Do means-tested benefits alleviate poverty?: Evidence on Germany, Sweden                and the United Kingdom from the Luxembourg Income Study

Behrendt, Christina

doi:10.1177/a011398

Cited by 68 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…others' estimation of benefits in the micro-data of the LIS (Behrendt 2000;Mahler and Jesuit 2006;Smeeding 2006). This measure calculates the equivalized value of total government assistance received by single mother and all households in each country in the LIS.…”

Section: Country-level Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Targeting, Universalism, and Single-Mother Poverty: A Multilevel Analysis Across 18 Affluent Democracies

2012

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in TARGETING, UNIVERSALISM AND SINGLE MOTHER POVERTY: A MULTI-LEVEL ANALYSIS ACROSS 18 AFFLUENT DEMOCRACIES ABSTRACTWe examine the influence of individual characteristics and targeted and universal social policy on single mother poverty with a multi-level analysis across 18 affluent democracies. Although single mothers are disproportionately poor in all countries, there is even more cross-national variation in single mother poverty than for poverty among the overall population. By far, the U.S. has the highest rate of poverty among single mothers. The analyses show that single mother poverty is a function of the household's employment, education, age composition, and the presence of other adults. Beyond individual characteristics, social policy exerts substantial influence on single mother poverty. We find that two measures of universal social policy significantly reduce single mother poverty. Alternatively, one measure of targeted social policy does not have significant effects, while another measure is only significantly negative when controlling for universal social policy. Moreover, the effects of universal social policy are larger. Additional analyses show that universal social policy does not have counterproductive consequences in terms of family structure or employment, while the results are less clear for targeted social policy. Although debates often focus on altering the behavior or characteristics of single mothers, welfare universalism could be an even more effective anti-poverty strategy. 2 TARGETING, UNIVERSALISM AND SINGLE MOTHER POVERTY: A MULTI-LEVEL ANALYSIS ACROSS 18 AFFLUENT DEMOCRACIES

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Section: Country-level Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Targeting, Universalism, and Single-Mother Poverty: A Multilevel Analysis Across 18 Affluent Democracies

2012

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“…If people want to claim welfare, they have to demonstrate need. Welfare benefits in the Netherlands are characterized by income and/or assets tests, and are means-tested (Behrendt, 2000;p. 24).…”

Section: The Bureaucratic Field and The Symbolic Strugglementioning

confidence: 99%

Persistent Poverty in the Netherlands : A sociological study

Noordhoff¹

2008

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All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. PERSISTENT 3.Conversion strategies to conquer labor market positions 55 Appendice 201 Appendix A 201References 207 Summary in Dutch 226Index 233 9 List of tables PrefaceThis manuscript is about poverty in the Netherlands during the late 1990s. I made use of the "Landscapes of Poverty"-project database (1997)(1998)(1999) . Despite the fact that the economy increased most significantly during the second half of the 1990s, (when the information and communication technology boosted industrial sectors, the state introduced new labor market policies, so that more jobs became available) the number of the long-term poor did not change (SCP, 2001; p. 40). In spite of this, these conditions did not result in fewer people in poverty (SCP, 2001; p. 46): in 1990 14,8% and 14,3% of the households were considered poor (De Beer, 2000; p. 210-2). These numbers confirm the impression that there is a stable population of socially and economically excluded people.Dutch social scientists -interested in persistent poverty -asked how this could happen while the economy was growing (cf. Engbersen, 1997). This led to a large-scale research project on poverty. This undertaking, the "Landscapes of Poverty"-project (1997Poverty"-project ( -1999 was funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), and aimed at describing and explaining the situation of people in poverty -those who did not (start to) profit from the boosting economy (the long-term unemployed, single parents, the elderly, and migrants). This project explored the life-world of people in poverty, demonstrating and describing the daily struggles of people in poverty. The incidence of poverty was already described in other reports; for example, the Annual Poverty Monitors contain 12 poverty statistics. The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) writes these reports, reporting on the number of people in poverty, poverty trends, spells, and dynamics, poverty measurement, and spatial distribution of poverty (cf. SCP, 1997SCP, , 1998SCP, , 1999SCP, , 2000SCP, , 2001SCP, , 2003SCP, , 2005. The "Landscapes of Poverty"-project aimed, instead, at collecting the personal stories behind these numbers to complement the existing statistical research with qualitative observations. This research proceeds from poverty definitions used by the SCP and the CBS (Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics). Commonly, two income definitions are used in the Netherlands. The first definition is the social policy minimum, which is based on the statutory minimum income as adopted by the government in its social legislation (SCP, 2004; 9-10). Because the social policy minimum is 5% more than the statutory minimum ...

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“…Generally, they presume that means tested benefits are meagre, they are associated with stigma, and the administration of benefits is characterised by stringency and intervention in private lives. Other researchers, for example, Tony Eardley et al (1996), Francis Castles (1997), andChristina Behrendt (2000) have underlined cross-national variations in means tested benefits. A major weakness of the poverty regime is its unclear theoretical status and problematic relationship to the concept of welfare state regime.…”

Section: Poverty Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

European Anti-Poverty Policies in the 1990s: Toward a Common Safety Net?

Sainsbury

Morissens

2002

SSRN Journal

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. the safety nets. Subsequently we analyse the incidence of poverty and poverty reduction for the entire population and vulnerable groups-the unemployed, solo mothers and large families, and the elderly-in the countries using data from the Luxembourg Income Study. In analysing poverty reduction effectiveness we utilise both relative and absolute measures to gauge the impact of income maintenance policies, distinguishing between the safety net and other transfers. Terms of use: Documents inThe analysis reveals that during the 1990s the poverty rate increased in most countries and in many instances for vulnerable groups; an exception was the elderly. Means tested benefits assumed growing importance in alleviating poverty, but reforms also produced diversity in the safety nets across Europe. Contrary to earlier theorising that means tested benefits are marginalized in the social democratic welfare state regime, we find that the safety nets in these countries often equalled or surpassed that of the UK in reducing poverty. Finally, apart from impressive poverty reduction, the policies of the three candidate countries did not form a distinctive poverty regime. Instead they tended to cluster with other member countries.

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Do means-tested benefits alleviate poverty?: Evidence on Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom from the Luxembourg Income Study

Cited by 68 publications

References 17 publications

Targeting, Universalism, and Single-Mother Poverty: A Multilevel Analysis Across 18 Affluent Democracies

Targeting, Universalism, and Single-Mother Poverty: A Multilevel Analysis Across 18 Affluent Democracies

Persistent Poverty in the Netherlands : A sociological study

European Anti-Poverty Policies in the 1990s: Toward a Common Safety Net?

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