abstract: 'Background: The welfare state distributes financial resources to its

  citizens - protecting them in times of adversity. Variations in how such

  social protection policies are administered have been attributed to

  important differences in population health. The aim of this systematic

  review of reviews is to update and appraise the evidence base of the

  effects of social protection policies on health inequalities.

  Methods/design: Systematic review methodology was used. Nine databases

  were searched from 2007 to 2017 for reviews of social policy

  interventions in high-income countries. Quality was assessed using the

  Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews 2 tool. Results: Six

  systematic reviews were included in our review, reporting 50 unique

  primary studies. Two reviews explored income maintenance and poverty

  relief policies and found some, low quality, evidence that increased

  unemployment benefit generosity may improve population mental health.

  Four reviews explored active labour-market policies and found some,

  low-quality evidence, that return to work initiatives may lead to

  short-term health improvements, but that in the longer term, they can

  lead to declines in mental health. The more rigorously conducted reviews

  found no significant health effects of any of social protection policy

  under investigation. No reviews of family policies were located.

  Conclusions: The systematic review evidence base of the effects of

  social protection policy interventions remains sparse, of low quality,

  of limited generalizability (as the evidence base is concentrated in the

  Anglo-Saxon welfare state type), and relatively inconclusive. There is a

  clear need for evaluations in more diverse welfare state settings and

  particularly of family policies.'
affiliation: 'Bambra, C (Corresponding Author), Newcastle Univ, Inst Hlth \& Soc,
  Baddiley Clark Bldg, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU, Tyne \& Wear, England.

  Hillier-Brown, Frances, Univ Durham, Dept Sport \& Exercise Sci, Durham, England.

  Hillier-Brown, Frances; Thomson, Katie; Mcgowan, Victoria; Cairns, Joanne; Bambra,
  Clare, Fuse UKCRC Ctr Translat Res Publ Hlth, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne \& Wear,
  England.

  Thomson, Katie; Mcgowan, Victoria; Cairns, Joanne; Bambra, Clare, Newcastle Univ,
  Inst Hlth \& Soc, Baddiley Clark Bldg, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU, Tyne \& Wear,
  England.

  Cairns, Joanne, Canterbury Christ Church Univ, Sch Publ Hlth Midwifery \& Social
  Work, Canterbury, Kent, England.

  Eikemo, Terje A.; Bambra, Clare, Norwegian Univ Sci \& Technol NTNU, Ctr Global
  Hlth Inequal Res CHAIN, Trondheim, Norway.

  Gil-Gonzale, Diana, Univ Alicante, Dept Community Nursing Prevent Med \& Publ Hlth
  \&, Alicante, Spain.'
author: Hillier-Brown, Frances and Thomson, Katie and Mcgowan, Victoria and Cairns,
  Joanne and Eikemo, Terje A. and Gil-Gonzale, Diana and Bambra, Clare
author-email: clare.bambra@newcastle.ac.uk
author_list:
- family: Hillier-Brown
  given: Frances
- family: Thomson
  given: Katie
- family: Mcgowan
  given: Victoria
- family: Cairns
  given: Joanne
- family: Eikemo
  given: Terje A.
- family: Gil-Gonzale
  given: Diana
- family: Bambra
  given: Clare
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1177/1403494819848276
eissn: 1651-1905
files: []
issn: 1403-4948
journal: SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
keywords: Social policy; gender; labour market; health equity; review; evidence
keywords-plus: WELFARE-STATE REGIMES; PUBLIC-HEALTH; POLITICS; PEOPLE; WORK; CARE
language: English
month: AUG
number: '6'
number-of-cited-references: '43'
orcid-numbers: 'McGowan, Victoria/0000-0002-4743-9120

  Bambra, Clare l/0000-0002-1294-6851

  Cairns, Joanne/0000-0001-5754-4269

  Thomson, Katie/0000-0002-9614-728X'
pages: 655-665
papis_id: 8cd4d110a67aa3f6a904bbe6963b320a
ref: Hillierbrown2019effectssocial
researcherid-numbers: 'McGowan, Victoria/AAB-9716-2020

  Bambra, Clare l/C-1392-2010

  Cairns, Joanne/AAE-2287-2019

  '
times-cited: '24'
title: 'The effects of social protection policies on health inequalities: Evidence
  from systematic reviews'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000486197100009
usage-count-last-180-days: '5'
usage-count-since-2013: '29'
volume: '47'
web-of-science-categories: Public, Environmental \& Occupational Health
year: '2019'