European, North American and Australasian welfare states are not being retrenched as much as restructured. Gender relations and changes in the social construction of individuals and families form a key dimension of this restructuring. Significantly, social changes associated with gender have...

This paper examines the multiple strands of liberal ideology interwoven in social policy in four countries often regarded as having ‘liberal’ welfare states. These are Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Social policy liberalism includes both classical liberalism in...

This paper focuses on four questions: 1) What do universality and selectivity mean in practice in the income support systems of various countries? 2) Are selective income support arrangements more effective than universal ones in ensuring low levels of poverty? 3) Is it true that selective...

This Discussion Paper brings together two short papers reflecting on current proposals for reform in income support policy in the context of continuing high levels of unemployment and underemployment. In the first, Sheila Shaver reviews the conflicting arguments for Participation Income and...

This paper is concerned with social citizenship as the basis of rightful entitlement to the benefits of the welfare state, and with differences in the way in which it is expressed in the income support systems of different countries. Citizenship is variously associated with equality of status,...

Recent developments in the provision of ongoing care have served to highlight the significance of informal caregiving for social policy, making private households the preferred site for the exercise of public responsibility for many of the most vulnerable and dependent citizens. We discuss two...