Denmark – a good life for all?

Niels Rosendahl Jensen and Ditte Sørensen,Kopenhagen (Denmark)

1. Introduction

Internationally Denmark is known as a welfare society, marked by a high degree of equality in living conditions. The equality is financed by high public taxation giving a basis to welfare services, usually and to a great extent delivered by public institutions. (more…)

Social policy in Australia

Greg Marston, St. Lucia (Australia)

My last contribution to SocMag focused on social policy issues in the lead up to the Federal election. The November 2007 Federal Election in Australia resulted in the Federal Labor Party being swept into office with a huge majority. (more…)

Soziale Arbeit für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung in Kuba/Social Work for sustainable development in Cuba

Ania Bustio Ramos, Pinar del Rio (Cuba)

English Abstract: The current world needs new development models that orient themselves towards the quality of life of the persons. Humanity is in a crisis of paradigms, in a so-called crisis of the civilization. The persons carry even responsibility to change the course of the story. For that it is important that the persons learn to recognize the reality around it to confirm change. But to change the reality must be learned. Social working in Cuba plays a special role in the variation of the current reality and the execution of a persistent development.  (more…)

Preventive work with children and families in Finland and Russia: needs and challenges

Preliminary results of the sociological study in Leningrad Oblast, Russia

Valentina Samoylova, Olga Borodkina, Anna Smirnova and Yulia Victorova, St. Petersburg (Russia)

Background

At the present time supporting family is one of the key issues of social policy in Russia. The government connects with the development of the institution of families the decision of many actual social problems, including demographic ones. (more…)

Report on child poverty recommends the development of multidimensional child well-being

Ulrike Wisser, Brussels (EU, Belgium)

The 252 pages report “Child Poverty and Well-being in the EU, current status and way forward” from the Task-Force on child poverty indicator has finally been published on the website of the European Commission. (more…)

Conference report: Transformation of the social

Report on the First Congress of the Swiss Society for Social Work (SSSW) in Lucerne, 6th -8th March 2008

Christian Reutlinger, St. Gallen (Switzerland)

The First Congress of the Swiss Society for Social Work (SSSW) positioned questions and challenges related to the transformation of the social concerning the social work as science, practice and education. The main topics of discussion addressed the fast-moving changes of the society in the last 30 Years. (more…)

Lucerne declaration: Transformation of the Social

The first international congress of the Swiss Association for Social Work (March 6th to 8th in Lucerne, Switzerland) ended with a political declaration. You find the declaration here. To sign it please got to this website.

What are the main future challenges for youth policy in the EU?

Ulrike Wisser, Brussels (EU, Belgium)

While the 2009 deadline fixed for assessing the recent Europe-wide cooperation in the field of youth policy and setting the common strategy until 2020 is approaching, the Commission of the European Union has just launched a consultation. (more…)

Congress Report: Social Work in Restructured European Welfare Systems

Annamaria Campanini, EASSW, Calabria/Parma (Italy)

Social Work in Restructured European Welfare Systems - The role of the field placement, is the title of the congress organized by the University of Calabria the 5th and 6th February in Arcavacata di Rende (Cosenza). (more…)

Bielefeld declaration: Pedagogic of enlightenment

Participants of the international conference “Marginalized youth” (January 30th to February 1st 2008 in Bielefeld, Germany) and many colleagues from practice and science signed a declaration against socio-political tendencies of stigmatization and disciplining of underprivileged groups in youth welfare and social policies. (more…)

A Foster Family as an Educational Institution: the case of an EU new-comer country

Vilma Staskevičienė, Kedainiai (Lithuania)

The main issue which is discussed in this review are the characteristics of a foster family as an educational institution, which is functioning under the condition of a country in transition. (more…)

Transnational exchange projects are getting started

Ulrike Wisser, Brussels (EU, Belgium)

A first round of transnational exchange projects has been selected within the new European Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (PROGRESS). Based on the good experience of one of the former programmes, the European Commission supports European projects that exchange and implement good practice to fight against poverty and social exclusion. (more…)

Social Policy in Europe: William Thompson Working Papers

The Department of Applied Social Studies at the University College Cork (Ireland) publishes debates and deliberations on European Social Policy in the William Thompson Working Papers series. You find the collection of papers here.

Background note

Peter Herrmann, Cork (Ireland) 

The European Commission’s DIRECTORATE GENERAL ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS (Directorate E: Structural reforms and Lisbon Strategy. Economic evaluation Labour markets and welfare systems, including economic aspects of ageing populations and taxation) published a ‘Background note for the informal ECOFIN of 4-5 April 2008′, titled Efficiency and Effectiveness of Social Spending. Achievements and challenges’. (more…)