TY - JOUR
T1 - How effective is conditional welfare support for enhancing child wellbeing? An examination of compulsory income management (welfare payment quarantining) in Australia
AU - Roche, Steven
AU - Mendes, Philip
AU - Marston, Greg
AU - Peterie, Michelle
AU - Bielefeld, Shelley
AU - Staines, Zoe
AU - Humpage, Louise
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Conditional welfare, a social policy mechanism in which disadvantaged groups are required to conform to behavioural changes to receive income support, has become an influential policy mechanism in recent decades. Conditional welfare in Australia involves compulsory income management (CIM), comprising the quarantining of between 50 and 90 per cent of a participant’s welfare payment for use on food, rent and other essential items. A major objective of all Australian income management (IM) programs since 2007 has been to enhance children’s wellbeing by protecting them from harm caused by anti-social behaviour such as alcohol and drug abuse, and ensuring they have access to basic needs such as food, education and health care. To explore the outcomes of these objectives, this qualitative study explores the views of both compulsory and voluntary IM participants as well as community stakeholders in relation to child wellbeing in four IM locations across Australia. It finds minimal evidence to support the view that IM contributes to positive outcomes in children’s welfare.
AB - Conditional welfare, a social policy mechanism in which disadvantaged groups are required to conform to behavioural changes to receive income support, has become an influential policy mechanism in recent decades. Conditional welfare in Australia involves compulsory income management (CIM), comprising the quarantining of between 50 and 90 per cent of a participant’s welfare payment for use on food, rent and other essential items. A major objective of all Australian income management (IM) programs since 2007 has been to enhance children’s wellbeing by protecting them from harm caused by anti-social behaviour such as alcohol and drug abuse, and ensuring they have access to basic needs such as food, education and health care. To explore the outcomes of these objectives, this qualitative study explores the views of both compulsory and voluntary IM participants as well as community stakeholders in relation to child wellbeing in four IM locations across Australia. It finds minimal evidence to support the view that IM contributes to positive outcomes in children’s welfare.
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190740921003303
U2 - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106254
DO - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106254
M3 - Article
SN - 0190-7409
VL - 131
SP - 1
EP - 11
JO - Children and Youth Services Review
JF - Children and Youth Services Review
ER -