ABSTRACT
This contribution analyses the role of the local Public Centres for Social Welfare (PCSWs) in the delivering of social assistance in Belgium. International-comparative research discriminates between three types of social assistance: 'general assistance' for everybody beneath a certain income level, 'categorical assistance' for specific groups and 'tied assistance', being means-tested services or goods in cash or in kind (Eardley et al, 1996).1 Most attention so far went to general assistance (Paugam, 1999; Guibentif & Bouget, 1997; Ditch & Oldfield, 1999) and to housing benefits as 'tied assistance'. International-comparative research of other forms of 'tied assistance' did not include Belgium (Ditch et al, 1997) or did not pay sufficient attention to the peculiarities of the Belgian system (Eardley et al, 1996). Anyhow, international-comparative research into 'tied assistance' is hindered by problems of comparability as a consequence of local and regional differences within a national system. These are all the more present in Belgium because of its decentralised system of discretionary tied social assistance delivered by PCSWs.
