The scope, complexity, and costs of publicly sponsored
social security and social welfare services
and programmes have increased significantly in many parts of the world, although their scope and
coverage remain limited in most developing countries. Social welfare concepts and practices have
also been the object of considerable debate and rethinking in recent years.
Spending on a broadly defined category of social welfare
programmes, including social security,
has increased steadily in real terms since the late 1960s, typically at rates faster than economic
growth or total government expenditure. By the mid- 1980s, social welfare spending by central and
local government together was the equivalent of about 14 per cent of total output in developed
countries and about 6 per cent in a small sample of the developing countries, although only 3 per
cent and 1.5 per cent for Africa and South and East Asia, respectively.
In the developed countries, social security and welfare
services are recognized as essential
elements in the social advances that have been made. However, their rapidly rising costs have
been a cause of concern and, despite the resources they absorb, some have come under scrutiny
for their alleged inefficiencies and failure to provide for those most in need. Expansion and
increased costs are built into most systems, although budgets are likely to continue to be
restricted by slow economic growth. Administrative complexity pushes up delivery costs. Services
are labour-intensive, and increased professionalism and training escalate unit costs. Increasing
numbers of middle-class people use services, especially in a period of slow growth in personal
income. Changing age structures, in particular the aging of the population, add a new element,
which will be progressively more significant. While the increased costs associated with an aging
population may be offset by savings in maternity, child, and youth services, this change will
nonetheless require a major redirection of resources and retraining of personnel. Partly inspired by
the drive to greater economy, but reflecting also changes in professional views as of appropriate
forms in which to provide care, institutionalization of people who cannot support themselves is
being de- emphasized in favour of community-based and family-based support. Perhaps the most
significant trend is greater prominence for prevention and rehabilitation, to enhance people's
capacity to function independently, effectively, and productively.
In many developing countries, the need for social welfare
services is increasing with the spread of
urbanization, migration, changing family and kinship support systems, and greater female
participation in the modern economy. But as recession and economic decline in some areas are
placing greater demands on the typically limited capacity of existing public systems, Governments
are seeking ways to maintain existing family support systems. Social welfare programmes are
increasingly taking on a developmental character, with an emphasis on creating income-earning
opportunities for the poor, vulnerable, dependent, or disabled. Even limited resources can have
significant economic benefits if used for prevention, maternal and infant care, immunization against
childhood diseases, and supplementary feeding for preschool and school- children, as well as
some rural community services. To replicate such programmes in large numbers would require a
redirection of resources from urban, often middle-class-oriented services, with all that this implies.
