Social Care Policies in Global Society - Essay Example

 Social Care Policies in Global Society Introduction The 1990s saw social care becoming generally understood as an essential object for sociological and social policy research. The social care has become recognized as a basic element of the contemporary society that is in close connection to many major social issues like gender relations, family change and labor market development. The organization of social care affects relations between men and women, between social classes and between ethnic groups. A wide study on n comparative social care policies in this global society helps to understand that the care services are as essential welfare state provisions as benefit transfers. The ageing of the population poses a remarkable challenge to all European welfare states and here the question of care becomes fundamental. Also the many changes taking place in family structures e.g., the increasing divorce rate, the growing number of children born out of marriage, the decreasing proportion of older people living together with their children, all generate new social assemblage where care has to be arranged in new ways. The high participation of women in paid work has contributed to changing care from ‘just a women’s business’ to a major issue of public social policies. A functioning labor market presupposes functioning care arrangements. Even if a welfare state does not itself directly supply a broad variety and coverage of care services, it still remains responsible for providing the required support and guiding to enable families, voluntary and commercial organizations to provide the care that is needed.( Thomas ,1993)(1) Recently, it has become widely recognized that social care policies affect in various field of life of the people –children, family, workers, elderly people, disables, health of the people, education etc -whether it is globally or it is related to the particular countries. Wherever they exist, flexible care services are a major support for the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities. Under these circumstances, we shall analyse some of the fields where the social care policies applied by the government of UK and also we shall scrutinize how these policies differ from other European countries. To better understand, we shall take up the European country of Sweden to compare with UK. Child care and Fostering In Europe it is considered that the major cross-national differences are related to the extensiveness of the public sector role; the predominance of the education, health and social welfare systems in delivering the services; the proportion of children of different ages served by these programs; whether services are limited to the children of working mothers; and the quality of the childcare provided. (Kamerman (1991, 180),)(2) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Thomas, Carol, (1993) Deconstructing Concepts of Care. Sociology 27 (4), 649-669 2. Kamerman, Sheila B. & Alfred J. Kahn (eds.) (1991) Child Care, Parental Leave and the Under 3s: Policy Innovation in Europe. Auburn House, Westport 2 If we analyze that there is a considerable difference in provision for children ages 3 to 5 compared with that for children fewer than 3. Concerning the older age group, since there is a stipulation, the pre-school program has become almost universal in Europe (Kamerman & Kahn 1991, 201) (3) But there are differences between different European nations. Like (a) the pre-school model has dominated continental Europe, providing kindergartens and nursery schools and operating largely under educational auspices. (b) In Sweden, there has been a free-standing, autonomous, special childcare program for all children under the school age of 7. (c) In Britain, there has existed dual system with social welfare day-care for deprived children coming mainly from low-income families and part-day educational nursery schools for middle and upper class children. Nevertheless, the total provision has been close to full age group coverage within all of these different childcare models (Kamerman 1991). (4) Regarding the provision for the children, in a comparison of in the group of children aged 3-6 in Sweden and the UK; these countries are quite homogenous as they all have the public sector as the main provider. In the provision for younger children, the welfare mixes of childcare provision have more variation and families have major significance in the UK and Sweden (Almqvist and Boje (1999)(6) Moreover The British and Swedish government are unwilling to accept a general responsibility for child care. Britain has continuously maintained a clear distinction between care and education in state policies as well as a reluctance to intervene in ‘family matters’, in the contrary, Sweden has not at all provided childcare services to the same extent. Whereas Britain can be characterized as a ‘female carer state’ where care of small children is considered a private problem, Sweden is providing large publicly organized day-care services and is trying to create a dual carer model . Older people The division of responsibilities between health care and social services regarding older people differs from country to country and the boundaries are in many cases blurred and fluctuating. The main report of the ACRE (‘Age Care Research Europe’) home care services project included detailed descriptions of domiciliary care service provisions for older people in Belgium, Denmark, England and Wales, France, (West) Germany, Israel, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. ibid 2 4. ibid 2, 3 5. ibid 2, 3, 4 6. Almqvist, Anna-Lena & Thomas Boje (1999) Who Cares, Who Pays and How is Care for Children Provided? Comparing Family Life and Work in Different European Welfare Systems. In Comparing Social Welfare Systems in Nordic Europe and France: Copenhagen Conference, Volume 4 2000. 3 Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands (Jamieson 1991a)(7). Within comparative research on care for older people, the role of international organizations has been significant as also the OECD has given considerable attention to the needs of the growing population of very old people, raising these to a major social policy challenge for the OECD countries (OECD 1994a & 1997).(8) Regarding institutional care, in the beginning of the 1990s, the European Observatory estimated that amongst other contemporary 12 EC member states, UK was providing the largest residential care services for older people, covering over 10 per cent of the over-65-year-old population. (European Commission 1993a)(9). In this case, Sweden has the highest coverage of 8.9 per cent. Regarding community care, there are some difference in understanding the meaning in different countries, like, ‘community care’ is a widely used concept in Britain, other European countries like Sweden usually prefer terms ‘home care’ or ‘home-based care’, and Here the sphere of different services is also at its broadest causing difficulties for comparison. However, it is usually domiciliary social and health care that is seen as the core of ‘community care’. Tester (1996, 5)(10) In countries Sweden and the UK, home nursing and home help services were rather well developed rather than other countries where home care was still in its infancy. (Hutten & Kerkstra (1996, 30)(11) In the most of European nations, like Sweden home care is more developed but still a residual category within the insurance-based health care system; but in Britain in principle, where home care is a part of the institutional welfare state and available as a basic entitlement. (Baldock and Ely (1996, 199-200)(12) Comparing Sweden, and the UK, even though the two first-mentioned countries spent substantially more on care services for older people, the balance between institutional and community care was very similar in all three countries. Each of them was moving towards more home based systems but in the UK from a less generous base- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Jamieson, Anne (1989) A New Age for Older People? Policy Shifts in Health and Social Care. Social Science & Medicine 29 (3), 445-454. 8. OECD (1994a) New Orientations for Social Policy. Social Policy Studies No. 12, Paris, OECD (1997) Family, Market and Community: Equity and Efficiency in Social Policy. Social Policy Studies No. 21, Paris. 9. European Commission (1993a) Older People in Europe: Social and Economic Policies. Brussels. 10. Tester, Susan (1996) Community Care for Older People: A Comparative Perspective. Macmillan, Basingstoke. 11. Hutten, Jack B.F. & Ada Kerskra (1996) Home Care in Europe: A Country-Specific Guide to Its Organization and Financing 12. Baldock, John & Adal bert Evers (1991) Citizenship and Frail Old People: Changing Patterns of Provision in Europe. In Nick Manning (ed.) Social Policy Review 1990-91 4 line position with fewer care services available. (Nies & Tester & Nuijens 1991)(13) It can be seen that the different organization of ‘payments for care’ plays pivotal role in Britain and Sweden. They found several different national approaches and various local practices in delivering the benefits to informal care takers ranging from means-tested caretaker’s benefits to tax allowances and direct payments to older people. Moreover in UK financial allowances are paid to informal carers through national social security systems. (Glendinning and McLaughlin together with Schunk (1997))(14) Family care The legal and policy representations of family obligations are reflected in national patterns of social care provisions. In contrast to the Meditarian countries which provide the existing care services primarily for older and disabled people without family the countries in Continental Europe like UK and Sweden are mainly to support family care. In addition, there is also a presumption that young children are cared informally by families Already during the pre-war period Sweden was at that time acknowledging the right of women to employment, whereas the UK was targeting their interventions to most needy and deserving families. In the post-war period, the role of the state as welfare provider has been expanded in both countries as countries have faced similar demographic changes. In this regard, Gauthier (15) distinguishes four main models of current family policy .They are (1) pro-family model (in France and Quebec), (2) pro-traditional model (Germany) and third and fourth models i.e., pro-egalitarian model and pro family but non-interventionist model exists in Sweden and UK respectively. She states that the support for maternity leave has been low within the fourth model, and high in the third model. On the other hand, the provision of child-care facilities has been low in the second and fourth model, medium in the first model, and high in the third model. Both of these two dimensions of family policy are significant for the pattern of childcare. If we compared with Britain and Sweden, the family policy making style in Sweden has been more explicit, visible, coherent and legitimate having blatantly familist and objectives and having had a stronger direct socio-economic impact. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13. Nies, Henk & Susan Tester & Jan Maarten Nuijens (1991) Day Care in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands: A Comparative Study. Ageing and Society, 245-273. 14. Glendinning, Caroline & Schunk, Michaela & Eithne McLaughlin (1997) Paying for Long-Term Domiciliary Care: A Comparative Perspective. Ageing and Society 17 (2), 123-140 15. Gauthier, Anne Hélène (1996) the State and the Family: A Comparative Analysis of Family Policies in Industrialized Countries. Oxford University Press, Oxford 5 (Hantrais (1994)(16)Also Twigg and Grand (1998, 143)(17) the British approach has been more piecemeal, having family policies rather than family policy. In Sweden, there exists an overt, although different, family policy. Katz Olson (1994)(18) has found out that Sweden is one of the societies with collectivist approaches which assume that frailty among older people is a social problem engendering social solutions, In UK there are collectivist social security norms and universal entitlements to health care but in the provision of long-term care, the state plays only a relatively minor role and relies on a residuals social welfare model. Homelessness The changing role of the state has a key part to play in the role of key housing providers and service providers like local authorities, housing associations, NGOs or the relationship between agencies of funding, social planning, regulatory framework, nomination agreements. The countries like the UK and Sweden ,related to changes in funding of social support, urged that it should improve access to support services for homeless people but there is concern that the re-organization of funding and decentralization to local levels may impact on service provision. In the UK, the ODPM (2004) published guidance on housing allocation and homelessness for local authorities who transfer their housing stock to other landlords. The guidance laid down some rule for a housing authority that can only make such decisions after it has given careful consideration to its continuing need to meet its statutory obligations, fulfill its strategic responsibilities and deliver its policies in relation to preventing and tackling homelessness and meeting housing need. In the case of Sweden housings and homelessness issues have no fixed place in the Government. However, since the last election in 2002 a Minister of Public Health and Social Services was created in the Social Ministry and has taken the portfolio for homelessness within the Government. In its final report, the Committee for the Homeless in Sweden suggested that the right to assistance in the Social Services Act be extended to explicitly include the right to permanent housing for a person who is to be considered as homeless, who lacks access to a dwelling of his own and whose living conditions are such that he or she cannot by own efforts obtain housing on the regular housing market” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16. Hantrais, Linda (1994) Comparing Family Policy in Britain, France and Germany. Journal of Social Policy 23 (2), 135-160. 17. Twigg, Julia & Alain Grand (1998) Contrasting Legal Conceptions of Family Obligation and Financial Reciprocity in the Support of Older People: France and England. Ageing and Society 18 (2), 131-146 18. Katz Olson, Laura (ed.) (1994) The Graying of the World: Who Will Care for the Frail Elderly, Haworth Press, New York & London & Norwood. 6 homelessness within the Government. In its final report, the Committee for the Homeless in Sweden suggested that the right to assistance in the Social Services Act be extended to explicitly include the right to permanent housing for a person who is to be considered as homeless, who lacks access to a dwelling of his own and whose living conditions are such that he or she cannot by own efforts obtain housing on the regular housing market. Legislation has been introduced in the United Kingdom to deal with anti-social behavior which has a direct impact on homelessness and tenancy which includes the provision like secure tenancy being converted to a short tenancy (reduction in security for household).and closure Notices and Closure Orders which requires clarification regarding the position of hostel dwellers. The legislation also dealt with Anti-Social Behavior Notices and Registration Areas. (Edgar, Doherty, Meert (2004))(19) Discrimination on the ground of sex, age, origin, language, religion, conviction, opinion, health, disability While we compare the social care policy regarding the discrimination, the most striking fact that most of European countries go well beyond current EC requirements and provide legal protection of some form in respect of much of the discrimination forming the subject matter of this report, and the variety between the countries as to the degree, as well as the nature, of such protection. (20) Regarding discrimination UK and Sweden have legislation which covers some or all relevant grounds of discrimination, but which is more limited in its material scope. UK and Sweden do not regulate discrimination on all relevant grounds outside the employment context. (21) Protection from discrimination on the ground of disability in relation to social protection, social advantages, education and access to goods and services including housing is provided by UK. Moreover UK imposes such duties across the board in relation to social protection, access to goods and services, etc. In addition, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, on the other hand Sweden provide some measure of protection in this regard. (22) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19. Edgar, Bill; Doherty, Joe and Meert, Henk (2004) Review of policies on homeless in Europe, European Federation of National Organizations working with the Homeless 20. A ‘general justification defense’ may be contrasted with a specific exception covering, for example, discrimination in access to services or education provided by church organizations. General justification defenses are invariably available in cases of indirect, as distinct from direct, discrimination. 21. This has been interpreted to cover indirect discrimination. 22. Report of Human European Consultancy, (2006) Comparative Analysis on National Measures to Compact Discrimination outside employment and Occupation, 7 In Great Britain discrimination on grounds of sex, race and disability are regulated in relation to education, the supply of goods and services and housing and the performance of public functions, as well as employment. The prohibitions on discrimination apply only to persons “concerned with the provision for payment or not of goods, facilities or services to the public or a section of the public. At present, discrimination on grounds of religion or belief and sexual orientation is regulated in Great Britain only in relation to employment and third level education but legislative provisions extending protection in the case of religion or belief across the same material scope as applies in relation to the other relevant grounds are expected to be implemented in April 2007 and the same legislation has put in place the necessary powers to extend protection similarly in the case of sexual orientation.(Equality Act 2006) Sweden has detailed statutory provisions governing discrimination outside the workplace on the relevant grounds with the exception of age. Different grounds have different levels of protection: religion and belief and sexual orientation are protected in relation to social protection and social advantages, education and access to goods and services including housing, while disability discrimination is regulated only in relation to education and the professional provision of goods, services and housing and sex is covered except in relation to social assistance. In additional, the penal provisions ban unlawful discrimination by merchants in the provision of goods and services, and by employees at the state and local authorities in their capacity as employees, on grounds of religion and homosexual orientation. This is thought to apply to discriminatory treatment by public actors in relation to health care, education and social security, but there is no case law on this point. (Prohibition of Discrimination Act 2003) Conclusion Amidst of these studies, it is to be remembered that within the European Union, no longer are the member-states alone responsible for the definition of their policies, but big parts of their sovereignty have been shifted to the Union. This internationalization of the policy debate may not lead to a high proportion of social legislation being of EU origin, but it will enable campaigners and policy-makers to become more aware and make use of illuminating policies, practices and procedures in community care in other countries. ******************************** References Books and Authors 1. Almqvist, Anna-Lena & Thomas Boje (1999) Who Cares, Who Pays and How is Care for Children Provided? Comparing Family Life and Work in Different European Welfare Systems. In Comparing Social Welfare Systems in Nordic Europe and France: Copenhagen Conference, Volume 4 2000 2. Baldock, John & Adal bert Evers (1991) Citizenship and Frail Old People: Changing Patterns of Provision in Europe, In Nick Manning (ed.) Social Policy Review 1990-91 3. Daly, Mary & Jane Lewis (1998) Introduction: Conceptualizing Social Care in the Context of Welfare State Restructuring In Jane Lewis (ed.) (1998) Gender, Social Care and Welfare State Restructuring in Europe 4. Gauthier, Anne Hélène (1996) the State and the Family: A Comparative Analysis of Family Policies in Industrialized Countries, Oxford University Press, and Oxford 5. Glen dinning, Caroline & Schunk, Michaela & Eithne McLaughlin (1997) Paying for Long-Term Domiciliary Care: A Comparative Perspective, Ageing and Society 17 (2), 123-140 HMSO, London. 6. Hutten, Jack B.F. & Ada Kerskra (1996) Home Care in Europe: A Country-Specific Guide to Its Organization and Financing, Arena, Alders hot 7. Jamieson, Anne (1989) ,A New Age for Older People? Policy Shifts in Health and Social Care. Social Science & Medicine 29 (3), 445-454 8. Hutten, Jack B.F. & Ada Kerskra (1996) Home Care in Europe: A Country-Specific Guide to Its Organization and Financing, Arena, Alders hot 9. Kamerman, Sheila B. & Alfred J. Kahn (eds.) (1991) Child Care, Parental Leave and the Under 3s: Policy Innovation in Europe. Auburn House, Westport 10. Katz Olson, Laura (ed.) (1994) The Graying of the World: Who Will Care for the Frail Elderly? Haworth Press New York & London & Norwood. 11. Munday, Brian (1996) Introduction: Definitions and Comparisons in European Social Care In Brian Munday & Peter Ely (eds.) Social Care in Europe. Prentice Hall, Hemel Hemstead 12. Nies, Henk & Susan Tester & Jan Maarten Nuijens (1991) Day Care in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands: A Comparative Study, Ageing and Society, 245-273. 13. Tester, Susan (1996) Community Care for Older People: A Comparative Perspective, Macmillan, Basingstoke 14. Thomas, Carol, (1993) Deconstructing Concepts of Care Sociology 27 (4), 649-669 15. Twigg, Julia & Alain Grand (1998) Contrasting Legal Conceptions of Family Obligation and Financial Reciprocity in the Support of Older People: France and England. Ageing and Society 18 (2), 131-146 Journals and Publication 16. European Commission (1993a), Older People in Europe: Social and Economic Policies, Brussels. 17. Edgar, Bill; Doherty, Joe and Meert, Henk (2004), Review of policies on homeless in Europe, European Federation of National Organizations working with the Homeless 18. Report of Human European Consultancy, (2006) Comparative Analysis on National Measures to Compact Discrimination outside employment and Occupation, 19. Hantrais, Linda (1994) Comparing Family Policy in Britain, France and Germany. Journal of Social Policy 23 (2), 135-160,Longman, London 20. OECD (1994a) New Orientations for Social Policy, Social Policy Studies No. 12, Paris, 21. OECD (1997) Family, Market and Community: Equity and Efficiency in Social Policy Social Policy Studies No. 21, Paris. Read More