Cross-National Social Policy Comparison between South Africa and Australia - Essay Example

Running Head: National Social Policy Cross National Social Policy Comparison between South Africa and Australia Student Name: Professor’s Name: Subject Code and Name: Date Submitted: Cross National Social Policy Comparison between South Africa and Australia Introduction The provisional of welfare as part of the social policy in either developed or developing countries impacts some definitional and theoretical questions due to the differing, political, social and economic histories of the countries. The comparative social analysis will be along the political and economic developments of South Africa and Australia in their individual welfare policies. The large part of welfare provision in the social policy debate has been dominated by the practices and policies of the central governments. However, with the dynamic world, the policy debate of national governments has been shaped by the international forces so that it is less biased to political considerations. Effective social policies are the solutions to poverty and social development in South Africa. Through social policy interventions, the social wellbeing of citizens in the country is promoted through the social protection policies, social assistance and pensions with the aim of reducing poverty. Decent housing is an essential provision that is aimed at reducing social exclusion and poverty. Social policy interventions address the social inequalities in wealth to ensure greater equality for all and promote social equality and inclusion for all. The South African government has taken radical steps for policy making based on evidence to promote their decision making capacity. Through the partnership with the UK government, the Government has promoted the understanding of social policy in the government and conduct evidence based high quality research that will enhance the South African policy training and research. The Department of Social Development (DSD) is responsible for these developments since it is given the mandate for the poverty alleviation programmes, social security and social welfare. The South African civil servants have been introduced policies and programmes for social and human development. All the government departments which include the national, local and provincial governments have been introduced and established on evidence based policy making. In the recent developments, poverty debates have rocked South African’s policy discussions. South Africa however has shown significant progress in its policy agenda on human and social development within its first decade of democracy. The former apartheid regime may be blamed to a large extent on the inequality, structural unemployment and poverty that still hinders social development in South Africa. The South African government has signed to the Millennium Development Goals by considering halving its poverty levels by 2015. For the goals to be achieved there is inevitably need to have policies that will accelerate the rate of employment creation especially due to the transitional times experienced where many argue that the citizens were better of f 10 years ago than they are today. High on the political agenda still remains the need to combat poverty levels especially in the post apartheid periods. The social policy is summed in the improved healthcare, low levels of crime, increased literacy and numeracy levels, promoting learning and culture and eradicating poverty. Further combatment of poverty has been embraced by the Finance ministry who have established an official poverty line after public consultations with the stakeholders on the appropriate poverty line. The apartheid poverty lines were not uniform since they were racialized and justified the minimal wages for black people as compared to the whites who had a higher poverty line than the blacks. The multidimensional research on poverty has broadened the understanding of social policy (Alcock & Craig, 2001). Results reveal that after quantifying the social wage, the access to basic necessities increased in most households which include the low income ones. The poverty debate takes a larger perspective where it is seen as a denial of choices and opportunities basic to human development that would make them enjoy a decent standard of living. South Africa is the leading well-to-do country in the African continent but has particularly failed in its response to the AIDS pandemic which was one of the deadliest in the world though ranked in international policy ranks of a developed country. Both the public and private sectors have not responded well to the pandemic especially in providing antiretroviral drugs to the AIDS workers. The pandemic is especially threatening the social welfare of southafricans since it targeted the people in the active working stage who are largely depended upon by their households and the economy. The pandemic not only tested the capacity of the private and public sectors to respond to it, it also tests the level of relocation of the burdens of the affected within the welfare system. In the two post apartheid regimes, the governments seemed unable to deal with the pandemic with their resultant intervention becoming largely unacceptable. This unwilling response was hampered by political debates through denial, while the civil society acted to stimulate cooperation and create awareness of the epidemic. The private sector however took a faster pace to respond to the epidemic by rolling out programmes to provide free antiretroviral drugs and therapy to their staff especially among high profile firms. This non uniform response is likely to further the existing inequalities in the country which means there should be more aggressive campaigns to pressure the government to effectively address its social policy on welfare. There is also evidence that the private sector and the civil society can to some extent solve the social welfare crisis when the government is unwilling and pressure the government over the same since they are the taxpayers. The constructive response could assist in mitigating the welfare effects of the pandemic through the broader societal attempts. There is therefore a fundamental relationship between the market and the state in meeting the welfare needs of the country. South Africa is placed in a negative position by apartheid to respond effectively to the welfare crisis given that welfare then was for a small minority since the distributional regime was unequal and discriminatory. The conservative macroeconomic policy model adopted by the democratic government reduced the government spending to secure foreign funding and as a result the social welfare needs were minimized. The democratic transition has however deracialized the welfare with the minority rich being highly taxed with a generous welfare system of welfare provision for the public especially the public health and education and non contributory old age pensions. Progressive taxation has aided the expansion of the contributory social assistance program that give monthly cash grants to the aged, disabled, ill and disabled and unable to work. This gives equalization of all racial categories as a remedial effect for the inequality levels that still persist. However the structural inequality along racial lines has reduced but still persists along the class lines, there is immense inequality contributed by the high levels of unemployment. As a result, there is need to review the growth model to increase the social welfare benefits for the unemployed as in other developed countries welfare regimes and reduce the looming class inequalities. Besides the AIDS welfare task, there is an enormous burden and dependency as a result of unemployment with the steady decline in formal employment jobs. The response of the SA government towards mitigating the welfare impacts of the AIDS epidemic and the unemployment has not come two fold. The larger AIDS pandemic has been tackled in two ways; through the welfare grant system and the restructured department of health with a focus on provision of ARVs and AIDS prevention. Primary health services remain to be provided by the private sector though it continues to be overstretched especially by the free medical care for children under five and pregnant mothers while the middle class is has its health needs met by the private sector. In the apartheid era, a large number of medical provisions for the white population were private healthcare subsidized by the employers. After the apartheid, the healthcare was determined by ones economic class especially on either formal or informal employment status just as the increasing inequality within the racial groups like the black community so did the health care differentiate along private and public care. The response of the government to AIDS has been more preventive than on treatment basis by adopting a cost effective strategy of providing ARVs through the public healthcare system. The roll out programmes has been very slow and inadequate compared to the overwhelming needs; by 2005, only 200,000 people had been put in the programme with estimated over 500, 000 in need at the time. Over 330, 000 lives were lost during this period due to the delays in implementing and funding the programme. The response of various private firms was under the political pressure of the government, their profitability capacity for social responsibility and the factors that run across a subsection of sectors in the South African economy with the construction firms following after the high profile firms due to immense civil pressures. Social crisis in the welfare regimes can be immensely affected by transitional pressures where the democratic government has been under pressure to reshape the welfare regime that serves all people equally. The Australian welfare regime has been analysed along the lines of wage earners and their suppose transformation of their welfare state. The welfare regime has undergone reformation in the wage and welfare policy. The current wage and welfare provisions have been universalized with a negative income tax to create jobs and reduce dependency on welfare. With a large government spending, there continues to emerge special interests groups that seek more welfare provisions with the looming poverty. The federal government of Australia spent close to $ 66.3 billion in 2001 alone on the social welfare and security. The welfare policy in Australia has led to marginalization in certain sectors of the economy and increased poverty to particular groups of people. This comes with expanded government expenditures with higher taxes that do not solve the needs of the disadvantaged due to overreliance on the government. The wage policy in Australia has failed with minimum wages to the working poor being the policy of the government which has failed to help those in need. For every increase of labour by 10%, labour demand decreases by 6% thus the less skilled rural population is likely to face unemployment being the majority that depend on minimum wage. Since the minimum wage acts as a price floor, there is a likelihood of high supply of labour with low demand for it which results in unemployment. When the minimum wage is removed, people will work at a level of wages that matches their productivity thus labour supply will be equal to its demand thus significantly reducing unemployment. The negative income tax extends to the tax free threshold principle where those with portions above this threshold are charged in tax which is received by those who are below this threshold. This principle of Negative income Tax ensures that those who are unemployed earn an income while it supplements those who are paid low to increase their earnings through low marginal taxes. It also accommodates the fluctuating incomes. When the incomes of the working poor are supplemented, there is a substitute for the current wage policies thus the minimum wage policy can be effectively abolished. The negative income tax reduces poverty levels, that is, by adopting a 40% lower income tax, there is potential for eradication of poverty absolutely. When the working poor are supported, the poverty trap is reduced in size. The low marginal rate of incomes, the negative income tax reduces the disincentive in working and earning thus there is clear way out of the cycle of poverty. The government can offer a chance to the people to improve their living standards and achieve the upward mobility. The Negative income tax also reduces the level of unemployment due to the supplemented incomes thus there is minimal need for minimum wage and other wage regulations. Some adjustment in wages would lead to the positive effect on employment. A more complete negative income tax would reduce the trade off between the real minimum wage and the equivalent tax credits. A decreased minimum wage and introduction of a tax credit scheme can bring a possibility of creating close to 900,000 jobs. The Negative income tax in Australia would also reduce the spending on welfare and social security by around 40% since it is paid to both the unemployed and the working poor. People would be motivated to take part time work due to the increased opportunity for work thus under the negative income tax would reduce the fiscal budget due to low levels of dependency from the unemployed. The negative income tax also increases productivity due to availability of employment and subsequent increase in the gross national product. The government administration for the social welfare is simplified with the government cutting on inefficiencies and waste with the current negative tax system reducing the complexities of the benefits scheme. Conclusion The welfare regimes of South Africa and Australia tend towards increasing efficiencies according to the current needs. The South African welfare regime is faced with the challenge of increased unemployment and advocacy for ARVs to all AIDS patients whom it has considerably managed with the change to a more liberal regime under the current president, Jacob Zuma. Unemployment is still a big welfare concern and there is need to adopt a more comprehensive one like the Australian version of Negative income tax if they will be effective in the long run. The Australian failed welfare system compares with what many developed nations are undergoing in their expansive expenditure that stretches inadequately to the welfare needs of the people. The negative income tax that caters for the working poor and unemployed vulnerable groups caters for the inequality aspects that welfare systems try to bridge yet widens. Social economic and political factors have also been seen to affect the type of welfare system adopted with South Africa challenged by both disease and unemployment while Australia is faced with unemployment and rural poverty. References Alcock, P & Craig G., (2001). International Social Policy: Welfare Regimes in the Developed World, Palgrave Macmillan, Pg. 272 Read More