Social vulnerability due to insufficient income and earnings may come from many sources, both demographic and economic, in a globalizing world. This paper examines the problems of population aging, low wages, growing inequality, and insufficient social spending. Vulnerable groups such as...

Most examinations of United States domestic antipoverty policy are inherently parochial, for they are based on the experiences of only our nation in isolation from the others. However, cross-national comparisons can also teach lessons about antipoverty policy. While all nations value low...

This paper estimates the redistributive effects of welfare state expenditures on children and disparities in the economic well-being of children in ten nations and relates the two. Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other sources for cash and non-cash...

This paper provides a brief overview of the basic concepts and measures used to estimate income inequality and poverty in the developed world. A summary assessment of the available comparative databases is included in our discussion. We also examine the relative merits of absolute and relative...