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Social Security Policy in Hong Kong: From British Colony to Special Administrative Region of China, by Chak Kwan Chan, is the first book which systematically examines Hong Kong's social security policies across a period of 170 years. In particular, Chan analyses how Hong Kong, the world's freest economy, has maintained its small government by manipulating Chinese welfare ideologies

Chan CK. Hong Kong: workfare in the world's freest economyInt J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 22–32 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare.Workfare was introduced in many countries to suppress welfare dependency and reduce social security expenditures. However, workfare was launched in Hong Kong when there was only a relatively small social security budget and its citizens still strongly adhered to the ideologies of self‐reliance. It was found that workfare has performed several functions in Hong Kong. First, by forcing unemployed claimants to give up benefits, Hong Kong has been able to save on social security expenditures. Second, workfare has combined with Hong Kong's semi‐democratic polity so that extremely stigmatising welfare measures have been implemented. Third, it has pushed poor citizens into the labour market without having any protection over wages and working hours. Thus, the combination of workfare and a semi‐democratic polity has successfully suppressed Hong Kong's welfare demands and strengthened its self‐help spirit. As a result, Hong Kong's minimal social security scheme and its low tax policy have been maintained.

This study examined how Hong Kong newspapers constructed charity and what the implications were for Hong Kong's residual welfare state. The Oriental Daily (OD) and the Apple Daily (AD), the two most popular newspapers, with over 50 per cent of Hong Kong's newspaper market, were selected as the objects of study. A total of 155 cases were collected from the social service columns of these two newspapers between 1 August and 31 October 2000. The study found that poor physical health and 'incomplete family patterns' were the criteria used to verify the recipients' dependency, which also formed the basis for charitable welfare entitlements. Moreover, an extremely unequal social status was produced between donors and recipients. The former were accorded high social recognition for their charitable contributions whereas the latter were presented as being desperate, weak and helpless people. In addition, four categories of needs were identified; tradition‐oriented needs, emergency assistance, basic material assistance and basic health needs. The study concluded that Hong Kong newspaper charity has helped to consolidate the basis for a residual welfare state. It also revealed that charity was mainly able to deal only with short‐term and specific needs at a particular point in time. More importantly, it was found that a code of practice is needed for journalists involved in charitable activities in order to safeguard the dignity of recipients.

In response to the vagueness of dignity and its limited application in social welfare, this article attempts to explore the content of dignity and discuss its implications for welfare policies. Dignity concerns living respectfully, for which having equal value, self-respect, autonomy and positive mutuality is essential. The article argues that institutional dignification, community respect and human development are three welfare directions for facilitating the possession of dignity.

The Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) launched by the Hong Kong government seems to be a residual welfare state's strategy to cope with an ageing population and, at the same time, preserve a minimal welfare state and further enhance economic development. The MPF can only provide limited protection for a limited number of employees; many older people still have to depend on financial support from their families or have to work. On the other hand, the MPF immediately boosts the economy by creating more jobs for the financial services sector and by providing more business opportunities for banks and insurance companies. Thus, the MPF has consolidated the foundation of Hong Kong's capitalism by socialising and incorporating the whole working population in the market economy but has provided little protection for their old age.

Each welfare system has its own welfare relations for shaping and maintaining certain types of welfare practices and welfare ideologies. Welfare relations concern the distribution of welfare responsibilities among various social institutions, the public's welfare expectations and entitlements, and the status of welfare recipients. Welfare policies, which are a legal basis of the dominant class's philosophy as well as a mechanism for policing welfare recipients' use of benefits, play an important role in shaping and constructing the welfare relations of a country. This paper discusses how welfare policies construct the required welfare relations with regard to Hong Kong's social security system. It is argued that the persistence of Hong Kong's residual welfare model is partly based on the residual welfare relations which facilitate family‐centred and market‐oriented welfare practices.

"The Chinese government has recently adopted a radical welfare approach by contracting out social services to non-governmental organisations. This is a big departure from its traditional welfare model, whereby all public services were directly delivered by government agencies. This book examines this new welfare approach. It analyses the implementation of various types of services for individuals, families and communities including medical social services, care of the elderly, probation services and much more. It discusses important issues arising from contracting out, considers the nature of the contracted NGOs and their services, and explores major problems encountered by both government agencies and NGOs. This book also compares the similarities and differences of contracting policies in different cities. Overall, the book provides an overview of one of the most important welfare policy changes in contemporary China."--Provided by publisher.

Pro-'workfare' governments justify their policies by claiming 'workfare' helps enhance self-esteem and promote the dignity of unemployed recipients. On the other hand, welfare activists argue that 'workfare' suppresses the dignity of unemployed persons. This book examines the concept of human dignity in this context and attempts to clarify its meaning

Pro-'workfare' governments justify their policies by claiming 'workfare' helps enhance self-esteem and promote the dignity of unemployed recipients. On the other hand, welfare activists argue that 'workfare' suppresses the dignity of unemployed persons. This book examines the concept of human dignity in this context and attempts to clarify its meaning.

This study examines the myth of whether China's public assistance scheme is creating welfare dependency. It first analyses the benefit levels of the Urban Minimum Living Standard Guarantee (UMLSG) according to the international poverty measurements. Then it employs in-depth interviews to reveal the life experiences of 15 UMLSG beneficiaries and the views of 8 welfare officials in Guangzhou city. It concludes that the UMLSG assistance is actually too low to reduce the work motivation of beneficiaries. Instead, supplementary welfare associated with the UMLSG contributes to the staying of beneficiaries, to facilitate access to basic housing, health and educational services.