110 Sw.frs.; US$105; UK£65; €75

Building decent societies. Rethinking the role of social security in development

This book makes the case for a comprehensive social security system to be developed in all countries, including the poorest ones, in order to eliminate desperate conditions of poverty, to reverse growing inequality and to sustain economic growth. This is a co-publication with Palgrave Macmillan

This book makes the case for a comprehensive social security system to be developed in all countries, including the poorest ones, in order to eliminate desperate conditions of poverty, to reverse growing inequality and to sustain economic growth.

This is a co-publication with Palgrave Macmillan.

The downturn of the global economy has made the scope of the problems of poverty and unemployment worse across the whole world. This book makes the case for a comprehensive social security system to be developed in all countries, including the poorest ones, in order to eliminate desperate conditions of poverty, to reverse growing inequality and to sustain economic growth.

The establishment of universal social security systems has been one of the cornerstones of OECD countries' successful economic and social development and has contributed to reducing poverty and fostering social inclusion in today's rich countries. It is increasingly recognized that universal social security systems have an enormous potential for low income countries which has not yet been sufficiently explored. Recognizing that economic and social development are inextricably intertwined across countries, new international strategies are required to design appropriate social security policies which would effectively help to reduce poverty and productively contribute to economic and social development.

Table of contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Boxes

Notes on Contributors

Foreword by Assane Diop

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

Peter Townsend

Part I: The Right to Social Security and National Development

2. Social Security and Human Rights

Peter Townsend

Part II: Issues for the Global Society of the Twenty-first Century

3. Social Protection and Nation-Building: an Essay on Why and How Universalist Social Policy Contributes to Stable Nation-States

Chris de Neubourg

4. Social Security, Social Impact and Economic Performance: a Farewell to Three Famous Myths

Michael Cichon and Wolfgang Scholz

5. Can Low-Income Countries Afford Social Security?

Christina Behrendt and Krzysztof Hagemejer

6. The Impact of Social Transfers on Growth, Development, Poverty and Inequality in Developing Countries

Michael Samson

7. Investment in Social Security: a Possible UN Model for Child Benefit?

Peter Townsend

Part III: Social Protection in Europe and the OECD

8. Three Models of Social Security in the History of the Industrialized Countries

Peter Townsend

9. Social Protection, the European Union and its Member States

Raymond Wagener

10. Can the European Welfare Model be Exported?

Peter H. Lindert

11. The Poverty Effects of Social Protection in Europe: EU Enlargement and its Lessons for Developing Countries

Bea Cantillon

Part IV: Experiences from Low-Income Countries

12. Social Security in Developing Countries: a Brief Overview

Peter Townsend

13. Introducing Basic Social Protection in Low-Income Countries: Lessons from Existing Programmes

Armando Barrientos

14. Social Protection, Rural Livelihoods and Economic Growth: the Case of Cash Transfers in Malawi, Ethiopia and Bangladesh

Rachel Slater, John Farrington, Rebecca Holmes and Paul Harvey

15. Welfare, Development and Growth: Lessons from South Africa

Francie Lund

16. From Targeting to Universality: Lessons from the Health System in Thailand

Viroj Tangcharoensathien, Phusit Prakongsai, Supon Limwattananon, Walaiporn Patcharanarumol and Pongpisut Jongudomsuk

Part V: Conclusions

17. Rethinking the Role of Social Security in Development

Christina Berendt, Michael Cichon, Krzysztof Hagemejer, Stephen Kidd, Rüdiger Krech and Peter Townsend

References

Index