GAUGING NEW ZEALAND'S SUCCESS AT POVERTY REDUCTION IN THE NEW MILLENIUM

This paper presents the results of the New Zealand Poverty Measurement Project's analysis of the effects of the 1990s social reforms in New Zealand on the incidence and severity of poverty, and assesses the impact of five social and economic policies introduced by the Labour‐led coalition governments since 1999: New Zealand superannuation, income‐related rents on state houses, active labour market policies for an employment‐rich economy, the Primary Health Care Strategy and the planned income support policy to reduce child poverty. Superannuation is assessed as both adequate and sustainable, rents for state houses are found to be affordable, and GDP growth and employment have increased incrementally as unemployment and benefit numbers have decreased. The Primary Health Care Strategy is an innovative initiative that will increase affordable access to general practitioners, but it and the proposed child assistance initiatives are too new to be adequately assessed. Of the challenges that remain, policy priorities should centre on housing alternatives, including home ownership for low‐income households not in state houses; income support for poor households, particularly those with children; and multi‐sector development of education and training aimed at lifting economic and social capacity.     

Emerging needs,evolving services: The health of Pacific peoples in New Zealand

Abstract

From 0.1% of the total population in 1945 to 6.9% in 2006, Pacific peoples now resident in New Zealand highlight significant health policy and service delivery issues within an increasingly diverse society. Over the last decade, marked differences in the health status of Pacific New Zealanders and Palagi New Zealanders have been well documented, showing high levels of disparity and continuing negative trends. This paper provides a broad overview of the history of Pacific health and health initiatives in New Zealand from the 1940s through to the mid 2000s, highlighting the interface between Pacific peoples and the New Zealand health sector. While the New Zealand Government has become increasingly responsive to Pacific health needs, significant disparities remain between Pacific and Palagi populations. Furthermore, many of the encouraging health initiatives introduced in the past decade remain at risk due to a variety of factors, including a need to strengthen the Pacific health workforce and management expertise.     

Targeting Social Expenditure in New Zealand: An Evaluation of the Current Policy Regime

This paper provides a brief account of how social expenditure in New Zealand has been targeted (i.e. means-tested) since the late nineteenth century, outlines the policy framework at the dawn of the new millennium, and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the current targeting regime. It is argued that the existing policy settings are open to challenge on a number of counts. In particular, they are complex, inconsistent and relatively intrusive, they impose significant administrative and compliance costs, and they generate considerable incentive problems. Nor has the greater reliance on targeting since the mid-1980s prevented an increase in relative poverty and inequality. Given this situation, the paper outlines some possible reforms.     

新管理主义时代香港社会福利领域NGO之发展

全球第三部门正处在发展的十字路口,面临转型的挑战。本文运用个案研究方法,试图探讨20世纪90年代以来新管理主义如何影响香港社会福利领域NGO的发展。研究发现,尽管新管理主义的价值观已深植于NGO领域,但不同个案机构对其影响的回应不尽相同;组织的社会倡导价值对于市场化价值的妥协在本研究中虽有体现,但如何使商界更加关注社会福利的改善正日益成为香港NGO实践其倡导价值的新关注点。     

Changing policy,changing attitudes? Public opinion on employment relations in New Zealand, 1990–2008

Abstract

Did significant policy shifts in employment relations in the 1990s lead to equally large changes in the attitudes of New Zealanders towards employment relations? Have policy modifications made since 1999 further shaped public perceptions? This paper explores the role of policy feedback in influencing public opinion towards employers and unions and towards government responsibility for jobs and wages. Using data from New Zealand public opinion surveys, most notably the New Zealand Election Study (1990–2008), the paper finds some evidence that policy feedback has occurred in the employment relations arena, but the impact is not as strong or consistent as we might expect. As such, New Zealanders do not completely endorse the ‘there is no alternative’ arguments of neoliberalism, but they do not have an overwhelming desire to return to Keynesian demand-management employment policies.     

Is the Mongolian Health Sector Ready for a Sector‐Wide Approach?

Mongolia has experienced major social and economic changes since the early 1990s. Large-scale reforms have been introduced in all sectors over the last 10 years. Implementing health reforms requires a more coordinated approach and the Mongolian health sector has been exploring an option of implementing a Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) to the health sector. This article aims to develop and apply an analytical framework for assessing the feasibility of implementing SWAp in the Mongolian health sector. Review of published and unpublished evidence at the national and international levels is undertaken and complemented by semi-structured interviews with key respondents from Mongolian Ministry of Health. A framework for assessing the feasibility of SWAp in Mongolia has been developed which comprises the key elements and stages of development of SWAp in a particular context. This framework has been then applied to assess the feasibility of implementing SWAp in the Mongolian health sector. The main SWAp elements are in place. Emerging central level capacity, increasing donor confidence and willingness to move towards sector-wide management is now becoming more evident in Mongolia. It looks like Mongolia is ready for a national level government-led SWAp with the potential to implement a fully-fledged SWAp in the health sector. The essential ground-work for starting a SWAp is in place, but further capacity strengthening is needed. A framework for implementing health SWAp in Mongolia is suggested. It is important to consider the improvement of existing government systems in future SWAp arrangements to ensure local ownership.     

Past and Present: Reflections on Citizenship within New Zealand

The paper discusses historical and emerging dimensions of citizenship within Aotearoa/New Zealand. Drawing on Turner's work, it explores the utility of Marshallian distinctions of civil, political and social citizenship. These evolutionary notions are seen as problematic, given the historical treatment of the Chinese community, and the abrogation of the Treaty of Waitangi with respect to European–Maori relationships. Ideas of the "worker citizen", "military citizen" and "parent citizen" are discussed in relation to historical foundations of entitlement and their contemporary challenges. Considerations include a shift to non-standard employment, reconceptualization of New Zealand's role as a Pacific nation, and demographic and value shifts. The non-governmental sector as a "fourth" route to entitlement is examined, including notions of community capacity-building with particular respect to Maori. The paper concludes with a commentary on current debates around the nature and shape of New Zealand nationality, identity and citizenship. Ecological debates include the use and guardianship of natural resources and the opposition of public opinion to genetic modification. Indigenous developments include the assertion of Treaty rights by Maori in relation to land, language and economic and social development. Cultural dimensions include the changing population structure as reflected in the growth of Pacific Island nations, Asian populations and the refugee community. The interplay of these ecological, indigenous and cultural dimensions will help define emergent citizenships for Aotearoa/New Zealand in the twenty-first century.     

SPECIAL ISSUE： DISTRIBUTION OF NATIONAL INCOME IN A TRANSITIONAL ECONOMY Who is the predator,who the prey？ --an analysis of changes in the state of China＇s national income distribution

本文以2004年经济普查后修订的资金流量表为基础，依次从国民收入的初次分配和再分配两个阶段，分析了1992—2005年期间我国国民收入在企业、政府和居民三部门之间分配格局的变化，重点讨论了自1996年以来居民收入占比下降的原因。在分析初次分配格局时，本文将每个部门的初次分配收入占比表示为各要素分配份额按各要素收入中该部门所占比重加权得到的加权平均值。利用这一表示方式，我们校正了资金流量表中的要素分配份额，重新计算了1993—2005年间的国民收入分配格局，并推算了2006和2007年的国民收入分配格局。测算结果表明，居民部门在全国可支配收入中的占比在1996年达到最高，此后逐年降低，截止N2005年，总共下降了12．72个百分点。在初次分配和再分配阶段，居民部门分别下降了10．71和2．01个百分点。与之相对应，企业和政府部门在初次分配中的占比分别上升了7．49和3．21个百分点；在再分配阶段，居民和企业部门收入占比都下降，由此导致政府部门进一步上升3．17个百分点。我们还发现，国民收入的要素分配中劳动收入占比下降和财产收入占比下降，是居民部门在国民收入初次分配中占比下降的两个主要原因。在2005—2007年间，主要受生产水净额占比上升的影响，居民部门在国民收入中占比进一步下降了3个百分点以上．     

Express yourself? Ease to express one’s identity mediates the relationship between national belonging and mental health

ABSTRACT

A number of studies have reported a positive relationship between levels of national identification and well-being. Although this link is clear, the relationship is likely influenced by a number of other variables. In the current study, we examine two such variables: age and the ease with which people feel they can express their identity in the national context. Participants were drawn from three waves (2008–12) of the biannual New Zealand General Social Survey (NZGSS). The NZGSS consists of a number of questions related to well-being. The current study utilised the questions related to one’s sense of belonging to New Zealand, ease to express one’s identity in New Zealand, and mental health. When controlling for physical health, standard of living, and several demographic control variables, there was a clear relationship between one’s sense of belonging to New Zealand and mental health. Further, this relationship was stronger for older than younger participants. Finally, the ease with which participants felt they could express their identity in New Zealand partially mediated the relationship. Future research should elucidate which specific aspects of their identity people feel is constrained in the national context.     

Social Workers who Move into Private Practice: The Impact of the Socio-economic Context

Summary This paper is based on a doctoral research project, conductedin New Zealand between 1993 and 1999, that considered factorsin the movement of social workers into private practice (vanHeugten, 1999). The study employed a qualitative methodologyin which 33 private practitioners were interviewed using semi-structuredquestionnaires. All respondents had at least a first professionalqualification in social work. The research grew from a realizationthat there had been an upsurge in private practice since themid-1980s, during a time of increasingly right wing governmentpolicies, and free market philosophies. These policies and philosophiesled to a radical restructuring of government and not-for-profitorganizations that employed social workers. Some workers respondedto the changes by seeking alternatives to organizational employment.Concurrently opportunities for private practice were createdby the availability of third party payments for counsellingof survivors of sexual abuse and parties to marital disputes.A similar pattern of confluence of expanding social work privatepractice and free market ideology has been noted in countriessuch as Great Britain and Australia. The implications of thismovement into private practice are considered in relation toprofessional social work associations.     

The Changing Face of Pensions in Latin America: Design and Prospects of Individual Capitalization Pension Plans

This paper discusses the spread of individual capitalization pension plans in Latin America in the 1990s. Following the example of Chile in 1980, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru have all introduced individual capitalization pension schemes in the 1990s. The paper discusses the rationale for the reforms and compares the main design features of the reformed pension systems in these countries. Lastly, the likely success of pension reform is discussed by focusing on issues of pension scheme coverage, benefit adequacy and administrative costs.     

A State‐centred Explanation of the Finance‐Pension Nexus: New Zealand's Pension Reforms as a Typical Case

This study analyses the decision‐making processes that led to the introduction of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (a public pension reserve and investment fund), as well as the KiwiSaver Scheme, which is New Zealand's first soft‐compulsory private pension scheme. Why and how are governments engaged in the development of funded pensions? These are the questions this study addresses. In analyzing the finance‐pension nexus in New Zealand, this article adopts a state‐centric approach. It argues that pension funding reforms are shaped by state officials who pursue their own motives because policymakers frame funded pensions as an instrument for achieving broader fiscal, economic and financial policy outcomes. Because New Zealand is a typical case of a state‐centric explanation, a study of its pension funding reforms helps in finding causal links between finance and pensions.     

Hitting the target without missing the point: New Zealand’s immunisation health target for two year olds

ABSTRACT

The use of health targets as a form of performance measurement has become more prominent internationally as governments have sought to control public expenditure, produce greater efficiency and improve accountability. However, health targets have faced criticism for their potential to produce negative outcomes within a health system. This paper examines how a health target was used as a policy instrument within the New Zealand health system to improve immunisation coverage at two years of age. It explores how the immunisation health target was implemented within four case study sites and discusses the effectiveness of the health target as a policy instrument for improving immunisation coverage and addressing persistent immunisation inequities. Measuring and monitoring performance towards the immunisation health target improved accountability for immunisation coverage within the New Zealand health system and focused attention on improving immunisation coverage in a way that previous policy attempts had failed to do. Health targets may be an effective policy instrument for creating change within specific areas of a health system if their potential for dysfunctional consequences are taken into consideration at the outset.     

Knit Your Own Without a Pattern: Health Promotion Specialists in an Internal Market

The reforms of the National Health Service in England have given an emphasis to "strategic" approaches to health and health care, in that, ideally, purchasing decisions will be made on the basis of evidence from various forms of "needs assessment". Alongside these reforms a strategic approach to the promotion of health has been set out in the "Health of the Nation" (DoH 1992). However, although the promotion of health is high on the policy agenda, the occupational group of health promotion specialists, whose prime function it is to devise, develop and implement health promotion strategies, have been ignored. Drawing on qualitative interview data with these specialists in both provider and purchasing settings in England this paper argues that thus far the reforms have actually hindered the development of a strategic approach to the promotion of health by health promotion specialists. Three main reasons for this are suggested; a confusion over the most appropriate institutional location for health promotion specialists; a lack of clarity by key actors as to the role and function of health promotion specialists; and the emergence of a model of effectiveness and efficiency which is largely antithetical to the philosophy and practice of health promotion.     

LIMITS ON THE UTILIZATION OF ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES BY DOCTORS IN NEW ZEALAND: A PROBLEM OF BOUNDARY MAINTENANCE

This paper uses two case studies to examine the scope for medical practitioners to utilize alternative forms of diagnosis and treatment. The first is a specific study of a medical practitioner who was deemed to have transgressed the boundaries of orthodox medicine. The second is a general case study which examines the possible effects of a new medical practitioners bill and the New Zealand health reforms. It is suggested that when the medical profession is faced with external threats it attempts to strengthen itself at the cost of limiting the autonomy of its membership.     

Deregulation,workplace, and women: Nurses in private health care in India

The paper examines the growth of private health care in India in the context of its regulatory provisions and questions the work and employment conditions of female care workers (nurses) employed there. Nurses constitute 80% of the total workers in each nursing home/hospital. In the wake of increased demand for private health care since mid‐1990s, insertion of technology and investment is inducing transformation of nursing homes into multi‐ and super‐speciality hospitals resulting in changes in work organization of nurses. This has led to demand for larger numbers of workers. Employers gain by the segmentation in the nursing labor market, paying low wages. Workers face widespread social discrimination, long working hours, and high work intensity. The deplorable situation of a significant section of workers employed in this sector indicates state failure to control the private health sector. Lack of effective standards of work impacts nature of work of the workforce employed in various levels in the healthcare system.     

Youth Justice in New Zealand: Restorative Justice in Practice?

The Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 put in place new objects, principles, and procedures for youth justice in New Zealand. Both the philosophy underpinning this system and the use of family group conferences exemplify a restorative justice approach that has now been adopted in many other countries. This article describes these changes and presents some of the results of recently published research that examines the extent to which young offenders have been diverted from courts and custody, held accountable for their actions, and had their wellbeing enhanced. It suggests that the New Zealand youth justice system has achieved many but not all of its goals, and that there are still aspects where improvement is possible.     

论20世纪90年代以来北京经济领域变化的影响

本文首先论述了20世纪90年代以来北京经济领域的变化情况,进而对其社会影响进行研究分析,最后提出了基本结论:20世纪90年代以来北京在经济结构和经济制度方面发生了重大变化,这种变化对北京社会产生了广泛而深刻的影响,造成了社会阶层的分化,并导致了社会结构的重大变化。     

Radical change or more of the same? Public attitudes towards social citizenship in New Zealand since neoliberal reform

International empirical evidence, including that from Australia, suggests that neoliberal reform has not changed public attitudes towards the social rights of citizenship as much as one might predict. But do these international findings hold true for New Zealand, whose institutions were more rapidly transformed by neoliberal reform than similar countries? Drawing upon public opinion data regarding economic protectionism and the welfare state over the past two decades, this paper argues that while some significant changes have emerged there is no overwhelming evidence of a paradigmatic shift in public attitudes towards social citizenship rights as a result of New Zealand's neoliberal reform. Indeed, New Zealand's experience appears as ambiguous and ambivalent as that of Australia, albeit different policy and historical settings have produced some differences in public attitudes.     

Social Security in Australia and New Zealand: Means-tested or Just Mean?

The social security systems of Australia and New Zealand have traditionally rejected social insurance in favour of a means-tested categorical safety net approach that provides considerable scope for targeting. The experience of both countries provides many examples of how targeting can be used to constrain social security spending, and these have attracted interest in other countries keen to contain the growth in their social security budgets. However, although there are many similarities between the two systems, there are also many differences and these have become greater as targeting has gathered momentum over the last two decades. This paper analyses how targeting has been used in each country as a way of illustrating the different approaches adopted. Attention is focused on how the retirement income systems of the two countries illustrate an increasing policy divergence, with the planned Australian transition to a "multi-pillar" approach in contrast to the constant (and continuing) reform of New Zealand superannuation. Household data on the pattern of receipt of transfer incomes and their impact on the distribution of income are then used to explore the impact of targeting since the early 1980s. This analysis suggests that, in practice, targeting has had a far smaller impact on income inequality in both countries than is often claimed.