Social protection initiatives are indispensable as they offer most needed assistance to exceedingly poor individuals or households. Through social protection initiatives, the poor and vulnerable are able to deal with economic and social risks such as unemployment, sickness, old age and disability. Cash transfers are examples of social protection initiatives which ensure disadvantaged groups such as the terminally ill, HIV patients, Orphans, food insecure homestead’s and people with disabilities access basic services. The main objective of social protection is to reduce vulnerability of poor individuals as they offer a source of income, which the poor use to access basic services. The poor and other vulnerable groups are susceptible to livelihood risks, and cash transfers promote their social status by reducing their social and economic vulnerability. Research by Devereux and Wheeler (2004) established that Social protection is a major contributor to poverty a key millennium development goal. Different initiatives of social protection services empower the poor and vulnerable. For the purposes of this research paper, the scope of social protection will be confined to cash and consumption transfers. Thus, the thesis statement for the research paper is; Social Protection, especially cash transfers offers the possibility of income or consumption transfers to poorer people and the vulnerable.
According to a DFID (Department for International Development) report 2011, Cash transfers emerged in the late 1990’s in the international arena, and in the developing countries mainly as a risk and vulnerability management tool. To date, programs funded by cash transfers are estimated to cover a billion people, mostly in the developing...
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...erable Children from Uninsured Risks:Adapting Conditional Cash Transfer Programs to Provide Broader Safety Nets. [Online] Available at:< http://www.rlc.fao.org/es/prioridades/seguridad/ingreso5/pdf/invest07.pdf>[Accessed 28 November 2013].
Kidd, S., 2006. “Social Protection and the White Paper”. Social Protection Team, Policy Division, DFID, London.
The Word Bank. 2012. Safety Nets: Cash Transfers. [Online] Available at:[Accessed 29 November 2013].
Samson, M., 2009. Social Cash Transfers and Pro-Poor Growth. [Online] Available at:
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UNDP., 2006. Poverty In Focus. [Online] Available at:[Accessed 29 November 2013].
This mini-paper will discuss the social welfare system. The mini-paper includes a discussion of welfare Policy, residual and institutional approach, and what is Social Welfare and Social Security. Midgely, (2009), pointed out that social welfare systems deliver services that facilitate and empower our society, especially to those persons who require assistance in meeting their basic human needs. The goal of social welfare is to provide social services to citizens from diverse cultures, and examples include Medicare, Medicaid, and food benefits. Midgley,( 2009).
The Open University (2010) K101 An introduction to health and social care, Unit 3, ‘Social Care In The Community’, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
... aid across the world. As we have established that we do have an obligation to redistribute globally in a cosmopolitan perspective, distributing wealth however we may need to rethink what the best assistance is. Amaryta Sen conveys that before sending aid to the third world state, we would need to fully understand the limitation of freedom in the country. Redistributing wealth to global countries requires it to be evaluated by the economic shortage that they are suffering and to see whether it will be efficient in the long run. The more effective ways to contribute would be to international relief agencies or NGO’s that would pursue international development projects to help those in poverty or the alternative option by Tom Campbell’s idea of a ‘Global humanitarian levy’ which suggests a more appropriate taxation on all citizens to collectively aid those in need.
Surrey: Avebury. Timmins, N. (1996) 2nd Ed. The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State. Glasgow: Fontana Press.
Smith, Kristin and Adams, Nicholas, "Child care subsidies critical for low-income families amid rising child care expenses" (2013). The Carsey Institute at the Scholars' Repository. 5 May 2013. Paper. 19 Nov. 2013.
Parton, N., Thorpe, D. and Wattam, C. (1997) Child Protection Risk and Moral Order, London: Macmillan
Karen Bridget Murray’s article, “Governing ‘Unwed Mothers’ in Toronto at the Turn of the Twentieth Century”, is a valuable reference into the struggles and triumphs of social welfare for unwed mothers. For me the article highlighted how government ideologies influence social welfare, how important the change from religious reformers practices to social work was and finally how appalling it is that the struggles and barriers these women faced are still relevant to single mothers today.
The poor are everywhere it seems. They are on the street corner, in the local 7 Eleven, and in the plaza. Sometimes I get sick of them and even angry with them when they pester me for money. I ask myself, "Is the best way to deal with poor, to give them money from my pocket?" It's obvious that other people have given them money from their pockets at different times. If no one had ever given them money, then these people wouldn't be standing here asking for money. The fact is, many poor people ask for money because they know they can get money that way. For most of the last 70 years our government has indirectly given the poor money from our pockets, through taxes and welfare. Not surprisingly, people have continued to ask for money. For most of those 70 years welfare fed the mentality that the best way to get money was to ask. I believe welfare as it was first started, failed miserably and created millions of dependents in poverty instead of independents above poverty. The welfare reform of 1996, I believe has helped the poor escape from the trap of poverty and is a more beneficial way of dealing with the poor.
Alcock, P. Erskine, A. and May, M (1998) The Student’s Companion to Social Policy, 2nd Edition, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing
Health Insurance is essential to Personal Well Being and your Health. For a large proportion of uninsured people, health insurance can and most often a matter of choice. Uninsured Americans normally tend to delay and even go without doctors' visits, prescription medications, and other effective treatments, even if they know they have serious or a life-threatening condition. (Institute 2009). 20 to 30 percent of uninsured children are more likely to need certain shots, prescription medications, asthma care ,basic dental care and other things that we would consider a must have. Uninsured children with conditions requiring ongoing medical attention are 6 to 8 times more likely to have health care needs and can’t get the required tools and medicine that they need. Uninsured children are also more likely than insured children to miss school due to health problems and to experience preventable hospitalizations. (Institute 2009)Many of these children are classified as being the minority out of the 20 to 30 percent of children about 15 percent are minorities (H.
... higher incomes to support the program. Parents can use their health care plans to include their children till the age of 26 which solved similar problems to John’ son.
LSCB, (2013), SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND VULNERABLE ADULTS POLICY, (www.safechildren-cios.co.uk), [Assessed 1 November 2013].
Although the welfare state system has worked immensely in providing and establishing a substantial life to people, yet it has some ambiguities at times and it does face challenges due to the different policies and territories it is based in.
While images of starving orphans may touch the hearts of wealthy westerners, those same images may be deceiving the viewers to achieve higher donation rates. The cash is then distributed in a way that the organizations see fit. The donor learns nothing about the political and economical structure in the third world country that they have “supported,” and they continue about their day with no knowledge of where their money actually ended up. There is a lack of education, and as a result the financial gap between the rich and the poor continues to increase.
Social issues are problems in the society today that are described as wrong, widespread and changeable. A category of conditions that people believe need to be changed. Poverty is a serious social issue in the society today. According to Peilin (2012), poverty brings hardships to families and individuals as well as political thereby negatively affecting the social stability and social development and posing a severe threat to human security (p. 243). This paper focuses on poverty as a social issue in today’s society. First, it gives a succinct introduction of the social issue, and then describes how it fits into the field of sociology. It also evaluates the sociological theories and terminology that relate to the social issue. The section that follows evaluates what is known and unknown about the particular social issue. This is followed by a discussion regarding the value of sociological research into the issue determining the available or possible practical implications of the sociological inquiry. The information presented here is strongly supported by the concepts and theories derived from reliable sources.