Financial journeys of Australian parents after separation – transitions into and out of poverty

It is well established that relationship separation has greater negative economic consequences for mothers than for fathers in Australia and other developed countries. While research has shown that, at an aggregate level, such negative impacts tend to diminish with time, the rate of change is generally slower for mothers than fathers, and a higher proportion of mothers than fathers continue to experience entrenched financial difficulties. Less is known about the variability of economic journeys experienced by women and men, taken separately, and factors influencing diverse economic trajectories. Drawing on data from the Longitudinal Study of Separated Families (LSSF), which followed up a large sample parents at three post‐separation points, this article examines poverty rates across a 4‐year period, transitions into and out of poverty and factors affecting these pathways.     

Graduating Out of Poverty Across Generations: Unpacking Children’s Well‐being Trajectories in Burundi

Graduation model interventions represent a new wave of anti‐poverty programming that seeks to offer a sustainable pathway out of poverty. An expanding evidence base points towards positive economic outcomes at household level but little is known about impacts on child well‐being. This paper investigates children’s well‐being in Burundi during and after participation in a graduation model programme using a longitudinal mixed‐methods approach. The programme is found to improve child well‐being, particularly in relation to housing, food security and education. Covariate shocks undermine sustainability of effects but greater knowledge, experience and prioritisation of children’s needs contribute to harnessing improved outcomes.     

政策边缘人：理解基层政策执行难的一个视角——以精准扶贫中的“争贫”为例

当公共政策只针对部分社会群体的时候，靠近政策分界线但又没有享受到政策利益的群体就会成为政策边缘人，政策边缘人属于利益外群体，但其结构性位置却又让其最接近分享政策利益，属于潜在受益者。在社会分化和竞争的背景下，政策边缘人与其他条件差不多的群体对比会产生相对剥夺感。政策边缘人会认为享有政策利益本应是他们的权利，于是他们基于维权的想法会通过各种方式谋取政策利益，在此过程中就会影响到基层公共政策的执行。因此，建议通过提高基层治理的法治化、科学化、精细化水平和组织化程度等方式减少政策边缘人对政策执行和基层治理带来的消极影响。     

From industrial restructuring to the financial crisis: Mainstream nationalism and minimum income in the Basque Country

The uneven development of minimum incomes in Spain is one of the factors that explain the significant differences in the poverty indicators that characterize the Spanish regions, generally in favour of the territories most committed to these policies (Basque Country, Navarra and Asturias). However, there are other aspects that deserve some consideration when interpreting the specific method of developing minimum incomes in southern Europe. One aspect has to do with the differing dynamics of countries, such as Spain and Italy, which have opted for a decentralized regional model. In this regard, the regional autonomous initiative of the Basque Country played a decisive role in promoting minimum income programs in the late 1980s. Without its leadership in the launch of the regional minimum income policy, Spanish trade unions would probably not have opted for this method as a mechanism for combating poverty in the 1990s. No Italian region went on to play this driving role at that time. This article analyses the ideological foundations of the Basque minimum income policy introduced in the late 1980s and which grew significantly before and during the crisis that started in 2007-2008. It examines the dominant political narrative on this issue by analysing the discourse of some of the key nationalist leaders involved in the birth and development of the minimum income scheme. The approach shows that the experience of social decline linked to industrial restructuring processes was instrumental in the construction of the nationalist narrative.     

贫困农户脱贫主体性不足的发生逻辑

“干部积极干，农户站边看”的贫困群体脱贫逆化现象影响着农村社会的健康发展和脱贫攻坚工作的高效开展。通过田野调查发现，贫困农户脱贫主体性不足的发生逻辑首先在于小农理性下受利益驱使的农户形成争当贫困户的“自愿型贫困”，造成贫困农户“不愿”脱贫；其次，贫困农户在贫困识别、资源匹配和脱贫行动选择方面因决策受限形成“边缘化治贫”，造成农户的“不能”脱贫；最后，贫困农户受贫困文化影响导致“精神贫困”，造成贫困农户的“内卷化脱贫”。因此，需要从增加贫困农户脱贫意愿和强化贫困农户内生脱贫能力两个维度来构建贫困农户的有效脱贫主体性。     

Living on the edge: welfare and the urban poor in 1930s Beijing

This article examines poverty and welfare provision in early twentieth-century Beijing as dialogue and transaction between the city government and the urban poor. Earlier studies of the Chinese urban have tended to emphasize the material aspects of urban development, and the efforts of planners and city governments to modernize China’s cities, rather than the human experience of the city. This article draws on the extensive archives of the Beijing Municipal Government Social Affairs Bureau to extend our understanding of the experience of poverty and the agency of the poor. The archive confirms that Beijing’s growing and increasingly formalized welfare institutions were designed to discipline the poor as they alleviated poverty. However, the correspondence between applicants for welfare and the Social Affairs Bureau also reveals that the poor often approached these institutions instrumentally and assertively. Recourse to the welfare institute became a livelihood tactic, a claim on the authorities in pursuit of which certain sub-groups within the poor mobilized intangible assets, from social networks to understanding of the intended terms of the system, to sway the terms of their engagement with the authorities in their own favour.     

The Great Recession of 2007: An Agenda for Social Justice

The Great Recession, the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression, officially began in December 2007 with an 8 trillion dollar housing bubble and lasted until June 2009, resulting in loss in consumer spending and collapse in the nation’s business investment. For American workers, the Great Recession had far-reaching implications: unemployment, underemployment, pay cuts, and cutbacks in household spending. Although social work has a historical commitment to address the vulnerabilities of people and communities, we argue that the profession neglected to understand fully the factors associated with the Great Recession and to mount an agenda for justice in response to its worker-related impact.     

‘Growing Old’ in Shelters and ‘On the Street’: Experiences of Older Homeless People

Homelessness among older people in Canada is both a growing concern, and an emerging field of study. This article reports thematic results of qualitative interviews with 40 people aged 46 to 75, carried out as part of a mixed-methods study of older people who are homeless in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Our participants included people with histories of homelessness (n = 14) and persons new to homelessness in later life (n = 26). Interviews focused on experiences at the intersections of aging and homelessness including social relationships, the challenges of living on the streets and in shelters in later life, and the future. This article outlines the 5 main themes that capture the experience of homelessness for our participants: age exacerbates worries; exclusion and isolation; managing significant challenges; shifting needs and realities; and resilience, strength, and hope. Together, these findings underscore the need for specific programs geared to the unique needs of older people who are homeless.     

Asset Accumulation: An Alternative Approach to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are unlikely to be achieved by 2015, owing to conceptual flaws in their design as well as the structural and political constraints faced during implementation at the country level. While criticism of the MDGs is widespread, innovative ideas on addressing these operational challenges are still scanty. By reviewing a number of experiences, including those of the Foundation for the Promotion of Local Development (PRODEL) in Nicaragua and the Ministry of Cities in Brazil, this article highlights the importance of incorporating an asset‐accumulation perspective into MDG‐related policies and programmes as a way of generating an enabling environment that opens up new opportunities for poverty reduction in the cities of low‐ and middle‐low‐income countries.