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Sectors Involved in Social Welfare

This document discusses the different sectors involved in social welfare provision. There are five main sectors: public sector (state provision), private sector (for-profit provision), voluntary sector (non-profit provision), mutual aid (solidarity-based provision), and informal sector (family and community provision). Each sector plays an important but different role in social welfare. The state coordinates with and supplements, rather than operates in isolation from, these other sectors that make up the mixed economy of welfare. Targeting of services aims to efficiently direct resources but can face challenges around deadweight, spillover, and low take-up rates if not properly implemented.

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Risa Jubilan
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2K views

Sectors Involved in Social Welfare

This document discusses the different sectors involved in social welfare provision. There are five main sectors: public sector (state provision), private sector (for-profit provision), voluntary sector (non-profit provision), mutual aid (solidarity-based provision), and informal sector (family and community provision). Each sector plays an important but different role in social welfare. The state coordinates with and supplements, rather than operates in isolation from, these other sectors that make up the mixed economy of welfare. Targeting of services aims to efficiently direct resources but can face challenges around deadweight, spillover, and low take-up rates if not properly implemented.

Uploaded by

Risa Jubilan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 26

SECTORS INVOLVED IN

SOCIAL WELFARE
Welfare pluralism: the Welfare
pluralism:

the mixed
economy of welfare.
For some, the idea of the 'welfare state'
means the same as 'state welfare', and opposition is seen
as a commitment to
the 'private market'.

This is a false choice. The state is not the only


provider of welfare in any country, and the 'private market' does not consist
of activity for profit, but a wide range of different motivations. There is a
'mixed economy of welfare'. The state does not operate in isolation; rather, it
acts in conjunction with a number of non-statutory organizations. The state is
actively involved in regulation, finance or subsidy, and direct provision. (The
role of government in the mix is considered further in the page on politics.)
There are five main
sectors:
public sector (provision by
the
state)
private (provision for profit
by commercial organisations
or individuals)
voluntary (provision on a
non-profit basis)
mutual aid (provision by
solidarity) and
informal (provision by
friends
neighbours and families)
THE PUBLIC SECTOR
There are four main arguments for public sector provision.

Universal Standards The state is uniquely able to impose a


general régime, and so can ensure
uniform or minimum standards.

Social Control Control is used where people need


protection (e.g child abuse), as
punishment (like prisoners), and where
control increasesfreedom (like
compulsory education).
The state may be able to perform the action more

Economic Benefit
cost-effectively than is the case elsewhere.
National health systems have
proved to be cheaper than many liberal systems.

Residual Provision The state may act as a safety net where


other sectors do not provide.
The main arguments against are:

Economic Efficiency State provision does not have clear


incentives to reduce unit costs.

Clientelism State provision can be the source of


patronage or corruption.
Paternalism States make decisions for people who
could choose for themselves.
PRIVATE
Sector
They also engage in the provision of welfare, including
involvement in social policy, service delivery and redistributive
welfare.
The most common forms of involvement include:
Occupational welfare. The provision of services to
employees and ex-employees. Examples include
health provision for employees and occupational
pensions
Delegated welfare activity. Where the private
sector acts as the agent of government. In several
countries, private firms also collect taxes on behalf
of government.
Engagement in policy-making and processes of
government. for example by participating in
strategic partnerships
or corporatist arrangements for welfare
provision; and corporate

Social responsibility, where private firms act to


improve welfare in the wider society. This
includes both philanthropic activity and
compensation for external costs imposed by
firms, such as cleaning up pollution.
MUTUAL
AID
Mutual aid is sometimes represented as private, and
sometimes as voluntary. There is a good case to consider
this category as a sector in itself, because the organization
and behaviour of solidaristic groups is quite different from
that of other non-profit organisations. Historically, mutual
aid was one of the main foundations of welfare
organizations, through trades unions, professional
associations and friendly societies; in many countries,
solidaristic services of this kind have continued to be one of
the main focuses through which welfare is provided.
The central principle of mutual aid has been voluntary
collective effort, which is both self-interested and
supportive of others. People who enter such
arrangements make some kind of contribution - such as
paying a subscription, offering labour, or participating in
management - and receive support on a mutual basis.

The most common model is probably a system of


voluntary insurance, usually for income maintenance or
health care, which offers social protection in return for a
basic contribution. But there are many other examples,
including co-operatives, self-help groups, and the trades
unions themselves.
The scope of mutual aid is
considerable, but solidarity cannot be
comprehensive: some people have a
limited ability to contribute, and others
are likely to be excluded by the
conditions of membership.
The Voluntary
Sector
The voluntary sector is extremely diverse,
rangingf rom small local societies to large,
very 'professional' agencies.
The Different Types of
Volunteering
Direct service giving
Running voluntary
organisations
Participation or self-help
groups
Fundraising
Public service (many elected
officials are unpaid
volunteers)
Pressure group activity
The role of the voluntary sector is often supplementary to statutory services,
but it can also be seen as complementary through:

the initiation of new approaches and techniques


the development of specialist expertise
the establishment of 'partnerships' with statutory services - like the
provision of meals on wheels
provision to groups which statutory services do not reach, like drug
addicts.
Informal Sector
The informal sector' consists of
THE
communities,friends,neighbours
INFORMAL
and kin. The emphasis on
informal care has grown for
SECTOR

three reasons:
Ideology

CONSERVATIVES HAVE EMPHASIZED THE


PLURALISTIC NATURE OF WELFARE, AND
AN 'ORGANIC VIEW' OF SOCIETY AS A
SERIES OF INTERCONNECTING
RELATIONSHIPS, AND THE ROLE OF
FAMILY AND DUTY.
THE DISCHARGE OF PEOPLE FROM
INSTITUTIONS, AND MAINTENANCE OF
INDIVIDUALS AT HOME, HAS LED TO A
GREATER EMPHASIS ON THE ROLE OF
CARERS.
Most
care is provided by informal
carers, not the state; the role of
C O M P R E H E N S I V E
the state

Planning
is supplementary to the care
given by others. Planning has to
take this
into account.
Public
Services
Public services are not directly equivalent to
the "public sector". The public sector generally
refers to organizations which are controlled
directly by government. This can include
services to the public, nationalised industries
and the organs of government itself.
The public services include state, voluntary
and mutual organizations which have
public objectives.
they are services, offering facilities
Four
directly to people (not just to s of
ic
organizations); a c te rist
Ch a r
they are public, in the sense that they B L I C
PU
are guided by policy;
V I C E
S E R
they are redistributive, because the
people who pay are not the people who
benefit; and
they are operated as a trust: the first
duty of a trustee is to the body
establishing the trust (government or
funders), and the duty to beneficiaries
is secondary.

*Because the primary duty is based in policy, public services have


to be cost-effective; most do not have the option of selecting
beneficiaries.
SERVICE
DELIVERY
TARGETING
Social policies have to affect Distribution to everyone is
someone, and any attempt to exceptional - most 'universal'
identify a client group specifically benefits are, in fact, categorical,
can be referred to as targeting'. and targeted at a broad class of
Policies may be focused on a range people in need (like children or old
of different groups: individuals, people) as a way of addressing
households, families, communities, needs within the group.
and sections of the population.
THREE MAIN PROBLEMS
AFFECT THE EFFICIENCY OF
TARGETED SERVICES

DEADWEIGHT. PEOPLE RECEIVE THE SERVICE OR


BENEFIT, BUT THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES ARE NOT
MATERIALLY AFFECTED BY THE MEASURE.
SPILLOVERS.  PEOPLE ARE HELPED WHO IT WAS NOT
INTENDED OR NECESSARY TO HELP.
LOW TAKEUP. THERE IS FAILURE TO REACH THOSE AT
WHOM THE POLICY WAS TARGETED.

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