Seeking new strategies: Recent challenges for social work in public measures targeting poverty in Japan.

In recent years, Japan has pursued two paths to deal with the growing number of welfare recipients: ‘second safety net programs’ that pre-empt reliance on the public assistance system and ‘self-reliance programs’ for current public assistance recipients. This paper examines the effectiveness of these programs. Its findings suggest that the relationship between social work practice and the success of poverty measures should be explored further. It is necessary to develop a methodology to evaluate the efficacy of social work practices in reducing poverty and social exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]