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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Poverty, social exclusion and social polarisation
— the need to construct an international welfare state | | Author(s) | Peter Townsend |
| Corporate Author | Social Policy Research Centre - SPRC, University of New South Wales |
| Journal title | SPRC Reports and Proceedings, no 142, December 1999 |
| Pages | pp 1-24 |
| Keywords | Poverty ; Isolation ; Social welfare ; Social policy ; International. |
| Annotation | There is an assumption that poverty can be diminished automatically through economic growth. However, international agencies and many governments agree that wealth and poverty will become more polarised in the next half-century, and that a different priority must be followed. The author argues that any resolution of this problem depends on connecting three concepts - poverty, social exclusion and social polarisation - and bringing them into sharper or more distinguishable focus. The following explanations are given for the process of polarisation: defective structural adjustment policies; the concentration of hierarchical power; privatisation; and the shortcomings of targeting and safety nets. The policies required to turn the situation around include reformulation of the measurement of poverty, social exclusion and unemployment, and an insistence on monitoring and fulfilling international agreements. What is really required amounts to an international welfare state: introduction of international company and taxation law, combined with strengthening social insurance, and more planning and investment in health and education. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-000131207 B |
| Classmark | W6: TP: TY: TM2: 72 |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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