Centre for Policy on Ageing



A problem of riches — towards a new social policy research agenda on the distribution of economic resources
Author(s)	Michael Orton, Karen Rowlingson
Journal title	Journal of Social Policy, vol 36, part 1, January 2007
Pages	pp 59-78
Source	http://www.journals.cambridge.org
Keywords	Wealth ; Assets [elderly] ; Social economics ; Social policy.
Annotation	The distribution of economic resources in society is a central concern for social policy, but research in this area has primarily concentrated on the bottom of the economic distribution, namely "the poor". In this article, the authors argue that it is time for social policy to move away from a narrow focus on poverty to consider the broader issues of inequality between different groups in the economic distribution, and, by implication, the position of better-off citizens. This raises a number of conceptual challenges, due to the current lack of consideration of wealth and inequality at a political, theoretical or empirical level. This article discusses the challenges, and concludes by outlining a possible research agenda. However, the underpinning argument is that social policy needs to develop a broader understanding of the economic distribution. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-070508201 A
Classmark	W7: JD: W4: TM2
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.