Most analyses of social protection are focussed on public arrangements. However, social effort is not restricted to the public domain; all kinds of private arrangements can be substitutes to public programs. OECD-data indicate that accounting for private social benefits has an equalising effect...

This paper analyzes the relationship between social expenditure and relative income poverty. A vast literature claims that high social effort goes along with low poverty levels across countries. Social expenditure ratios are generally used as a proxy for social effort. However, this indicator is...

Most analyses of social protection are focussed on public arrangements. However, social effort is not restricted to the public domain; all kinds of private arrangements can be substitutes to public programs. In fact, in several countries there has been a shift from public towards private social...

Member States of the European Union are autonomous when it comes to the design of their social protection systems. However, they are committed by a recommendation accepted by the European Council addressing the convergence of social protection objectives and policies. Besides, convergence of...