Contents

1 Social security and income maintenance

2 Health care

3 Education

4 Housing and environment

5 Personal social services

6 Law and the treatment of the offender

7 Unemployment and the labour market

8 Race relations

9 The voluntary sector

10 Local government

11 Gender

12 Demography

Contents

1 Social security and income maintenance

2 Health care

3 Education

4 Housing and environment

5 Personal social services

6 Law and the treatment of the offender

7 Unemployment and the labour market

8 Race relations

9 The voluntary sector

10 Local government

11 Gender

12 Demography

A. Figueroa, T. Altamirano and D. Sulmont, Social Exclusion and Inequality in Peru, International Institute for Labour Studies Research Series, No. 104, ILO, Geneva, 1996, 96 pp., 17.50 Swiss francs.

M. H. Hashem, Goals for Social Integration and Realities of Social Exclusion in the Republic of Yemen, International Institute for Labour Studies Research Series, No. 105, ILO, Geneva, 1996, 116 pp., 20 Swiss francs.

P. Appasamay, S. Guhan, R. Hema, M. Majumdar and A. Vaidyanathan, Social Exclusion from a Welfare Rights Perspective in India, International Institute for Labour Studies Research Series, No. 106, ILO, Geneva, 1996, 133 pp., 22.50 Swiss francs.

P. Phongpaichit, S. Piriyarangsanan, and N. Treerat, Challenging Social Exclusion: Rights and Livelihood in Thailand, International Institute for Labour Studies Research Series, No. 107, ILO, Geneva, 1996, 122 pp., 20 Swiss francs.

N. Tchernina, Economic Transition and Social Exclusion in Russia, International Institute for Labour Studies Research Series, No. 108, ILO, Geneva, 1996, 103 pp., 17.50 Swiss francs.

F. Kaijage and A. Tibaijuka, Poverty and Social Exclusion in Tanzania, International Institute for Labour Studies Research Series, No. 109, ILO, Geneva, 1996, 202 pp., 25 Swiss francs.

(All published for the International Institute for Labour Studies/United Nations Development Programme by the International Labour Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland.)

These volumes were commissioned as part of an International Labour Organisation/UN Development Programme research series to explore the relevance and the value of the notion of social exclusion in a global context.

There has been vociferous criticism of the Child Support Act since it began operation in 1993, but until now this has been conducted by men's groups such as Network against the Child Support Agency, and by the second families of absent parents. This small scale study by Clarke, Craig and Glendinning is a longitudinal evaluation of how the CSA has affected the lives of the lone mothers, and shows that they are equally critical.

This book charts the changing and increasing demands for social welfare and the attempts by governments to contain and restructure social expenditures, focusing on seven EU states. These contradictory pressures are encapsulated in the phrase ‘squaring the welfare circle’, which was also the sub-title of an earlier text on the British welfare state from ‘the Kent School’ (George and Miller, 1994). The latter took a notably downbeat view of the social policy future in Britain, arguing that the Conservative reforms since 1979 had set in train a profound transformation from a liberal, collectivist to a residual, neo-liberal model of social welfare. In the new book, the editors maintain this view.

‘Community Care for the Elderly in Urban China: Myth or Reality’ was the title suggested originally for this book. It should have been chosen, as it would have provided a more accurate reflection of the book's contents. The focus is very much on urban China and there is no attempt to discuss issues of ‘Chinese culture’ in the wider context of Hong Kong, Taiwan, the ethnic Chinese communities of South East Asia, or indeed those of London, Sydney or Vancouver.

The fourth dimension – time – has only recently come on to the agenda in Britain in the study of low income and poverty. Yet as Robert Walker states, ‘without taking time into account ... it is impossible to develop policies that successfully tackle the multiple causes of [poverty]’ (Walker, 1994). In the US studies specifically looking at ‘welfare dynamics’ – following ‘welfare’ recipients in and out of benefit – have a much longer history dating back to the early 1980s (Bane and Ellwood, 1983). Tracking those on low income over time requires access to longitudinal studies which contain appropriate income data. In the US, the Panel Study on Income Dynamics (PSID), in particular, goes back to the 1960s. In Britain there was no comparable survey generating longitudinal data until the advent of the British Household Panel Survey with a first wave in 1991.