Comparison of the British welfare system with the USA welfare system and the China welfare system - Essay Example

?Topic - Compare the British welfare system with the USA welfare system and the China welfare system Introduction Welfare system generally refers to the structured system of the government of any country to aid the public in living a comfortable and healthy social life. The developed and developing nations of the world like Britain, U.S, and China have a distinct and unique welfare system which serves the purpose of their citizens. It is very essential to compare the welfare system of these three countries in order to understand their respective strengths and weaknesses. These three countries have their good and bad aspects in the way their provide public assistance to the welfare of their societies. Nevertheless, a comparison of the welfare system of these nations’ gives a general idea about how organised and well structured is their government’s strategies and planning The welfare systems of these three countries are compared as they are huge countries with credible economic and social development. These countries being wide in area and huge in economical development need to assure about their considerable hand in health and well being of its citizens. Britain is known to be a wealthiest nation, and when compared U.S, and China, the former has a better public assistance and welfare system. According to Elliott(2010)“The UK welfare system is designed to help that in need live a dignified existence. The biggest proportion of benefits claimants are the unemployed, people with disabilities, and elderly pensioners” The process of comparison is initiated by analysing the common features of the welfare system of the three countries. In this step, the common features like health care, pension scheme and income support are detected as common features and they are widely explained. The social groups focused in relation to the welfare system are people in poverty, old aged and the children in poor family. In the below section the common the three welfare systems and the social group focused are explained briefly. Common Features in Welfare System of Britain, U.S. and China and social groups affected a) Health care and people in poverty When there is discussion about welfare system, the main issue that ponders in the mind of public is the health and well being of the citizens of the country. It is a fortunate fact that countries like Britain, U.S. and china have a definite health care system which takes care of the health of the people in poverty level. The health of a poor citizen depends on different factors such as environmental condition, biological factor of a person, nutrition and standard of living of that person. In UK, studies have shown that ill health is found mostly among children and adult’s lower class of people .The health care system in Britain is classified as hospital care, primary care, public health. “The United Kingdom provides health care to residents through the government's National Health Service”. (NHS). These are also an act from the government to socially protect its citizen who is poor from ill health and from physical degradation” (Wolf, 2010). U.S. being the largest economy of the world has their own extensive health care from the part of the government. Nevertheless the poor people are less satisfied and receptive of the healthcare system of the country. As per Heskett(2007)“The U.S. health is currently costs about $2 trillion per year, and, of this, more than $600 billion (31 percent) is never seen by recipients as it mainly goes for administration. On a per capita basis, it is roughly $280 billion which is spent for administration process and it is a saddening fact”. When it comes to China , their health care system is evolving rapidly as the country’s economic development is booming consistently The government is considering on preventive measure that on curative methods to treat the health of locals and urban population who are at poverty line. b) Pension system and old aged Britain has an extensive pension system which is different from the pension structure from the rest of the Europe. As per May hew(2010) “UK pensions are one area of social protection in which there is already a substantial private pension sector – much larger in fact than equivalent private sector involvement in any other area of social protection, including for example health care”. The Britain’s pension scheme is guaranteed system which assures the old aged that they have an income provided till their death. The main aim of the UK Government is providing of pension is that their should not be social inequality and poverty among social classes in the country when their disabled or old aged. The U.S. pension strategy has evolved partially due to the significant political, political, and social development occurred in the country in the recent years. There has been a progressive rise in the proportion and number of population gnu’s. Of aged people of 65 and over. It is estimated approximately that by the year 2025 aged persons in the America will rise above 50 million and total about 16% of the population would demand pension from government. Comparatively, the Chinese pension system is not so well designed by the government even though their economy is booming. They are seeing a shot fall in their pension funding which is not a thing of appreciation. The Chinese government is looking forward reforms in their pension system to assure more social comfort for its aged citizens. c) Income Support and children Income Support is additional money to help people who are on a low income. It’s for people who don't have to necessarily be unemployed. Whether you are eligible or not and how much amount you receive depends on your circumstances. According to Gregg(1999,pg.163-187) “The employment position of the household in Britain is seen to be important, with over half of poor children in 1995–96 living in households with no adults in work. The child poverty remains stagnant since the late 1970s, in U.K, following a period of rapid decline from 1968, despite considerable rises in average living standards”. So only a well defined income support like in Britain can alleviate the situation of poor children in UK. The American did not have a well defined Income support system until the occurrence of Great depression. But now the income support of U.S. mainly focuses on the child support and giving them quality living standards and welfare. Since most of the children in America are living with single parents, the income is supported by welfare programs of the government. Whereas, in china the income support is new evolved issue and rural people are more benefited from it. The increased income will allow the farmers to buy more productive input which will upgrade their living standards. This will invariably increase the quality of living of the children in rural families and also give them more status and privilege in society. Five channels of welfare system affecting the aged and poor children The aged and the children in poverty line are very vulnerable social groups that require much attention from the government and social service sector. The five channels affecting these groups are: 1) Social Welfare Services: The social welfare service benefits those individuals or groups who are senior citizens or are old aged. They give intimate care and service to people who are old to make their life better. Mainly the legislative body governs the functions of social welfare service and they aim at giving best service to the old people. 2)Formal carers : As per Mc Hugh(2010) “Formal (statutory) carers are carers who are raising children as a result of either care and protection orders from the Children’s .Youth or Magistrate’s Court”.These kind of carers,often help to children in poor condition and revive their condition to give them normal living conditions. 3) Voluntary Organsiations: Voluntary organizations are those groups which come forward with their personal will to help the aged and children in poverty. 4) Non – Profit Organizations: This organization plays a crucial role in upgrading the living standards of old aged and children in poor living conditions. They take care of their basic necessities and give them financial support and opportunities for social interaction to lead a happy life. 5)Informal Carers: Informal carers contribute much to the upgrading of the mental and physical status of the poor children and old aged people.They are mostly the people in one’s own family , guardians or kinship who take imitative to help the needy at the right time. Welfare system patterns which affects the aged and poor children When it comes to the welfare system, the government has the primary role to play in upgrading the life of the various social groups. The various social services by government like pension scheme, health care provisions have prior responsibility in providing good services to the senior citizens and old aged. The local councils also have an important role to play in educating old people and giving social support to them, so that they have health living condition. Similarly the formal and informal carers should be supported efficiently by government to care take the old and diseased population of the country. “Young carers are children who help look after a member of the family who is sick, disabled or has mental health problems, or is misusing drugs or alcohol”( Barnado, 2011). In the same manner, the children in poverty level are the responsibility of the social welfare system of the country. The government should take strong steps to conduct survey to assess the number of children who are living in poverty level. The social support group should take initiative to educate them about good living habits and raise their social interaction and cognitive skills. Critical evaluation Comparing the welfare systems of Britain with U.S and Chinese, it can be assessed that former is better and organized in serving its citizens. They have well planned social welfare strategy which covers much of the social groups of the country. U.S. being the super power is lacking behind in services when compared to the social welfare system of Britain. We don’t expect too much from China, but still this country with huge population is trying it’s best to provide quality social service to its citizens. The health care system with regard to U.S is not very comprehensive and benefiting like Britain. And the Chinese gives more priority to the urban resident and aged and children in that geographical dimension. When over viewing these factors the British welfare system is the best as the country gives attention mostly to all the social groups which need help and attention. When compared to countries like U.S.and China the welfare system of Britain is very comprehensive and very potential .Britain gives lot of services , health care provisions and pension to people in low class families and disabled category. So when a country remodel and restructure the social welfare system, it should look in to the good practices followed by wealth nations like Britain to develop well being and prosperity in to the life of their citizens. Conclusion Welfare system in an integral part of every developed nation, but developed and developing nation has well structured welfare policies as they are wealthy and refined. Country like Britain is famous for its welfare system, as they have large number or population residing in their country from different ethnic groups and social backgrounds. According to Hardley (1996, pg.823-842)“Community social work, which flourished in Britain in the late 1970s and through much of the 1980s, has been sidelined in recent years by the combined development of market-oriented policies and managerialism ” . Yet, it is praise worthy that they still carry out their social benefiting and public health benefiting programs in an organised way which provided much help and support to people in eradicating their poverty and disability. Whereas in America the social welfare system in decentralised and handled by federals system of different states. The U.S. welfare system would be an unlikely model for anyone designing a welfare system from scratch. The dozens of programs that make up the “system” have different (sometimes competing) goals, inconsistent rules, and over-lapping groups of beneficiaries. This means that U.S welfare system is not up to the mark and cannot be guiding for other countries to be followed. However, China is on the way to have a very structures welfare system where, both the urban and rural community have utmost benefit and importance. Bibliography Barnado's . 2011. Young carers. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.barnardos.org.uk/what_we_do/our_projects/young_carers.htm. [Accessed 28 March 11 Elliott,M. 2010. UK Welfare Benefits. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ehow.com/list_6694522_uk-welfare-benefits.html. [Accessed 27 March 11]. Gregg, P., 1999. Poor Kids: trends in Child Poverty in Britain. Journal of Applied Public Economics,, 20/2, 163-187 Heskett,J.. 2007. What Is the Government's Role in U.S. Healthcare?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5645.html. [Accessed 27 March 11]. Hardley, R., 1996. Community Social Work in a Market Environment: A British-American exchange of technologies and experience. Oxford Journal, 26/6, 823-842 Mayhew,L.. 2001. A Comparative Analysis of the UK Pension System Including the Views of Ten Pension Experts. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.iccr-international.org/pen-ref/docs/penref-d2-uk.pdf. [Accessed 27 March 11]. McHugh,M..2010. Financial and Non-Financial. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/media/File/support_2_outofhomecare.pdf. [Accessed 28 March 11]. Wolf,J.D.. 2010. Health Care in the UK. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.soyouwanna.com/health-care-uk-24439.html. [Accessed 28 March 11]. Read More