Governance, forced migration and welfare

This paper explores the welfare of forced migrants (i.e. refugees, asylum-seekers, those with humanitarian leave to remain, and “failed asylum-seekers/overstayers”) at three linked levels. First, it considers the governance of forced migrants at a supranational (in this case European Union) level. Second, particularly, but not exclusively in the context of the UK, it considers the extent to which the welfare rights of forced migrants in EU member states have been subject to a process of “hollowing out” or “dispersal”. Third, utilizing data from a recently completed qualitative research project, the paper outlines the complex local systems of governance that exist in relation to the housing and social security rights of forced migrants in the UK. The consequences of these networks are highlighted

O Programa de Ajustamento Estrutural na República da Guiné-Bissau: Uma avaliação política e Ética

Os guineenses assumiram o desenvolvimento como uma das metas a atingir e a estabilização e o ajustamento foi-lhes imposta como solução para os problemas estruturais existentes. No entanto, a forma como têm vindo a ser concebidos pelo Banco Mundial e pelo Fundo Monetário Internacional, direccionada sobretudo para a área económica, acabou por limitar o papel dos Programas de Ajustamento Estrutural (PAE) tidos como indutores do desenvolvimento, tornando-os num agregado de premissas austeras, com resultados não esperados. As propostas do FMI e do BM, tendendo para a liberalização económica e estímulo dos mercados em detrimento da intervenção estatal, traduzem-se em medidas de redução de taxas de utilização dos serviços públicos, supressão de subsídios, redimensionamento da administração pública, cortes, congelamentos salariais e privatizações. Os resultados destas reformas foram catastróficos, porquanto não só não melhoraram o défice orçamental, como os efeitos negativos das restrições orçamentais sobre o bem-estar, geraram um ambiente de promiscuidade social e o agravamento do sector informal como estratégia de sobrevivência Tendo em conta o objecto em estudo, isto é, a relação de forças que encontrámos entre o relacionamento entre os actores políticos guineenses e as Instituições Financeiras Internacionais, notámos que a ausência de comportamentos éticos também influiu nos resultados. Por um lado, o BM e o FMI, perante um Estado fragilizado, apresentaram condicionalismos à obtenção de empréstimos e ajudas, por outro lado, os actores guineenses, mesmo perante este dilema, não se coibiram do exercício da corrupção, do clientelismo e do neo-patrimonialismo, como estratégia para o enriquecimento fácil.Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empres

Failing home owners? The effectiveness of public and private safety nets.

In the context of growing risks and expectations of greater personal responsibility, this paper presents the results of a study of the effectiveness and implications of the new pattern of safety-net provision for mortgagors in Britain which was implemented in October 1995 and which involves both private insurance (MPPI) and public provision (ISMI). The paper focuses primarily on those borrowers most likely to experience the risks associated with home ownership and least financially able to respond to them. For these low-income borrowers, access to, and the effectiveness of, social protection is critical. The data presented are drawn from two surveys of mortgagors, one of private insurance claimants and the other of those claiming on the state safety-net. The discussion indicates that the nature of the 'new' safety-net provision in Britain is problematic. Low-income borrowers are currently least likely to take or have access to MPPI. Where they do have MPPI, they are relatively less successful than better off borrowers in sustaining a claim. For those without MPPI, the deferral period before receiving state assistance (ISMI), and the restrictions to the assistance when it is paid, result in a large minority developing mortgage arrears. The state safety-net is shown to be less effective now than it was in the mid-1990s

Strategic pragmatism? the state of British housing policy

No abstract available

The impact of social and cultural difference in relation to job loss and financial planning: Reflections on the risk society

This paper is based on data collected as part of a research study which looks at how different social and cultural groups frame, and respond to, the risk of income and/or job loss. Writers like LASH, DOUGLAS and LUPTON have placed an emphasis on the importance of group membership and social categories in structuring response to different types of risk preferring to talk about "risk cultures" rather than "risk society". However, the writers acknowledge that there is little empirical research which explores this. As the first stage of our research, focus groups in two parts of the UK explored the relationship between risk and social difference with an emphasis on the risk of job or income loss. The groups were comprised of lesbian, gay and bisexual people; people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds; Disabled people; and, people who actively practice a religion. Participants did not see strong links between their sexuality, race, or religion and their perceptions of, or responses to, risk. Income, and attitudinal factors were cited as being more important. Disabled people however were much more likely to make connections between being disabled and a range of barriers to responding to risky situations

Household perspectives on risk and homeownership across the EU (draft version)

Workshop 3. Session A. Abstract. Home ownership sectors in most European countries have experienced a strong growth in recent decades and by the mid-1990s the majority of EU households were home owners. Whilst a great deal of attention has been paid to the rise in home ownership per se, the extent to which households in different European countries strategise about the positive and negative risks of home ownership, particularly in relation to other risks in their lives, has not been researched. Contemporary debate suggests that society is a riskier one than in earlier times and home owners face a number of risks associated with changes in labour markets and national social security systems. This paper draws on interviews with households across eight European member states and examines households\u92 perceptions of the security and insecurity aspects of home ownership and their responses to perceived risks. The assumption underlying this paper is that while home owners may all face insecurity to a greater or lesser degree, their perceptions of, and responses to, risk will be determined to some extent by the institutional context of each country