The study represents the second year of the research project A Comparative Study on Social Assistance that started in 2014. The project, in its first year, looked into social assistance systems and welfare reforms in the UK and Japan. The present study selected three countries―Sweden, France, and the US― for comparison of social assistance systems. The aim of this study is to examine how social assistance systems works in other countries and to develop a social assistance reform model for Korea. Finally, the research would help build a baseline data of recent social assistance reforms of various counties.
This study proposes an in-depth analytical framework of international comparison of social assistance systems. The framework is utilized for analysing the six focus areas which are related to public assistance. This study focuses on the following six topics:
1. Historical background of social assistance
2. Basic structure and feature of social assistance
3. Eligibility and benefit payment of each social assistance program
4. Recent trend of policy reforms(including Relations with Employment and Social Supports)
5. Administration and delivery of social assistance.
6. Policy Implications in Korean Social Welfare System
A Study on Public Assistance in US
This study focus on cash benefits and employment supports of public assistance. It also includes policy trends and recent reforms in the US.
The 1996 welfare reform Act transforms welfare benefit as a basic right into temporary benefit that requires work. The AFDC was changed to TANF which placed time limit to receive benefits.
The study keys on changes of policy execution on social assistance reforms in the US for the last ten years. However, there are several obstacles to evaluate welfare reform since the effectiveness of reform is complicated and the there was rapid change in US economy for decades. Therefore, the research concentrates on the historical context of social assistance as well as updating the recent policy reform. The aim of the US social policy research is to have a general understanding of why the US government has led Public assistance reform and implication of this change.