction was stronger for younger than for older workers. Because increased engagement and satisfaction in an age-diverse workforce is important, organizations may benefit by challenging older workers with interdependent tasks, and younger workers with interaction with stakeholders outside the organization.     

Narrative social work: conversations between theory and practice

This paper begins by reviewing the current situation in social work practice. It is contended that much of the literature around social work consists of diverse models of practice that urge social workers to take up various theoretical positions. Equally, social workers are often encouraged to listen to the views of service users. In this complexity, it is often difficult for social workers to know which approach to take. This paper goes on to propose a narrative-based approach to social work practice. Narrative social work is defined as a conversation between theory and practice, which can lead to development in both social workers and service users. An example from the lead author's practice is used to outline the model in action. The paper concludes with some comments about the values inherent in narrative based social work.     

Social workers in the new human services marketplace: Trends,challenges and responses

This paper examines employment trends in social welfare occupations and challenges to the industrial and cultural recognition of professional social work in the new human services market place. Following examination of the threats posed by market reform and the crisis in public confidence in some domains of human services work, I focus on three key concerns. First, through analysis of Census data from 1996 to 2001, I compare trends in the employment of social workers, welfare workers and community workers. Second, drawing on the work of Nancy Fraser (1997), I argue that the challenges facing social workers can be understood as problems of ‘recognition’. Using this framework, I examine the external contests to the valuing of professional social work and also the internal challenges, that is, threats from within the social work profession to the industrial and cultural recognition of social work. Finally, I will consider how social workers, particularly new graduates, can respond to the challenges facing them in the new human services marketplace. I propose that social workers should claim a position as practice leaders and I outline practical strategies for achieving this goal.     

Disability and sex work: developing affinities through decriminalization

This article argues that strong policy frameworks are required to support the health and well-being of sex workers, disabled people, and disabled sex workers. Through an examination of the context of sex work in Canada, we articulate the flaws of sex work criminalization and the persistent barriers that criminalization creates. Our analysis of the intersection of disabled sexuality and access to sexual services identifies how the sex industry can aid in the flourishing of the erotic lives of disabled people. The article culminates in a discussion of the benefits of sex work decriminalization for sex workers, disabled people, and disabled sex workers.     

Scheduling challenges among workers in low-wage hourly jobs: similarities and differences among workers in standard- and nonstandard-hour jobs

Work schedules are a central theme in the work–family challenges of low-wage hourly workers. Yet, research on scheduling patterns among this worker population has primarily focused on nonstandard schedules. We know very little about the scheduling patterns of workers in hourly jobs with standard fixed schedules. Knowledge about the key scheduling challenges by schedule type is necessary to develop targeted workplace solutions, such as flexible work arrangements, to enhance work–life fit among workers in low-wage hourly jobs. Using the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, bivariate and multivariate analyses were employed to determine (1) the prevalence of rigid, unpredictable and unstable work schedules among low-wage hourly workers employed in jobs with standard and nonstandard schedules and whether there is variation in these scheduling practices among full- and part-time workers; and (2) the individual or job characteristics that influence the odds of experiencing rigid, unpredictable or unstable work schedules. Results indicate that rigid and unpredictable schedule practices are most prevalent among low-wage hourly workers in full-time standard-hour jobs and part-time nonstandard-hour jobs, while unstable scheduling practices are most prevalent among hourly workers in full- and part-time nonstandard-hour jobs. Implications and limitations of the research are discussed.     

Summary report of action research on occupational rehabilitation and community re-integration of migrant workers with work injuries in Mainland China

This article is a summary of an action research exploring the strategies to initiate the occupational rehabilitation and community re-integration of migrant workers with work injuries in Guangdong Province, China. Using two cases of rehabilitation intervention for workers with work injury, a case management model of occupational rehabilitation and community re-integration was illustrated, in the different phases of rehabilitation. Finally, some key elements in supporting occupational rehabilitation and community re-integration for migrant workers with work injury in China were highlighted.