It is proposed in this article to integrate housewives into tax and benefit systems, in their own right, on the basis of what can be considered as ‘work’ in their case: housekeeping for a husband. The implications as regards the assessment of working time and earnings are examined, as well as the consequences from the point of view of liability to income tax and National Insurance contributions. The basis proposed would serve to recognise personal rights to social benefits to replace rights that are derived from a husband.

The author reviews a number of objections raised by the proposal. She considers that what is at stake is the selective protection of some men's domestic comforts, the status of housekeeping as an occupation and womens' freedom of occupational choice. A section is devoted to family responsibilities because they are often confused with housekeeping. In spite of the weight of habit and vested interest, the author thinks that it is possible to make progress while preserving the individual rights of older generations of women.

Studies of appeals in social security have tended to focus on the structure and performance of tribunals and other appeal bodies. Housing benefit differs from most other social security benefits in having a mandatory ‘internal review’ by officers before a disputed decision can be heard by the review board. The article draws on an evaluation of the housing benefit review system and shows how its two-tier structure has allowed wide variations in practice to develop among local authorities, such that officers can effectively control or manage claimants' access to the formal appeal hearing. We conclude that the existing structure obscures rather than enhances claimants' appeal rights in this area and discuss the possibilities for change.

Canada, like all industrialised countries, has become concerned over health care costs. Canada has reason to be concerned, with the most expensive system, on a per capita basis, of any country with national health insurance. This paper briefly reviews Canada's health care system, examines the rhetoric being adopted throughout the country at the current time, and discusses the changes which are now occurring. An assessment of whether change will lead to a more cost efficient and appropriate system for an aging society is then presented. It is concluded that there are profound changes taking place in the health care system in all provinces in Canada. Most of the changes to date reflect a restricting of current medical care by making ineligible previously eligible procedures, introducing user fees where there were none before, and in some instances including means testing where there was none before. In addition, hospital budgets are being cut and beds are being closed. However, a corresponding expansion of community programmes, while evident in the rhetoric, is less evident within current actions.

Elderly clients usually express satisfaction with their services when they are asked. Surveys of clients and carers therefore have to take this tendency into account. It is important not to ask direct questions and to allow for positive, neutral and negative responses, otherwise positive responses will be overestimated. A survey of clients and carers served by a community psychogeriatric service indicated that the way a service is delivered can be more important than what is provided. The differences between staff and user perceptions of services are analysed. There are theoretical reasons for the differences connected with the combination of care and control exercised by service providers. There are also practical reasons in terms of staff perceptions, which are dominated by process, and client perceptions, which are more directly influenced by the services as they are actually delivered. Attempts to incorporate users' views into the processes of service delivery need to understand these differences and to acknowledge the limitations of user satisfaction surveys.