Social Policy and Poverty in East Asia: The Role of Social Security

by Midgley; James

• ISBN13: 9780415434850
• ISBN10: 0415434858
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-09-09
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book looks at the role of social policy and particularly social security in addressing the ongoing challenge of poverty in East Asia despite the region "s spectacular experience of economic growth in decent decades. The East Asian miracle resulted over the last four decades in a transformation of the region "s traditional agrarian economies and significant increases in standards of living for many ordinary people. Even though it was given little attention, poverty has remained an ongoing problem. The problem became particularly evident however with the Asian financial crisis of 1997 when many low income and middle class workers became unemployed. As a result of this crisis, the need for effective social policies and social security programs were recognized. The idea that economic growth would solve the problem of poverty was increasingly challenged. Even in China today, where rapid growth has created new employment opportunities and the promise of prosperity for many, the government has recognized that the problem of poverty cannot be addressed only through economic growth but that comprehensive social policies must be formulated, and this includes the development of an effective security system.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. vii
List of contributors	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Introduction and context	p. 1
Introduction: poverty and social policy responses in East Asia	p. 3
The role of social security in poverty alleviation: an international review	p. 16
Country case studies: social security in East Asia	p. 45
The emergence of social assistance in China: challenges and issues	p. 47
Social assistance programmes in Singapore	p. 66
Korea's national basic livelihood programme and social development	p. 81
Welfare-to-work reform in Hong Kong: overview and prospects	p. 99
Rural social protection in China: reform, performance and problems	p. 116
Innovations and issues of social policy and poverty in East Asia	p. 129
Building assets for the poor in Taiwan: policy innovation from income to assets	p. 131
From microcredit to microinsurance: creating social security where there is none	p. 142
The social investment fund of Thailand: new intermediaries for local development	p. 155
Knowledge of public policy and the perceived positive impact of the welfare benefits system	p. 167
Social security, housing policy and asset-building: the relevance of home ownership for elderly income protection in Hong Kong	p. 182
Index	p. 195
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.