Problems in the Global Welfare State

In developed countries one of the major problems in determining welfare costs is dependent on the “gradual rise, without apparent limit, of the relative costs of providing human services such as child care, education, health care and old-age care”. When these prices go up the price of welfare goes up as well. In addition it is harder for people to meet these needs when the cost of living goes up and that drives the number of people who need welfare up. Welfare is paid for by the people’s taxes and with the price of welfare going up that means that the price of taxes to pay for welfare may go up as well. Since taxes can only go up so much there may need to be some other forms of payment that the people have to use to pay for others welfare. This could be something like a specific fee for welfare or some other sort of fund to get more money for the welfare program.

Another problem that arises is that the lifespan of humans in developed countries is going up and with the retirement age at a low level it gives the elderly more opportunity to take money from the system. With the increasing lifespan of the human race there should also be an increase in age for the acceptable retirement time. More information regarding developed countries and some of the problems with the welfare state can be found at this website: http://www.global-economic-symposium.org/solutions/the-global-polity/globalization-and-the-welfare-state/strategyperspectivefolder/points-about-globalization-and-the-welfare-state

The developing and third world countries of the world rely heavily on more developed countries for their welfare. This poses a problem. “Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) have been imposed to ensure debt repayment and economic restructuring. But the way it has happened has required poor countries to reduce spending on things like health, education and development, while debt repayment and other economic policies have been made the priority”. Poor countries must export more to make money to make a living and they generally only export one or two items. Other countries compete against each other for the exportation of the same commodities and that makes the situations turn into a price war. The cost of the commodities then reduces to lower then it already was, making it almost impossible to get a profit. Thus the vicious cycle keeps repeating with each commodity.

The gouging of prices makes developing and third world countries stay poor and in some cases make them poorer then they were before. Most, if not all of their income is then spent on repaying back their debts to the more developed countries that support them. For a nation to succeed they need more then just money. They need good health, education, and all the other things that they can’t afford to buy because the poor countries on welfare need to pay off all their debts. “It may be that for real free trade to be effective countries with similar strength economies can reduce such protective measures when trading with one another. However, for developing countries to try to compete in the global market place at the same level as the more established and industrialized nations—and before their own foundations and institutions are stable enough—is almost economic suicide”. This makes it impossible for the underdeveloped countries to get enough money to not be so in debt and not have to rely on other more developed countries to make ends meet. http://www.globalissues.org/article/3/structural-adjustment-a-major-cause-of-poverty

The welfare system has some problems that can be worked out, but with some work. The problems are not just in the lesser developed countries either, but also in the more developed countries as well. Every system has its problems and every problem can be fixed as long as people are willing to fix it. I don’t think that it will be fixed though unless there is cooperation and compromise from both more and lesser developed countries. Until then the countries are going to have to find a way to help solve their own welfare problems.

Below are links to pictures that help to show the problems with the global welfare state...

http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/IMAGES/Worldpov.gif This link shows where in the world people make less then $2.00 a day.

http://viralpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/welfare.jpg This link shows a picture of a shirt with a controversial saying on it about welfare. This would more then likely be the view of the more developed countries. (or the rich people)


Click HERE

History of the Welfare States

Although the welfare state is different by country and even by state in some cases it has the same overall goal everywhere: to help those in need. Depending on where you come from the history of the welfare state is going to be different. There is not just one history for all of the global welfare state. The rules in which the welfare state goes by depends on each individual countries own values and they decide who is able to receive welfare from the government. It also seems that 3rd world countries don’t have a welfare system at all. That has to do with the fact that they are poor and cannot afford to have such a system. The welfare system is mainly used by more developed countries that can afford to use their money to help support their countries people.
Depending on how far back in history you want to go there is reason to believe that back in medieval times there was also some forms of welfare. This types of “welfare” was run by the church, the church would collect money to give to the less fortunate and also to hospitals where there were people in need. That is the real basic form of a welfare state. Since then the welfare state has gotten a bit more complicated.
In Brittan the New Poor act of 1837 enforced the principle of less eligibility for different people. This is the start of people having to prove that they need the money to survive. There were also many acts in the early 1900’s that gave people benefits for their age and health insurance. In 1941 there was a tax reform of the British Welfare System done by Beveridge to tidy up the system. (Beveridge is known to be the founder of the welfare state). Around in the WWII era there were also many new acts that were made to go along with the new welfare system. In the 1980’s the welfare bills started to go up again which has led Brittan to think about new ways of doing things again. More specific information on Brittan can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/field_01.shtml
In the early 1990’s America’s welfare system reduced the number of people that could receive certain types of welfare. There is still an ongoing debate to this day about who should and should not get welfare from the states. (I’m not going to go into the American welfare system in detail since the people in this class live in America) http://social.jrank.org/pages/687/Welfare-Programs.html
In Australia the Welfare states had their emergence generally in times of war (1939-1945). Which makes sense since that is the time when people usually go through economical struggles. I noticed this not only with Australia, but also with other countries as well. There seems to be a pattern that when a war breaks out new welfare system changes come along with it. For example New Zealand’s welfare system was also founded during a war time in 1935-1949.
In any case all of the welfare states throughout the world have been expanding a lot since their founding. There is still a lot of debate going on about what does and does not work for the welfare system, so it is constantly changing. It is hard to pinpoint one history for all of the global welfare state. Every place establishes their own systems and their own ways of dealing with their country’s people through their system. There is a lot of different information out there to look at I particularly like this website though, it has some interesting information on it. http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/wstate.htm

CES 301 - Update (2/15/2010)

Overview
This semester, I will evaluate the effects of race and the welfare state from a global perspective. Specifically, I will use my blog as an avenue to compare and contrast the ethnocentric and political ramifications of the welfare state in the United States and abroad.

How does my topic connect to the themes of CES 301?
Yes. The correlary of race and socioeconomic status is evident in every society throughtout the world. Therefore, examining the effect of race as it pertains to the global welfare state fits the learning objectives for this course. Social inequality and race go hand-in-hand, and are often the target of stereotypes in society. Thus, examining the specific effects of race on the welfare state may help clarify these relationships from a global perspective.

What do I want to get out of this discussion?
I want to facilitate a better understanding of race, poverty and the welfare state for myself, and hopefully, as a result of using cyberspace, generate healthy discussions with other CES 301 students through the use of my blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNxVKd7zJFk Excerpt about the Welfare State taken from the 2007 movie, "The Great Debaters".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnK84mM5N-o Joe the Plummer was also on welfare. Political fodder from the last presidential election for those familiar with the issue.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5BN9kGhdug Ron Paul: Even Welfare State Supporters Realize That The System Isn't Viable (1/3) - 8/21/2009

test

this is a test