abstract: 'Scholars and policymakers who call for social investment (SI) policies

  hope that SI policies reduce income inequality and poverty, among other

  policy goals. Meanwhile, some others point out potentially less pro-poor

  effects of SI policies. There are relatively few cross-national studies

  that empirically examine the distributional effects of SI policies. The

  current study seeks to fill the gap by investigating the effects of SI

  policies on income inequality in OECD countries. The empirical analysis

  finds mixed results. Parental leave benefits reduce market income

  inequality, but other family support policies do not lessen inequality,

  and family allowances and paid leave (the length of generous leave) even

  increase it. The effects of some family policies are partly

  context-specific. In contexts where there are a large number of

  single-mother households, parental leave benefits reduce market income

  inequality. There is no stable evidence that education and active labour

  market policy (ALMP) reduce market income inequality. Education and

  ALMP, however, reduce disposable income inequality (even after

  controlling for left governments and Nordic countries). The article

  suggests that in countries with high education and/or ALMP spending, the

  skills of workers towards the lower end of the income distribution may

  be relatively high (even though their pre-tax and transfer income may be

  low), and it may make their income salvageable with redistributive

  policies. In this sense, SI policies and conventional redistributive

  policies may be complementary in reducing disposable income inequality.'
affiliation: 'Sakamoto, T (Corresponding Author), Meiji Gakuin Univ, Fac Int Studies,
  Totsuka Ku, 1518 Kamikuratacho, Yokohama, Kanagawa 1088636, Japan.

  Sakamoto, Takayuki, Meiji Gakuin Univ, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.'
article-number: 09589287211018146
author: Sakamoto, Takayuki
author-email: halosakamoto@gmail.com
author_list:
- family: Sakamoto
  given: Takayuki
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1177/09589287211018146
earlyaccessdate: JUL 2021
eissn: 1461-7269
files: []
issn: 0958-9287
journal: JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN SOCIAL POLICY
keywords: 'Active labour market policy; education; family support; income

  inequality; industrial democracies; social investment policy; welfare

  states'
keywords-plus: '18 OECD COUNTRIES; FAMILY POLICIES; POVERTY; REDISTRIBUTION; EMPLOYMENT;

  GROWTH'
language: English
month: OCT
number: '4'
number-of-cited-references: '41'
orcid-numbers: Sakamoto, Takayuki/0000-0002-6810-5322
pages: 440-456
papis_id: 379ff2121ed2a2247c87000f3976d8d5
ref: Sakamoto2021dosocial
researcherid-numbers: Sakamoto, Takayuki/A-9159-2009
times-cited: '4'
title: Do social investment policies reduce income inequality? An analysis of industrial
  countries
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000675798000001
usage-count-last-180-days: '2'
usage-count-since-2013: '18'
volume: '31'
web-of-science-categories: Public Administration; Social Issues
year: '2021'