Includes bibliographical references and index.

Poverty and social policy responses in east Asia / Kwong-leung Tang and James Midgley -- The role of social security in poverty alleviation : an international review / James Midgley -- The emergence of social assistance in China : challenges and issues / Joe Leung and Yuebin Xu -- Building assets for the poor in Taiwan : policy innovation from income to assets / Li-Chen Cheng -- Korea's national basic livelihood programme and social development / Joon Yong Jo -- Welfare-to-work reform in Hong Kong : overview and prospects / Kwong-leung Tang -- Social assistance programmes in Singapore / Mui-teng Yap -- Rural social protection in China : reform, performance and problems / Yuebin Xu and Xiulan Zhang -- From micro-credit to micro-insurance : creating social security where there is none / Takayoshi Amenomori -- The social investment fund of thailand / Shinichi Shigetomi -- Knowledge of public policy and the perceived positive impact of the welfare benefits system / Chack-kie Wong and Kwong-leung Tang -- Social security, housing policy and asset-building : the relevance of home ownership for elderly income protection in Hong Kong / James Lee.