• Poverty & Social Security [top]
  Written by A. B. (Anthony Barnes) Atkinson et al
  First published in 1989 in Great Britain in hardback by Harvester Wheatsheaf, ISBN 074500024x
  Published in 1989 in Great Britain in paperback by Harvester Wheatsheaf, 379pp, ISBN 0745000258
  British Library Classification No.:362.5'56'094
  This volume is complementary to the author's earlier volume - a collection of his papers entitled 'Social Justice and Public Policy', which was published by Wheatsheaf in 1983.

About this book/synopsis: The persistence of poverty in industrialised countries and its abolition through social security programmes (income transfer programmes) remains one of the most vital issues addressed by economists. This book is a careful selection of eighteen essays on the topic by one of the economic profession's most eminent scholars and contains much empirical evidence that deals with the effectiveness of current policies and with alternative reforms of the benefit system (mostly confined to discussing the UK, but reference is also made to the rest of the OECD). Seven of the essays are published for the first time and several others are not readily available - one was only ever published in German. This present volume is intended to make them more accessible.

The first section of the book is concerned with the measurement of poverty. This particular topic bears close relation to the measurement of inequality in the earlier work 'Social Justice and Public Policy'. It covers conceptual problems in the definition of poverty, including the development of new techniques to deal with differences in social judgements regarding the choice of poverty line and indicators of poverty. The subsequent chapters are concerned with the extent of poverty in Britain, paying special attention to changes over the last fifty years and to the influence of unemployment

The second section of the book examines the effectiveness of social security and its impact. Among the topics considered are the role of unemployment insurance and its possible effects on return to employment, the development of retirement incomes over the next half century and the role of earnings-related pensions, the incomplete take-up of income-tested benefits and the poverty trap

The final section deals with proposals for reform of social security, including the integration of taxes and benefits and schemes for a basic income. Many of the essays are previously unpublished or not readily available. Professor Atkinson tackles important conceptual issues on the nature of poverty and the problems associated with its measurement. Although much of the empirical work relates to the UK, the methodology behind it will be of interest to academic and government economists wherever the question of poverty and the proper design of social security programmes arises.

Readers will find that the practical issues of the design of income maintenance and taxation discussed in this book are illuminated by the more theoretical articles in the earlier 1983 work 'Social Justice and Public Policy'

Chapters:
Preface; Acknowledgements

Part 1: Poverty
Introduction
1. How should we measure poverty? Some conceptual issues
2. On the measurement of poverty
3. Poverty in Britain from the 1930s to the 1980s
4. Poverty in York: a re-analysis of Rowntree's 1950 survey co-authored with J. Corlyon, A. K. Maynard, H. Sutherland and C. G. Trinder
5. Inter-generational continuities in deprivation with H. Sutherland
6. Poverty, unemployment and the future

Part 2: Social insurance and social assistance
Introduction
7. Social insurance and income maintenance
8. Turning the screw: benefits for the unemployed, 1979-1988 with J. Micklewright
9. Unemployment benefit, duration and incentives in Britain with J. Gomulka, J. Micklewright and N. Rau
10. The poverty trap in Britain with M. A. King and N. H. Stern
11. The take-up of social security benefits
12. Family income supplement and two-parent families, 1971-1980 with B. Champion

Part 3: Reforming Social Security and Income Taxation in the United Kingdom
Introduction
13. State pensions, taxation and retirement income, 1981-2031 with R. M. Altmann
14. Social security, taxation and the working population over the next ten years
15. The analysis of personal taxation and social security with M. A King and H. Sutherland
16. The cost of social dividend and tax credit schemes
17. Analysis of partial basic income scheme with H. Sutherland
18. TAXMOD with H. Sutherland