Barnperspektiv och ekonomiskt bistånd

I vilken utsträckning kan generositet respektive restriktivitet ses som ett uttryck för skilda strategier?

Abstract

In Sweden, welfare institutions are increasingly urged to acknowledge children in decision-making. An example is that central state authorities recommend that social assistance decision-making adopts the principle of a child perspective. However, it is not evident how a child perspective should be concretised in a traditionally adult-centered practice comparable to social assistance. This article builds on case studies of six municipalities which differ in terms of approval and economic generosity to households with children. In line with institutional theory, the concept child perspective is conceived as an idea that undergo translation at the local level. The aim of the article is to describe and analyse strategies and values of municipalities in relation to households with children and whether municipalities with low or high approval and economic generosity differ in any senses. The material consists of municipal guidelines, interviews (n=24) with social service representatives and information from case files of households with children (n=344). The main findings are that there are manifold translations of a child perspective in social assistance decision-making. At the same time, the actual work methods to a surprisingly small degree focuses children and it can be debated whether the identified working methods impact children’s predicaments. Further, differences between the municipalities are overall small. In the concluding discussion, findings are related to theory and we tentatively reason about the (albeit small) differences between municipalities.