Worlds of Welfare Capitalism and Wellbeing: A Multilevel Analysis

Social scientists in the comparative policy tradition have long argued that welfare systems in modern capitalist societies can be broken down into ideal types. The idea of different worlds of welfare capitalism has an enduring appeal and growing practical policy relevance as governments seek to enhance population wellbeing. In this paper we explore the worlds of welfare theory from the perspective of happiness. Drawing on data from the World Values Survey, we examine how welfare regimes may contribute to wellbeing and we consider the significance of our findings for the development of social policy. By using multilevel models it is possible to separate out effects due to observed and unobserved, as well as both individual level and country level, welfare state characteristics and we can make inferences to the distribution of social wellbeing across welfare typologies. We find that people living in liberal and conservative countries are, after controlling for individual and country level explanatory variables, at least twice as likely to be unhappy as those living in social-democracies. The observed differences between the worlds of welfare were found to be highly statistically significant

Effects of surgically implanted tags and translocation on the movements of common bream Abramis brama (L.)

Data collected from wildlife telemetry studies relies on tagging and attachment having minimal impactson behaviour. Though a widespread technique, relatively few studies evaluate the impacts of differingtagging methods on both welfare and behaviour. Here we use tracking data, collected for other aims, toinvestigate the impact of inter-peritoneal surgical implantation of acoustic transmitters on the healthand behaviour of common bream, Abramis brama (L.). In five separate capture events, the behaviour interms of distances moved and linear range of newly tagged fish (n = 61) were compared to previouslytagged fish (n = 55) present in the same river at the same time. In the first 5 days post-tagging, newlytagged fish moved significantly further than previously tagged fish. Despite this difference, the linearranges moved by the two groups of fish were equivalent. During 6–10 days post tagging there was nosignificant differences between the two groups. Thus, the tagging procedure had short term, but not longterm behavioural impacts. In addition, a number of tagged fish were recaptured between 51 and 461days post-surgery. Recaptured fish appeared to have clean, well-healed incisions and exhibited ‘normal’behaviour in that they were caught alongside a large number of conspecifics. Three recaptured taggedfish were translocated ∼35 km downstream, to ascertain how translocation would affect their behaviour.The translocated fish had a greater linear range than control fish, with all three fish returning to the siteof capture within 6 to 24 days, suggesting that common bream can exhibit site fidelity

Paying for Old Age: Can People on Lower Incomes Afford Domiciliary Care Costs?

The Labour government has made it clear that it will not countenance major changes in the financing of long-term care for older people in England and Wales. One consequence is that people on modest retirement incomes will continue to have to pay for elements of their care in their own homes. The government also implicitly assumes that people of working age, on average and below average earnings, are expected to save in order to pay for long-term care. However, evidence about individuals' willingness and ability to save and to pay for long-term care is scanty. Accordingly, an interview survey of 100 people-today's and tomorrow's pensioners-was undertaken in June and July 2000. They were asked detailed questions about their financial circumstances, and about their ability to pay more towards their own health and social care costs, now and in the future. The results suggest that today's pensioners on average and lower incomes are experiencing difficulties in paying for care services in their own homes. Tomorrow's pensioners who are currently on average and lower incomes will struggle to pay for care services in their own homes. The results also support the view that people tend to overestimate their retirement incomes and do not understand how long-term care is financed. They think that the government can and should pay for long-term care

Hospital catering. Hard to swallow.

Hospital meals cost the NHS, on average, 2.50 Pounds per patient per day. Costs are higher in hospitals which prepare food on site, specialist trusts and those in London. The Wanless report has proposed that expenditure should rise to 4.80 Pounds per patient per day, at today's prices, by 2022. More effort should go into cutting food wastage which currently costs hospitals in England more than 18 m Pounds a year

New Labour, equity and public services: a Rawlsian perspective

The UK government has repeatedly stressed its commitment to equity in public services. It is difficult to test this commitment in many policy arenas, but it can be achieved more readily in services where a balance has to be struck between state and individual financing and provision. This article uses the example of long-term care for older people to illustrate the arguments. A modified form of Rawls' Difference Principle is employed to characterise the positions of the government and its critics in long-term care and in other policies

A fair deal for care in older age? Public attitudes towards the funding of long-term care

The government has made nursing care in England and Wales free, while continuing to means-test personal care. This policy contrasts with the recommendation for free personal care made by the Royal Commission on Long-term Care in 1999. This article reports on a survey of attitudes towards financing care in old age from a representative sample of men and women in England aged 25 years and over. The majority of people feel that the state should finance care for older people. The article discusses the extent to which this is consistent with the government's position and the competing notions of equity that recent debate entails