Structural pressures, social policy and poverty

The purpose of this article is twofold. The first aim is to examine 15 OECD countries from the point of view of the so‐called third‐generation studies, analysing if the development of poverty and income transfers has been uniform in countries classified under the same welfare state models. This has been done to test how appropriate it is to use welfare state models as an analytical tool in comparative welfare state research. The second aim is to examine the effect of different structural factors on poverty and income transfers. Obtained results indicate that two demographic variables studied behave somewhat differently. The share of older people in the population is – not very surprisingly – connected to an increase in income transfers. In the case of younger population groups, the results are the opposite. The results show that the greater the proportion of older people in the population, the lower the poverty rates. Social policy has in many countries consisted primarily of pension policy, and investments in the elderly population are now beginning to bear fruit. Good pension schemes diminish the immediate poverty risk of older people. As a consequence of their increased well‐being, the overall poverty rate will fall. In addition to demographic factors, the results indicate that the unemployment rate is connected, on the one hand, to growth in income transfers and, on the other hand, also to increases in poverty. However, unemployment’s effect on poverty is not straightforward. The direct effect is indeed an increase in poverty but, if income transfers are taken into account, the indirect effect is a decrease in poverty, since unemployment increases income transfers (unemployment benefits), which on their side alleviate poverty

Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Labour economics · Pension · Political science · Population · Poverty · Poverty rate · Social policy · Sociology · Unemployment · Welfare · Welfare state · Demography · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Social Policy and Reform Studies

• Institutions, Structures and Poverty--A Comparative Study of 16 Countries, 1980-2000

  Olof Bäckman•European Sociological Review•2008

  Incluir item

• Cross-national welfare state research at a theoretical impasse

  Open Access•Karl Johnson•Journal of International and…•2025

  Incluir item

• Does family still matter? Public and private transfers in emerging welfare state systems in a comparative perspective

  Open Access•Jin‐wook Kim, Jin Wook Kim et al.•International Journal of Social…•2010

  Incluir item

• The Lithuanian social policy model

  Dainius Bernotas, Arvydas Guogis•Journal of Baltic Studies•2001

  Incluir item

• Determinants of Relative Poverty in Advanced Capitalist Democracies

  Stephanie Moller, E Huber et al.•American Sociological Review•2003

  Incluir item