The Social Policy Digest went online in the summer of 2003. This means that the Digest, which used to be printed as part of the Journal of Social Policy, is now only available via the web.

The article attempts to locate the contested notion of work–life balance within the context of global trends and recent policy developments. It describes a small-scale qualitative study of work–life balance as it is experienced within a low-income neighbourhood in the UK. The study findings are used to inform reflections on the powerlessness experienced by many working parents seeking to accommodate family life with paid employment; and on the nature of the calculative responsibilities that are imposed upon working parents by recent shifts in social and labour market policy. It is contended that policy makers should tip the balance of the work–life equation from the current preoccupation with business interests in favour of wider social responsibility concerns.

This article analyses recent developments in policies to promote the employability of unemployed and economically inactive people in the UK. It discusses the extent to which these policies reflect the dominant approaches of ‘Work First’, where programmes focus mainly on compulsory job search and short-term interventions to facilitate a quick return to work, or human capital development (HCD), where programmes tailor services to promote longer-term skills and personal development. Specifically, the article reports on case-study research into two recent pilot initiatives: Working Neighbourhoods (which targeted a range of intensive services in neighbourhoods characterised by high levels of inactivity) and Pathways to Work (which combines employability services and cognitive behaviour therapy-type approaches to help clients to manage health problems). While both pilots have retained strong Work First features, they potentially represent a shift towards a more HCD-oriented approach, through the delivery of more holistic ‘coping and enabling’ services. However, there remain concerns that, as with previous progressive policy initiatives, the positive lessons of these pilots will not be fully mainstreamed. We conclude that, if the UK is to balance Work First compulsion with high-quality services delivering progress in the labour market and HCD, a strengthening of ‘coping and enabling’ interventions is required, alongside a renewed commitment to training.

The second report of the Pensions Commission sought to establish a framework for a sustainable pension system for future generations of pensioners in the UK. The framework has been largely accepted by government in their recent White Paper, Security in Retirement: Towards a New Pension System (2006). Legislation will follow. The Commission and the government have made a number of claims about how their proposals will benefit women. Reforms have been welcomed by women's lobby groups. This article presents a gendered analysis of the Pensions Commission proposals using unpublished data generated by Pensim2, a pensions' simulator developed by the Department for Work and Pensions. Substantial improvements for women will be in the long term only, and will depend heavily on the extent to which gendered patterns of work and family life change in future. For women who follow traditional paths of combining part-time work with looking after children and kin, outcomes will depend on partnering arrangements. If they are married or cohabiting, they will be better off; but if they live alone in later life, the principal advantage of the proposals will be a reduction in means testing rather than an improvement in levels of income.

This article analyses critically the applicability of current theories of welfare state retrenchment to the 2004 public pension reform in Mexico, with the 1995 reform acting as a complementary case. In particular, this article contributes to the literature by analysing the reasons for which a potentially unpopular reform was successfully enacted. Available evidence suggests that – contrary to the existing literature's assertions – Mexican politicians responsible for the 2004 reform sought credit for these changes, rather than to avoid blame. Also, by presenting the reform as necessary to enhance socioeconomic equality, politicians were able to gather substantial popular support and defeat labour unions opposing this pension restructuring process. Hence, we propose that by framing the public debate as a matter of social justice, promoters of pension reform increased significantly popular support for the retrenchment of important benefits from a core group of civil servants, and successfully pressured Congress to promulgate this reform. We suggest that this created a reform path that will facilitate future efforts at reforming the remaining public pension schemes in Mexico.

Britain's stance towards ethnic minorities has been janus-faced: developing an increasingly repressive and restrictive stance towards immigration, and – supported by a strident media – portraying minorities and migrants as undermining British culture and values, ‘sponging’ on the welfare state. Immigrants have been characterised as ‘cunning’, ‘loathsome’, ‘unprincipled’ and likely to ‘swamp’ British culture. Domestic policies of successive governments apparently balanced this stance with ‘community’-based initiatives, from race relations policies, community relations policies to present community cohesion policies. These have not fundamentally addressed the racism inherent in immigration policy and practice. The consequence is that the welfare of Britain's minorities – measured by outcomes in every branch of welfare provision – has largely been disregarded by the British state. Despite some liberal initiatives aimed at improving the lot of Britain's minorities, the racism inherent in policy and practice persists.

Three European countries with very different tax-benefit systems have recently substantially increased the level of support for children: Austria, Spain and the UK. Austria mainly makes use of universal benefits; Spain, tax concessions; and the UK means-tested benefits and tax credits. This article addresses the question of whether the chosen strategies are in fact the most effective for each country. It considers what would have happened if these countries had transformed the architecture of their systems in either of the other two directions. It makes use of EUROMOD, the European tax-benefit microsimulation model that is designed for making cross-country comparisons, to explore the distributional and, in particular, child poverty effects of budget-neutral alternatives. The results show that three factors – the level of spending, its structure, and the way it impacts in a particular national context – affect the outcomes to varying degrees.

In most European countries a ‘childcare gap’ exists: that is, a discrepancy between the demand for and provision of childcare. Among the countries that are succeeding in closing the gap are the Nordic welfare states. Hence, knowledge about how childcare provision in these countries has developed is of wide interest. This article stresses the importance of studying how the interactive processes of changing provision and demand explain the building up and the closing of national childcare gaps. Although there are similarities in the development of Nordic childcare services, some differences stand out. The comparison indicates that complex societal processes interact in shaping provision and demand. These dynamics are explored in more detail in the Norwegian case, where the interactive processes have produced an ever-increasing demand for childcare. The demand side is crucial, particularly the role of mothers in generating momentum for policy change. Mothers' changing labour market patterns and their demand for childcare are important driving forces for policy change.