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Social Welfare: Availability and Delivery of Services and Benefits for Children
Author(s) -
Carney Terry
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
australian journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1839-4655
pISSN - 0157-6321
DOI - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.1982.tb00726.x
Subject(s) - legislation , social welfare , welfare , population , public economics , business , service (business) , human services , payment , economics , economic growth , law , sociology , political science , finance , marketing , demography
It is contended that social welfare legislation is principally concerned with the allocation of resources of income, wealth, position and power. Australian legislation providing welfare services and benefits for children is assessed from this perspective. It is argued that the present legislation providing income support payments for young people accords excessive weight to the promotion of economic interests of the community such as the work ethic and fails to address the social and human needs of that population. It is also contended that the structure of the child welfare services legislation is overly concerned to cater to conservative forces in society who favour social control measures designed to protect their values and interests and who resist efforts to provide a network of non‐coercive preventive services. Both areas of the law are criticized on the basis that they place excessive reliance on the notion that the family unit is capable of carrying the major responsibility for income support and service provision.