Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T05:04:30.789Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Examining Attitudes towards Welfare in an In/Security Regime: Evidence from Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2020

Padmore Adusei Amoah
Padmore Adusei Amoah*
Affiliation:
School of Graduate Studies; Asia Pacific Institute of Aging Studies; Centre for Social Policy and Social Change, Lingnan University, Hong Kong (SAR), E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which Gough and Woodʼs (2004) classification of most sub-Saharan African nations as insecurity regimes is still relevant by analysing public responses and attitudes towards general and specific (healthcare) welfare policies in Ghana, using a mixed-method design. Ghana presents a fascinating case study not only due to the changing socio-economic landscape but also because of the prevailing socio-political stability. The research findings demonstrate that most participants wanted more welfare spending (including on healthcare) but remained reluctant to rely on government provisions due to distrust and perceived inefficiencies in the public sector. The findings also depict the continuing reliance on family and social networks as safety nets and sometimes in preference to state arrangements. The article argues that Ghanaʼs welfare regime may be gradually shifting from the classic insecurity regime (albeit still relevant) to one resembling the less effective informal security regime – at least from the publicʼs experiences – and demands a careful integration of individual, familial, and community networks in current and future formal welfare arrangements.

Keywords

Welfare attitudeswelfare regimehealthcaresocial networksGhana
Type
Themed Section: Global Welfare Regimes Revisited
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , October 2020 , pp. 661 - 676
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amoah, P. A. and Phillips, D. R. (2018) ‘Health literacy and health: rethinking the strategies for universal health coverage in Ghana’, Public Health, 159, 40–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Amoah, P. A., Edusei, J. and Amuzu, D. (2018) ‘Social networks and health: understanding the nuances of healthcare access between urban and rural populations’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15, 5, 973.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amoah, P. A., Osei-Tutu, A. and Agyei, S. B. (2019) ‘Socioeconomic and technological aspects of psychological well-being: the role of strong and weak ties among older persons in Ghana’, Manuscript under review.Google Scholar
Angen, M. J. (2000) ‘Evaluating interpretive inquiry: reviewing the validity debate and opening the dialogue’, Qualitative Health Research, 10, 3, 378–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arts, W. and Gelissen, J. (2001) ‘Welfare states, solidarity and justice principles: does the type really matter?’, Acta Sociologica, 44, x-299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, N., Gannon, M., Kearns, A., Livingston, M. and Leyland, A. H. (2013) ‘Living apart, losing sympathy? How neighbourhood context affects attitudes to redistribution and to welfare recipients’, Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 45, 9, 2154–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bambra, C. (2006) ‘Health status and the worlds of welfare’, Social Policy and Society, 5, 1, 53–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bendz, A. (2017) ‘Empowering the people: public responses to welfare policy change’, Social Policy and Administration, 51, 1, 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bevan, P. (2004) ‘The dynamics of Africaʼs in/security regimes’, in Gough, I. and Wood, G. (eds.), Insecurity and Welfare Regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Blekesaune, M. and Quadagno, J. (2003) ‘Public attitudes toward welfare state policies: a comparative analysis of 24 nations’, European Sociological Review, 19, 5, 415–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buss, C. (2018) ‘Public opinion towards workfare policies in Europe: polarisation of attitudes in times of austerity?’, International Journal of Social Welfare, 28, 4, 1–11.Google Scholar
Creswell, J. W. (2014) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches, London: Sage.Google Scholar
De Coster, J. (2005) Logistic Coefficient to Odds Ratio [Online], Charlottesville, VA: Stat-Help.com, http://stat-help.com/spreadsheets.html [accessed 01.12.2018].Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) (2014) Ghana Living Standards Survey Round 6 (GLSS 6): Poverty Profile in Ghana (2005-2013), Accra: GSS.Google Scholar
Gough, I. (2004) ‘Welfare regimes in development contexts: a global and regional analysis’, in Gough, I. and Wood, G. (eds.), Insecurity and Welfare Regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gough, I. and Wood, G. (2004) Insecurity and Welfare Regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America: Social Policy in Development Contexts, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Government of Ghana (GoG) (2007) The National Social Protection Strategy: Investing in People, Accra: Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, Government of Ghana.Google Scholar
Government of Ghana (GoG) (2015) Ghana National Social Protection Policy, Accra: Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Government of Ghana.Google Scholar
Gros, J.-G. (2016) Healthcare Policy in Africa: Institutions and Politics from Colonialism to the Present, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Gyasi, R. M., Phillips, D. R. and Amoah, P. A. (2018) ‘Multidimensional social support and health services utilization among noninstitutionalized older persons in Ghana’, Journal of Aging and Health, 32, 3-4, 227–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kallio, J. and Kouvo, A. (2015) ‘Street-level bureaucrats’ and the general publicʼs deservingness perceptions of social assistance recipients in Finland’, Social Policy and Administration, 49, 3, 316–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lundberg, O. (2008) ‘Commentary: politics and public health – some conceptual considerations concerning welfare state characteristics and public health outcomes’, International Journal of Epidemiology, 37, 9650, 1105–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marques, J. S. and Honorati, M. (2016) Ghana: Social Protection Assessment and Public Expenditure Review, Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Mensah, D. K. D. (2019) ‘Teachers’ perspective on implementation of the double track senior high school system in Ghana’, International Journal of Emerging Trends in Social Sciences, 5, 2, 47–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oduro, R. (2015) ‘Beyond poverty reduction: conditional cash transfers and citizenship in Ghana’, International Journal of Social Welfare, 24, 1, 27–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Papadopoulos, T. and Roumpakis, A. (2017) ‘Family as a socio-economic actor in the political economies of East and South East Asian welfare capitalisms’, Social Policy and Administration, 51, 6, 857–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabates-Wheeler, R., Abdulai, A. G., Wilmink, N., de Groot, R. and Spadafora, T. R. (2017) Linking Social Rights to Active Citizenship for the Most Vulnerable: The Role of Rights and Accountability in the ‘Making’ and ‘Shaping’ of Social Protection, Innocenti Working Paper, Florence: UNICEF Office of Research.Google Scholar
Svallfors, S. (1999) ‘Welfare regimes and welfare opinions – a comparison of eight Western countries’, Sociologisk Forskning, 36, 1, 93–118.Google Scholar
Svallfors, S. (2010) ‘Public attitudes’, in Castles, F. G., Leibfried, S., Lewis, J., Obinger, H. and Pierson, C. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Svallfors, S. (2011) ‘A bedrock of support? Trends in welfare state attitudes in Sweden, 1981–2010’, Social Policy and Administration, 45, 7, 806–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor-Gooby, P., Hvinden, B., Mau, S., Leruth, B., Schoyen, M. A. and Gyory, A. (2019) ‘Moral economies of the welfare state: a qualitative comparative study’, Acta Sociologica (United Kingdom), 62, 2, 119–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, H., Otoo, N. and Dsane-Selby, L. (2017) Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme: Improving Financial Sustainability Based on Expenditure Review, Washington, DC: World Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, S., Spies-Butcher, B. and Stebbing, A. (2009) ‘Targets and taxes: explaining the welfare orientations of the Australian public’, Social Policy and Administration, 43, 5, 508–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witvliet, M. I., Arah, O. A., Stronks, K. and Kunst, A. E. (2011) ‘Taking welfare state regime research globally: an application of the Wood and Gough typology to individual health’, Social Theory and Health, 9, 4, 355–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, G. (2004) ‘Informal security regimes: the strength of relationships’, in Gough, I. and Wood, G. (eds.), Insecurity and Welfare Regimes in Asia, Africa and Latin America, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wood, G. and Gough, I. (2006) ‘A comparative welfare regime approach to global social policy’, World Development, 34, 9, 1696–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, A. M. and Chou, K.-L. (2017) ‘Public attitudes towards income redistribution: evidence from Hong Kong’, Social Policy and Administration, 51, 5, 738–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Amoah supplementary material

Appendix

Download Amoah supplementary material(File)
File 55.8 KB