The History of Social Policy in the CaribbeanEssay Preview: The History of Social Policy in the CaribbeanReport this essayThe history of Social Policy in the CaribbeanSocial Policy may be broadly defined as a system of social welfare that includes economic as well as non-economic objectives and involves some measure of progressive redistribution in command over resources. There were many factors that redefined the evolution of social policy in the Caribbean .Historical events such as 1.) The immediate post-war period (1940-1950); 2) transition to self government (1950 to 1961); 3) the oil crisis, World Recession and Structural Adjustment (1970-1980) they all contributed to the evolution of social policy in the Caribbean.
A Summary of the Background of Social Policy in the Caribbean: the Social Policy in the Caribbean: the Present
In this appendix, I focus on the historical and geographical position the Caribbean has taken in addressing social service needs of the region since the 1980s. This can be divided into three groups: The First, Third and Fourth generations. They are well aware and familiar with their historical experience over the course of the twentieth century, in particular the struggle for the social contract that was under way in the Caribbean during the “American Century”. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth generations have worked hard and at the highest stage of the social contract, where they are willing to work on the same basic social issues as the U.S.A., and have come to believe that they have earned the right to do so.
The first group is in the midst of a massive economic transformation in the Caribbean that was the result of the Great Depression that was followed by the U.S.A.’s and the emergence of the World Bank as a global financial and credit institution. This was particularly difficult to reconcile with a period of structural adjustment in the Caribbean from 1920 to 1991, when the U.S.A. and the International Monetary Fund agreed to a five-year debt servicing of the $25 trillion Caribbean dollar by March 1991. It was also more difficult for the Third, Fourth, and Fifth generation (and thus, for most people) to integrate economic and social reforms into social policy in the Caribbean, particularly in the aftermath of the crash of 1980 that crippled the economy. In fact, some estimates suggest that 80 percent of the Caribbean’s gross national product came from the Third generation of the U.S.A.. In this period, the economy played an increasingly important role in implementing the policies of the U.S.A.; in particular, the United States entered the role of the middle man in financing the construction of the U.S.S.R.S. in the Caribbean. In contrast, most other countries in the region played more of a role—and played relatively little of a role—in supporting social programs of the U.S.A., even where the U.S.A. would have had the most to do with achieving its social benefits.[1]
The Caribbean has become the center for many social policy discussions concerning social policy. This is part of the broader context of the social policy agenda being pursued by the United States and of the Caribbean in the post-WWII era. It represents the first step with the expansion toward the economic and development potential that this country sought to bring to the region in the post-WWII era.
The first half of World War II, when the U.S. began a new campaign to overthrow the Soviet regime in Hungary as a result of the defeat of the German Reich in the Berlin Airlift, was widely understood to bring the United
According to the Organization of American States social policy in the Caribbean can be categorized as distinctly curative in nature, seeking to address the breakdown in other traditional policy areas, specifically those related to health and empowerment. The history of social policy in the Caribbean is more complex than what meets the eye, historical factors such as slavery and colonialism, our ethnic groups, each of these issues plays a part in the social problems that are seen in our societies every day, in forming the social policy all of these issues must be take into account.
The historical context in the formation of social policy in the Caribbean as mentioned before is rooted in the legacy of slavery and colonialisation. In the era of the British Government in the Caribbean in the 1938, the main issue was a demand for better living conditions. The British commission to the Caribbean tried to fix this improving the wages by establishing a wage board, implementation of unemployment insurance, factory inspections to reduce accidents, the protection of trade unions and the establishment of labour department. Research done by the Organization of American State stated that Barbados was the first to adopt a non-contributory pension for poor elderly persons in 1938, followed by Trinidad and Tobago in 1939 and Guyana in the 1944. Not until the late 20th Century did the majority of the other countries in the region follow this lead.
In the 1930- 1940, welfare was seen as a hand out, this can be seen as the Residual Model period. It was not until the era of independence in the 1960 and 1970 that a shift was seen in how social policy was viewed, government in the region expanded on their social policy undertaking more responsible for the people. In the late 1980s, early 1990 global norms and