Developing countries may not have full-fledged welfare states like those we find in Europe, but certainly they have welfare state systems. For comparative social policy research the term "welfare state systems" has many advantages, as there are numerous different types/models of welfare state systems around the world. This path-breaking book, edited by Christian Aspalter, brings together leading experts to discuss social policy in 25 countries/regions around the world. From the most advanced welfare state systems in Scandinavia and Western Central Europe to the developing powers of Brazil, China, India, Russia, Mexico and Indonesia, each country-specific chapter provides a historical overview, discusses major characteristics of the welfare state system, analyzes country-specific problems, as well as critical current and future trends for further discussions, while also providing one additional major focal point/issue for greater in-depth analysis. This book breaks new ground in ideal-typical welfare regime theory, identifying now in total 10 worlds of welfare capitalism. It provides broad perspectives on critical challenges which welfare state systems in the developing and developed world alike must address now and in the future. It will be of great interest to all scholars and students of social policy, social development, development and health economists, public policy, health policy, sociology, social work and social policy makers and administrators. This book is a reference book for researchers and social policy administrators; it can also serve as a textbook for courses on comparative social policy, international social policy and international social development.

This book presents a new step farther into the twenty-first century, for the first time truly combining a comprehensive global data analysis with social policy theory development. The theory of global ideal-typical welfare regimes, also known as the “Ten Worlds of Welfare Regime Theory”, as set forth earlier by Christian Aspalter, is now in this book tested empirically using a quantitative global data analysis for the first time. The strong and rich results fully vindicated the Ten Worlds Theory. All in all, about 150 countries are included in this test, measuring numerous variables on two main dimensions, i.e., povertization and inequality. The innovative approach of using a new indicator, Aspalter’s Standardized Relative Performance Index, is applied, which facilitated the exact measurements of distances between relative performances of each variable, each dimension, each country, and each ideal-typical welfare regime (in relation to one another, respectively). In addition, one explanative and one normative meta-study is added to the book, to point to ways to understand and deal with the global culprit of inequality and, hence, poverty. “On the backdrop of decades of comparative theoretical and empirical research we now, for the first time, have a truly global analysis of welfare regimes.” ---- Peter Abrahamson, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen

Few discussions in modern social science have occupied as much attention as the changing nature of welfare states in western societies. Gosta Esping-Andersen, one of the most distinguished contributors to current debates on this issue, here provides a new analysis of the character and role of welfare states in the functioning of contemporary advanced western societies. Esping-Andersen distinguishes several major types of welfare state, connecting these with variations in the historical development of different western countries. Current economic processes, the author argues, such as those moving towards a post-industrial order, are not shaped by autonomous market forces but by the nature of states and state differences. Fully informed by comparative materials, this book will have great appeal to everyone working on issues of economic development and post-industrialism. Its audience will include students and academics in sociology, economics and politics.

This book traces how individuals fare over time in each of the three principal types of welfare state.

'Globalization', institutions and welfare regimes -- The challenge of globalization -- Globalization and welfare regime change -- Towards workfare? : changing labour market policies -- Labour market policies in social democratic and continental regimes -- Population ageing, GEPs and changing pensions systems -- Pensions policies in continental and social regimes -- Conclusion : welfare regimes in a liberalizing world.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” – Bill Gates “Hans Rosling tells the story of ‘the secret silent miracle of human progress’ as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.” —Melinda Gates "Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." - Former U.S. President Barack Obama Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. --- “This book is my last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance...Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. It wasn’t enough. But I hope this book will be.” Hans Rosling, February 2017.

Developing countries may not have full-fledged welfare states like those we find in Europe, but certainly they have welfare state systems. For comparative social policy research, the term "welfare state systems" has many advantages, as there are numerous different types/models of welfare state systems around the world. This revised and expanded second edition brings together leading experts to discuss social policy in 32 countries/regions around the world: from the most advanced welfare state systems in Scandinavia and Western Central Europe to the developing powers of Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Russia. Country-specific chapters provide in general a historical overview, discuss major characteristics of the welfare state system, and analyze country-specific problems, as well as critical current and future trends for further discussions, while also providing one (additional) major focal point/issue for greater in-depth analysis. Including new country case studies on Mali, South Africa, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Vietnam, this book is reframed around urgent contemporary issues including migration and rising social inequalities, LGBTQIA+ rights, universal basic income, and transboundary social policy. It will be of great interest to all scholars and students of social policy, social development, development economists and health economists, experts in public policy, health policy (including mental health policy), housing policy, education policy, family policy, cis- and trans-gender policy, migration and population policy, sociology, social work, anthropology, as well as social policy and public policy makers and administrators.