Social Sciences and Policies

Social work and welfare state research examines how societies organize support for vulnerable populations—through public institutions, community networks, families, and nonprofit organizations—and how those arrangements hold up under pressure from economic downturns, demographic shifts, and political change. In Spain and comparable contexts, scholars track how austerity reshaped service delivery, how gender shapes both the need for and the provision of care, and how migrant communities navigate systems not always designed with them in mind. Active questions include how the third sector can complement rather than substitute for state responsibility, and what genuine participation in social policy actually looks like beyond formal consultation. The field sits at the intersection of ethics, institutional design, and lived experience, making the gap between policy intent and on-the-ground reality a persistent object of scrutiny.

Works

333,623

Total citations

297,603

Keywords

Social WorkWelfare StateCommunity InterventionGender DifferencesThird SectorParticipation