Book Reviews: Comparative Social Assistance: Localisation and Discretion, Co-Ordination of Social Security Schemes in Connection with the Accession of Central and Eastern European States: The Riga Conference, Co-Ordination of Social Security Schemes in Connection with the Accession of Central and Eastern European States: The Riga Conference
| Date | 01 December 1999 |
| Published date | 01 December 1999 |
| Author | Deborah Mabbett,Frans Pennings |
| DOI | 10.1023/A:1018717904310 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
European Journal of Social Security, Volume 1/4,415-419, 1999.
©Kluwer Law International (KLI). Printed in the Netherlands.
Book Reviews
415
John
Ditch, Jonathan Bradshaw, Jochen Clasen, Meg Huby and Mar-
garet Moodie, Comparative Social Assistance: Localisation and Discreti-
on, Studies in Cash and Care, Aldershot, Ashgate, 1997, 99 pages, ISBN:
1840143460.
The research reported in this book is a follow-up to the major study of
social assistance in OECD countries, co-ordinated by the Social Policy
Research Unit at the University of York.lThe work was done at great
speed, and, no doubt, the researchers feel that many more insights could
have been developed if they had been allowed an extended time-frame by
the British Department of Social Security (DSS), who commissioned the
research. Nonetheless, they have produced a valuable work for anyone
seeking to understand the significance of the local administration of social
assistance.
The body of the book consists of chapters on Germany, the Nether-
lands, Sweden and Switzerland, which follow a broadly common format.
After an introduction to the basic economic, demographic and governmen-
tal features of each country, the rules governing eligibility for social assis-
tance are described, along with an explanation of the structure of financing
and administrative control. This is followed by an appraisal of the system's
coverage, sensitivity to circumstances, interaction with the local economy,
geographical equity, stigma, fraud and other issues. Each chapter ends with
abrief account of policy concerns and a discussion of social assistance
debates in the country under study.
There is a central question about local social assistance: how can sys-
tems with local financial responsibility respond to wide geographical diffe-
rences in the level of need and the resources available? The principal
answer offered by the researchers is that the countries studied avoided
T. EARDLEY, J. BRADSHAW, J. DITCH, 1. GOUGH, P. WHITEFORD, Social Assistance
Schemes in OECD Countries, Department of Social Security Research, Report 47,
London, HMSO, 1996).
EUROPEAN
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SECURITY
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