ABSTRACT
O presente artigo objetiva discutir aspectos recentes da política de assistência social brasileira, considerando a incidência da radicalização do projeto neoliberal sobre seus serviços e as características de sua intervenção no contexto da pandemia da Covid-19. Elegemos como mote de análise central a relação entre a referida política e a gestão da força de trabalho mais precarizada e empobrecida, que no geral têm composto o público-alvo deste campo de proteção social. Tomando como base os fundamentos da crítica marxista da política social, a abordagem da assistência social procura desvelar as contradições inerentes a esta política de seguridade social, problematizando os principais elementos do endurecimento do ajuste fiscal no Brasil. Essas reflexões sedimentam as bases para a análise acerca da condição dessa política na gestão da força de trabalho mais empobrecida a partir das determinações da pandemia da Covid-19. A pesquisa, de natureza qualitativa, se assenta em revisão bibliográfica e análise de dados empíricos de fonte primária e secundária.Alternate :This article aims to discuss recent aspects of Brazilian social assistance policy, considering the incidence of the radicalization of the neoliberal project on its services and the characteristics of its intervention in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. We chose as a central analysis theme the relationship between the aforementioned policy and the management of the most precarious and impoverished workforce, which in general have made up the target audience of this field of social protection. Based on the foundations of the Marxist critique of social policy, the approach to social assistance seeks to reveal the contradictions inherent in this social security policy, questioning the main elements of the tightening of fiscal adjustment in Brazil. These reflections solidify the bases for the analysis about the condition of this policy in the management of the most impoverished workforce from the determinations of the Covid-19 pandemic. The research, of a qualitative nature, is based on a literature review and analysis of empirical data from primary and secondary sources.
ABSTRACT
This article explores the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of mid-level bureaucracy. This qualitative and exploratory investigation adopted the research strategy of a case study of the bureaucracy responsible for the social assistance policy of the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 2020. The research was conducted through bibliographic and documentary research and semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The bureaucracy's perception of the changes in the intra-organizational dimensions of public administration caused by the pandemic was captured. It was possible to notice that the crisis affected the work system, the decision-making processes, the interactions with other actors, and the skills required for the performance of the functions of these government actors. The research showed that how the mid-level bureaucracy acted helps to understand the functioning of the service and the resilience of public policy in the context of crisis.
ABSTRACT
Globally, governments are faced with the double challenge of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring the social and economic survival of their citizens. The urban poor are uniquely affected by the impact of the pandemic, requiring comprehensive social protection measures to cushion the poor and vulnerable individuals and families. Informed by a social justice theoretical framework, this chapter focuses on the social protection responses by the Ugandan government against the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of protecting its vulnerable population against life-threatening social and economic risks, the Ugandan government has focused more on controlling the pandemic at the expense of other social services. Findings reveal the exclusionary nature of social protection measures and the tendency of relief strategies to benefit a few undeserving instead of the poor and needy individuals and families;shocks or crises can exacerbate inequalities, and so can policy responses to mitigate the impact of these crises or shocks. The chapter recommends adaptable and flexible social protection strategies that are underpinned by a social justice lens. The chapter further points to the need to establish a specific database to guide social protection for the most vulnerable for now and in case of future emergencies. This goal could be achieved through strengthening community surveillance to maintain the social protection during emergencies and the need for social safety nets for the most vulnerable in society, even in a liberalised society. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
ABSTRACT
The state has an obligation to overcome the problem of poverty in order to help and protect all of its people so they can live a decent life, especially due to COVID-19. One of the policies of the Indonesian government is Cash Social Assistance. The purpose of this study is to 1) analyze and describe how the policy implementation of the Cash Social Assistance program in the Kiniar Sub District;2) Knowing the impact on the community in the implementation of the Social Cash Assistance program in the Kiniar Sub District, Minahasa Regency. This study used qualitative research methods. The research location is the Kiniar sub-district, Minahasa Regency. Researchers used purposive sampling with data collection techniques in the form of interviews, observation and documentation. Data analysis techniques are data reduction, data presentation, and concluding. The study results show that 1) the implementation of the distribution of funds for Cash Social Assistance participants in the Kiniar Sub District is right on target. Participants who receive assistance can take assistance directly at the distribution post, namely PT. POS Indonesia in the city of Tondano;2) The Cash Social Assistance Program has positive and negative impacts on beneficiary communities. The positive impact is that this assistance can help beneficiary communities in their daily lives, while the negative impact is that this program creates a culture of dependency and laziness. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Technium Social Sciences Journal is the property of Technium Press Constanta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Social assistance is on the social development agenda of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states. It is not only reflected in the Code of Social Security of SADC (2007), but is also anchored in the national legal frameworks and social protection policies of the member states. The implementation realities of social assistance in the region, however, differs. Non-state social assistance makes up for the deficits of state-run social assistance in countries with weak institutions. Countries that have institutionalised social assistance were swift to provide emergency assistance to mitigate the effects caused by the COVID-19 lockdown measures. However, the provided relief has been elusive to many migrants in the region. The implication of this is that without a clear consideration of emergency assistance as needs-based, and separate from social assistance, the region stands a little chance to assist migrants when faced with a disaster such as COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
The tuberculosis (TB) dispensary patients are often diagnosed with cardiac diseases, but the regulatory documents associated with TB care refer to the procedures and standards of examination and treatment of TB patients or patients with suspected TB while the management of associated chronic diseases is carried out in other medical institutions. There is lack of continuity between doctors of different specialties. Patients face organizational problems of accessibility and quality of medical care. The creation of Department of Medical and Social Care and Rehabilitation in TB dispensary with therapeutic profile specialists became especially urgent in the period of coronavirus pandemic. Aim. The aim of the study was to estimate the expediency and effectiveness of Department of Medical and Social Care and Rehabilitation in detection and treatment of comorbid cardiac pathology in patients of TB dispensary during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Material and Methods. All patients of the St. Petersburg TB dispensary No. 5 were examined according to specially developed algorithm to detect and treat the cardiac pathology comorbid with TB. Results. Cardiac diseases comorbid with tuberculosis were detected using an integrated multidisciplinary approach to examination of TB patients during the pandemic of coronavirus infection. Examination, consultation, and necessary treatment were carried out directly in TB dispensary allowing to avoid disease exacerbations and complications during the entire period of monitoring. Conclusion. The establishment of Department of Medical and Social Care and Rehabilitation in TB dispensary No. 5 showed the relevance and timeliness of this measure. The coronavirus genesis of some cardiac diseases required to revise the management tactics of affected tuberculosis patients. © 2022 The authors.
ABSTRACT
Background: Caregivers are under enormous pressure in trying to provide for the needs of their children with disabilities in South Africa. The care dependency grant (CDG), an unconditional cash transfer, is the primary state-subsidised intervention for the social protection of low-income caregivers of children with disabilities. Objectives: The primary objective of this substudy, within a larger multistakeholder qualitative project, was to investigate caregiver perspectives on CDG assessment and application, their beliefs about the purpose of the CDG and how they actually used these funds. Methods: Data for this qualitative research included in-depth individual interviews and one focus group discussion. Six low-income caregivers who were current or previous CDG beneficiaries participated. Deductive thematic analysis was conducted using codes related to the objectives. Results: Access to the CDG was usually too late and over-complicated. Caregivers were grateful for the CDG but it was insufficient to cover the costs of care, in the context of high unemployment and weaknesses in complementary social services. Pressure on these caregivers was intensified by criticism in their social environments and a lack of respite care. Conclusion: Caregivers need service providers to be better trained and for systems of referral to available social services to be strengthened. The whole of society ought also to be targeted for increased social inclusion facilitated by improvements in understandings of the lived experience and cost of disability. Contribution: The rapid time from data collection to write-up of this study will aid in building the evidence base on the CDG, an urgent priority for South Africa's journey towards comprehensive social protection.
ABSTRACT
This research focuses on the Ministry of Social Affairs in distributing social assistance. This study aims to find out how the process of distributing social aid carried out by the Ministry of Social Affairs has been going well following the procedures. And during the distribution, there were any obstacles that hindered the distribution process so that the distribution of social assistance was not right on target. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative using online news media as data processed through NVivo 12 Plus software. This approach was chosen to see the extent to which the Ministry of Social Affairs was distributing social assistance to people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with indicators of resources, bureaucratic structure, communication, and commitment as comparison material. Based on the data analysis that has been carried out, the bureaucratic structure is a major problem that causes delays in the distribution of social assistance with a percentage of 81.25%, not without reasons for lack of accountability and the occurrence of abuse of office by bureaucrats who control the distribution of social assistance and use the situation to commit acts of corruption. Furthermore, Resources became the second factor that caused the distribution of social assistance not to go well with a presentation of around 37.50%. Furthermore, the results of data analysis with the commitment indicator, which is not much different from the bureaucratic structure, become the third reason for the problems in the distribution of social assistance due to factors from the stakeholders in the distribution of social service who lack a strong commitment with a value presentation of around 21.25% as the primary basis in implementing responsibility. In contrast to the results of data analysis from the communication indicator, 18.75% is the lowest problem in the distribution of social assistance by the Ministry of Social Affairs to the results of data analysis from the communication indicator of 18.75%. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
ABSTRACT
This article aims to present the experiences of 284 social workers as disaster responders during the Covid-19 pandemic-the study conducted among social workers from public social assistance institutions in the Greater Poland Province, Poland.During the pandemic, the vast majority of social workers carried out administrative activities consisting of qualifying people to receive social assistance benefits. The activities that were undertaken the least frequently during the pandemic were: initiating new forms of assistance, developing social welfare programs acting as an advocate for the rights and interests of clients. Respondents observed changes in the functioning of social assistance institutions during the pandemic on several levels: guarantying access to personal protective equipment, changes in the way of working, lack of protecting the mental health of workers. The respondents were asked to rate on cooperation with the environment to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. Cooperation with institutions such as police, non-governmental organizations, informal groups, and the Wielkopolska Province Office in Poznan was rated the highest. The results of the present study demonstrate that social workers are essential disaster responders to the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of polish social workers did not lose touch with the local environment and, risking their own health, undertook activities for people and families in need.
ABSTRACT
This paper aimed to examine the role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in the distribution of social assistance (SA) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. The paper adopts a qualitative case-study approach to explore the best practices in the distribution of SA by five (5) organizations including FBOs, governmental organizations (GOs), Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), political groups, and private voluntary groups. In this study, 14 beneficiaries of SA were selected by stratified proportionate random sampling method, and five (5) key personnel were selected purposively based on their experiences in the management of SA distribution. The study found that "no-move, no touch" approach followed by FBOs is more likely to establish human rights and social justice and reduce the transmission of diseases. In contrast to the modern idea, which undermines the faith-based charity, the study proved that faith-based charity is gaining attraction as an effective approach combating global pandemic. The findings of this paper will be useful for policymakers, voluntary service workers, GO, and NGO workers to ensure the distribution of SA in a more productive and disciplined way during and after an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to analyze the Social Assistance Policy from Decree n° 10.282, art. 3, II, of March 20, 2020, which was declared essential for the continuity of public services in the protection of the vulnerable population and in the fight against the new coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, it is a review of documents issued in the Pandemic period, published and analyzed, in this period there were several guiding information bringing a profound change in the routine of attendance to the Social Assistance Policy, indicating measures and conditions that guarantee safety and health. of "SUAS users and professionals". The research was carried out in 2021, until the 9th edition of the National Immunization Plan and concludes that no professional category that works in the Social Assistance Policy was mentioned in the priority group for vaccination. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR]
ABSTRACT
The German response to the threat which the Covid-19 crisis has posed to self-employed workers reflects an approach which so far has largely focused on the prevention of bogus self-employment. While this approach has been further reinforced, to the point where the use of self-employed contractors has been banned outright in individual occupations, plummeting incomes of the ‘genuine' self-employed remained unaddressed in the government's crisis response for almost one year. The contribution describes the evolution of this approach as the pandemic progressed, and discusses whether the experience of this crisis may constitute a turning point in a policy tradition which has so far relegated the self-employed to the bare minimum of fully means-tested social assistance benefits when facing macroeconomic shocks as well as individual social risks. © 2022 Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands
ABSTRACT
This article recovers the Marxist notion of radical criticism as a founding and structuring epistemological tradition of Critical Social Work. Valuing its validity as a possibility to recreate the analysis of the possible forms of social intervention after the health, economic and social crisis. Which affects us harshly today and invites us to deepen the discussion on Social Assistance as a right" or the right to Assistance Social, at the same time strongly questioned in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABSTRACT
This research focuses on the Ministry of Social Affairs in distributing social assistance. This study aims to find out how the process of distributing social aid carried out by the Ministry of Social Affairs has been going well following the procedures. And during the distribution, there were any obstacles that hindered the distribution process so that the distribution of social assistance was not right on target. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative using online news media as data processed through NVivo 12 Plus software. This approach was chosen to see the extent to which the Ministry of Social Affairs was distributing social assistance to people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with indicators of resources, bureaucratic structure, communication, and commitment as comparison material. Based on the data analysis that has been carried out, the bureaucratic structure is a major problem that causes delays in the distribution of social assistance with a percentage of 81.25%, not without reasons for lack of accountability and the occurrence of abuse of office by bureaucrats who control the distribution of social assistance and use the situation to commit acts of corruption. Furthermore, Resources became the second factor that caused the distribution of social assistance not to go well with a presentation of around 37.50%. Furthermore, the results of data analysis with the commitment indicator, which is not much different from the bureaucratic structure, become the third reason for the problems in the distribution of social assistance due to factors from the stakeholders in the distribution of social service who lack a strong commitment with a value presentation of around 21.25% as the primary basis in implementing responsibility. In contrast to the results of data analysis from the communication indicator, 18.75% is the lowest problem in the distribution of social assistance by the Ministry of Social Affairs to the results of data analysis from the communication indicator of 18.75%. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
ABSTRACT
This study was carried out in the first six months of the Covid-19 to investigate the Turkish citizens ' thoughts about government-based public social assistance provided by Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations (SASFs) in Turkey. This research is conducted by 401 people covering a total of 1.344 household members. According to the main results, nearly 75 per cent of those who applied for social assistance belong to low income (unemployed and insufficient income). In addition, 56 per cent of first-time beneficiaries and 71 per cent of pre-pandemic social assistance recipients are satisfied with social assistance during the pandemic process. Without any gender and education differences, public social assistance demand is found at the highest level between the ages of 29-40, and the lowest level is at the age of 65+. Interestingly, satisfaction from public social assistance was differentiated according to the marital status of the beneficiaries receiving social assistance before Covid-19. Further from these, SASFs have caught a self-assessment opportunity to correct their deficiency for future similar situations.
ABSTRACT
We propose a new theoretical model depicting the compensatory relations between personal agency and social assistance. It suggests two general hypotheses, namely that (1) the stronger the individuals’ sense of personal agency, the weaker their motivation to utilize social assistance and the greater their consequent tendency to develop anti-social attitudes. Conversely, (2) the stronger the individuals’ reliance on social assistance, the weaker their motivation to be agentic, and the lesser their tendency to develop a strong sense of self. These relations are assumed to apply across levels of generality, that is, concerning agency and assistance within a single goal domain, as well as across domains where the source of agency (e.g., money, power) or assistance facilitates the attainment of multiple goals.At the time of this writing, the world finds itself in the grip of an unprecedented calamity: the COVID 19 pandemic, the worst such outbreak in living memory. Starting at the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, the virus spread quickly across the planet. Over 37 million persons, globally, have been infected so far and the worst may be yet to come. Over 7.6 million Americans were infected, and over 214,000 died as a consequence. Millions are expected to succumb to the plague, the world economy is taking a historic hit. People are losing jobs, some to be never recovered. Factories and small business are shuttered, many to never reopen. Health systems of the world’s nations are stretched to their limits, social services and functions (transportation, education, entertainment, leisure) are near paralysis. Millions are cooped up in their homes: lonely and disoriented, the structures of their daily routines in shambles. Nobody is exempt. All are vulnerable.These somber circumstances induce a sense of fragility and helplessness in millions of individuals. Their sense of personal agency is severely threatened, their need for assistance and support is much magnified. And a fundamental question to psychological science is what impact this has on people’s social relations, their attachment to others, their interpersonal orientations, and their attitudes. In the present article, we address such questions by reviewing an extensive body of relevant empirical findings in the social psychological literature and proposing an integrative model that offers new perspectives on the phenomena at stake.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant psychological consequences among the public, especially for people in the epicenter. This study examined the 'bull's eye' model by comparing the level of psychological distress and the effect of different stressors in Wuhan (the original epicenter) with that in the surrounding areas in Hubei Province during the pandemic. Data were obtained from a cross-national survey of 10 478 respondents between the ages of 18 and 80 years in Hubei Province during the peak of the pandemic. Results of the ordinary least squares regression models showed that Wuhan residents experienced more psychological distress than those in the surrounding areas. Social and economic problems caused by the pandemic, risk exposure, perceived discrimination, and information-seeking behaviors were positively associated with distress. Social assistance was negatively associated with distress. Findings were consistent with the bull's eye model by revealing both a higher level of psychological distress and a stronger effect of stressors among the Wuhan residents than with those in low-risk areas. Thus, policymakers and psychological workers should provide adequate psychological services in high-risk areas. Lowering risk exposure, reducing discrimination against people in the epicenter, and improving information quality are essential to alleviate their psychological distress.
ABSTRACT
Nigeria, a fast-growing country, has been food insecure prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Local agricultural production cannot satisfy it’s ever-growing population’s food and nutrition needs. This state was aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown which the government adopted to stem the spread of the virus. To cushion the effects of the lockdown, social assistance of diverse forms from varying sources were supplied. This study assesses the effect of the lockdown order on household food security level, and the coping strategies that were adopted. Also, it examines the kinds of social assistance received and how such mitigated food insecurity status among households that benefitted. The study uses used a secondary dataset from the Nigeria COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey. The National Bureau of Statistics collected the data in March, June, and July, targeting periods before, during, and when the lockdown was gradually eased, respectively. The results revealed that most households experienced different forms of shock during the lockdown, notably increases in food prices and disruption of farm activities. Furthermore, only a few households received social assistance, main from state governments and religious bodies. The assistance received had a positive effect on household food security during the lockdown period. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee the future of food journal (FOFJ), Witzenhausen, Germany. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
ABSTRACT
This study aims to analyze the effect of providing social assistance, tax incentives, expansion of working capital, and credit restructuring on the development of MSMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted on MSMEs in West Semarang, Central Semarang 2, and South Semarang. The population of this study was MSMEs' actors who had taken advantage of tax incentives, received social assistance, and received injections of funds in West Semarang, Central Semarang 2, and South Semarang. Purposive sampling was employed to obtain a sample of 369 MSMEs. The research data were obtained through 84 weekly observations from April to October 2020. The results revealed that the provision of social assistance, tax incentives, working capital, and credit restructuring influenced the development of MSMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study results can provide additional information for the government in evaluating protection programs and accelerating economic recovery for MSMEs affected by COVID-19, as well as evaluating MSME business strategies towards a modern MSME business model while maintaining health protocols.
ABSTRACT
In most global south countries, various informal institutions provide welfare to a large segment of the neglected, poor and vulnerable populations through informal social protection. Despite being a major source of welfare in the global south, the usefulness of informal social protection at the household level remains an under-researched area. In this exploratory study, we have determined the usefulness of informal social protection provided through religious institutions, such as madrassas and compared it with formal social protection at the household level utilising the case study of a lower-income country such as Pakistan. A mixed methodology of data collection comprising a survey and semi-structured interviews in 14 different cities of Pakistan of the poor and eligible households for receiving formal social protection was conducted for the research. The results suggest the coverage of informal social protection provided by madrassas is greater than formal social protection. The poor and vulnerable population value and considers it more useful than formal social protection. We conclude that integrating informal and formal social protection would help improve the effectiveness of social policies in developing and less developed countries.