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Contemporary accounts of welfare state change have produced
conflicting findings and incompatible theoretical explanations. To
a large extent this is due to a 'dependent variable problem' within
comparative research, whereby there is insufficient consideration
of how to conceptualize, operationalize and measure change. With
contributions from leading international scholars, this important
book presents a comprehensive examination of conventional
indicators (such as social spending), available alternatives
(including social rights and conditionality), as well as principal
concepts of how to capture change (for example convergence and
de-familization). By providing an in-depth discussion of the most
salient aspects of the 'dependent variable problem', the editors
aim to enable a more cumulative build-up of empirical evidence and
contribute to constructive theoretical debates about the causes of
welfare state change. The volume also offers valuable suggestions
as to how the problem might be tackled within empirical
cross-national analyses of modern welfare states. The focus on the
methodology of conceptualizing and measuring welfare state change
in a comparative perspective gives this unique book widespread
appeal amongst scholars and researchers of social policy and
sociology, as well as students at both the advanced undergraduate
and post-graduate level studying comparative social policy,
research methods and welfare reform.
Published in 1997, the is the report of a study commissioned by the
Department of Social Security (UK). The aim of the study was to
provide detailed information about the social assistance systems of
four European countries which, to a greater or lesser extent, are
delegated to local levels of government. The study distinguished
between policy-making, finances, delivery and accountability. The
strengths and weaknesses of each system were evaluated and common
and divergent trends noted. There is growing interest in social
assistance schemes internationally and this publication provides
original information about European schemes. It follows an earlier
study, also commissioned by the DSS, on social assistance schemes
in 24 OECD countries.
Published in 1997, the is the report of a study commissioned by the
Department of Social Security (UK). The aim of the study was to
provide detailed information about the social assistance systems of
four European countries which, to a greater or lesser extent, are
delegated to local levels of government. The study distinguished
between policy-making, finances, delivery and accountability. The
strengths and weaknesses of each system were evaluated and common
and divergent trends noted. There is growing interest in social
assistance schemes internationally and this publication provides
original information about European schemes. It follows an earlier
study, also commissioned by the DSS, on social assistance schemes
in 24 OECD countries.
Contemporary accounts of welfare state change have produced
conflicting findings and incompatible theoretical explanations. To
a large extent this is due to a 'dependent variable problem' within
comparative research, whereby there is insufficient consideration
of how to conceptualize, operationalize and measure change. With
contributions from leading international scholars, this important
book presents a comprehensive examination of conventional
indicators (such as social spending), available alternatives
(including social rights and conditionality), as well as principal
concepts of how to capture change (for example convergence and
de-familization). By providing an in-depth discussion of the most
salient aspects of the 'dependent variable problem', the editors
aim to enable a more cumulative build-up of empirical evidence and
contribute to constructive theoretical debates about the causes of
welfare state change. The volume also offers valuable suggestions
as to how the problem might be tackled within empirical
cross-national analyses of modern welfare states. The focus on the
methodology of conceptualizing and measuring welfare state change
in a comparative perspective gives this unique book widespread
appeal amongst scholars and researchers of social policy and
sociology, as well as students at both the advanced undergraduate
and post-graduate level studying comparative social policy,
research methods and welfare reform.
It is widely assumed today that the 'welfare state' is contracting
or retrenching as an effect of the close scrutiny to which
entitlement to social security benefits is being subject in most
developed countries. In this book, fifteen authorities from nine
different countries - the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany,
Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway and the US - investigate to what
extent this assumption is warranted. Taking into account
developments and initiatives at every administrative level from
sub-national employment agencies to the OECD and the World Bank,
they draw on both data and theories in a broad spectrum of related
disciplines, including political science, economics, sociology, and
law. Detailed materials allow the reader to formulate well-defined
responses to such crucial questions as: is there indeed waning
public support for social security?; is the 'demographic time bomb'
of an ageing population as serious as we are often led to believe?;
how seriously do supranational reform proposals tend to
underestimate cross-national differences?; to what degree is
'activation policy' merely rhetorical?; to what extent do
employment office staff reformulate and redefine policies 'on the
ground' to accommodate specific case-by-case realities? Specific
criteria for entitlement (eg disability) and such central issues as
'gendered' assumptions, access to benefit programmes, and the
involvement of trade unions are examined in a variety of contexts.
As an authoritative assessment of the current state of social
security reform - its critical issues, its direction, and its
potential impacts - What future for social security? is an
incomparable work and is sure to be of great value to academics as
well as professionals and officials concerned with social
programmes at any government level.
It is often argued that European welfare states, with regulated
labour markets, relatively generous social protection and
relatively high wage equality, have become counter-productive in a
globalised and knowledge-intensive economy. Using in-depth,
comparative and interdisciplinary analysis of employment, welfare
and citizenship in a number of European countries, this book
challenges this view. It provides: an overview of employment and
unemployment in Europe at the beginning of the 21st century; a
comprehensive critique of the idea of globalisation as a challenge
to European welfare states; detailed country chapters with new and
previously inaccessible information about employment and
unemployment policies written by national experts. Europe's new
state of welfare is essential reading for students and teachers of
social policy, welfare studies, politics and economics.
By illustrating the similarities and differences within and across
countries, this book reflects on the current role of social
insurance, recent policy changes and pressures for reform in 10
European countries: UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Greece,
Portugal, Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden and Denmark. The book
summaries the main arguments and highlights the lessons to be
learnt, reflecting on European experiences regarding social
insurance and social security as a whole. Central questions
addressed in the book are: What are the institutional and political
forces which have shaped national systems? Are national governments
diminishing the role of social insurance? Does social insurance
have a future or is it an outdated welfare arrangement? Can the UK
learn from experiences elsewhere? Social insurance in Europe
provides a valuable contribution to the current debate about the
future of the welfare state. It is essential reading for students
and academics in the fields of social policy, European studies,
sociology and political science and for all those concerned about
the future of social security protection in modern society.
Regulating the Risk of Unemployment offers a systematic comparative
analysis of the recent adaptation of European unemployment
protection systems to increasingly post-industrial labour markets.
These systems were mainly designed and institutionalized in
predominantly industrial economies, characterized by relatively
standardized employment relationships and stable career patterns,
as well as plentiful employment opportunities even for those with
low skills. Over the past two to three decades they have faced the
challenge of an accelerating shift to a primarily service-based
economy, accompanied by demands for greater flexibility in wages
and terms and conditions in low-skill segments of the labour market
as well as pressures to maximise labour force participation given
the more limited potential for productivity-led growth. The book
develops an original framework for analysing adaptive reform in
unemployment protection along three discrete dimensions of
institutional change, which are termed benefit homogenization, risk
re-categorization, and activation. This framework is then used to
structure analysis of twenty years of unemployment protection
reform in twelve European countries. In addition to mapping reforms
along these dimensions, the country studies analyse the political
and institutional factors that have shaped national patterns of
adaptation. Complementary comparative analyses explore the effects
of benefit reforms on the operation of the labour market, assess
evolving patterns of working-age benefit dependency, and examine
the changing role of active labour market policies in the
regulation of the risk of unemployment.
This book takes stock of major and recent developments in welfare
policy in the UK and Germany. Concentrating on trends since the
1990s it compares the similarities and differences between the two
countries and analyses the degree to which social attitudes towards
welfare provision, fairness, and social justice have changed. It
focuses on the policy areas that have been particularly affected in
recent years and examines change and possible convergence across
three public policy domains: family policy, pensions and policies
aimed at social and labour market integration. The book covers both
public provision as well as the role of company-based social
protection. Based on new empirical survey research as well as focus
group interviews, the contributions analyse the ways in which
social policies have adapted to common and country-specific
challenges, and provide an understanding of the changing welfare
landscapes in the UK and Germany.
Welfare state reform has been a focus of domestic policy making in
many European countries in recent years. Representing almost a
third of the EU population and two distinctive models of European
welfare states, this book compares development in British and
German social policy over the past 25 years. During this time four
periods of conservative governments were followed by centre-left
administrations in both countries. Moreover, the respective
economic and social positions of the two countries have been
reversed. Adverse socio-economic developments have contributed to
the waning of the erstwhile appeal of Germany as a role model of
welfare capitalism. By contrast, the UK is seen by some as being on
its way to gaining such a position. These trends provide an
analytically intriguing background for a systematic contextualized
comparison of reform processes in the two welfare states.
Concentrating on three core domains of social policy, the book
argues that unemployment support and public pension programs have
been subjected to retrenchment, as well as to restructuring. By
contrast, family policies have been extended in both countries.
However, patterns of retrenchment and restructuring differ across
countries and programs. In order to explain similarities and
variations, the book emphasizes the relevance of three sets of
factors: shifts in party policy preferences and power relations,
three institutional variables, and contingent factors impinging on
policy direction and profiles. Within pension policy, the relevance
of different institutional characteristics and the respective
balance between private and public forms of retirement suggest that
the concept of 'path dependence' isparticularly instructive. By
contrast, differences in program structures and their role within
national political economies prove to be most relevant for the
understanding of changes in unemployment support policy. Less
institutionally embedded and expanding, the trajectories of family
policies have to be seen in the context of dynamic party policy
preferences.
Welfare state reform has been a focus of domestic policy making in
many European countries in recent years. Representing almost a
third of the EU population and two distinctive models of European
welfare states, this book compares development in British and
German social policy over the past 25 years. During this time four
periods of conservative governments were followed by centre-left
administrations in both countries. Moreover, the respective
economic and social positions of the two countries have been
reversed. Adverse socio-economic developments have contributed to
the waning of the erstwhile appeal of Germany as a role model of
welfare capitalism. By contrast, the UK is seen by some as being on
its way to gaining such a position. These trends provide an
analytically intriguing background for a systematic contextualized
comparison of reform processes in the two welfare states.
Concentrating on three core domains of social policy, the book
argues that unemployment support and public pension programmes have
been subjected to retrenchment, as well as to restructuring. By
contrast, family policies have been extended in both countries.
However, patterns of retrenchment and restructuring differ across
countries and programmes. In order to explain similarities and
variations, the book emphasizes the relevance of three sets of
factors: shifts in party policy preferences and power relations,
three institutional variables, and contingent factors impinging on
policy direction and profiles. Within pension policy, the relevance
of different institutional characteristics and the respective
balance between private and public forms of retirement suggest that
the concept of 'path dependence' is particularly instructive. By
contrast, differences in programme structures and their role within
national political economies prove to be most relevant for the
understanding of changes in unemployment support policy. Less
institutionally embedded and expanding, the trajectories of family
policies have to be seen in the context of dynamic party policy
preferences.
It is widely assumed today that the "welfare state" is contracting
or retrenching as an effect of the close scrutiny to which
entitlement to social-security benefits is being subjected in most
developed countries. In this book, 15 authorities from nine
different countries - the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany,
Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway and the US - investigate to what
extent this assumption is warranted. The papers were originally
presented at a Conference on "The Future of Social Security" held
at the University of Stirling in June 2000. Taking into account
developments and initiatives at every administrative level from
sub-national employment agencies to the OECD and the World Bank,
they draw on both data and theories in a broad spectrum of related
disciplines, including political science, economics, sociology and
law. Detailed materials allow the reader to formulate well-defined
responses to such questions as: is there indeed waning public
support for social security?; is the "demographic time bomb" of an
ageing population as serious a problem as we are often led to
believe?; how seriously do supranational reform proposals tend to
underestimate cross-national differences? to what degree is
"activation policy" merely rhetorical?; to what extent do
employment-office staff reformulate and redefine policies "on the
ground" to accommodate specific case-by-case realities? Specific
criteria for entitlement (such as disability) and such central
issues as "gendered" assumptions, access to benefit programmes and
the involvement of trade unions are examined in a variety of
contexts. As an authoritative assessment of the current state of
social-security reform - its critical issues, its direction, and
its potential impacts - this book should prove to be of value to
all professionals and officials concerned with social programmes at
any government level.
Regulating the Risk of Unemployment offers a systematic comparative
analysis of the recent adaptation of European unemployment
protection systems to increasingly post-industrial labour markets.
These systems were mainly designed and institutionalized in
predominantly industrial economies, characterized by relatively
standardized employment relationships and stable career patterns,
as well as plentiful employment opportunities even for those with
low skills. Over the past two to three decades they have faced the
challenge of an accelerating shift to a primarily service-based
economy, accompanied by demands for greater flexibility in wages
and terms and conditions in low-skill segments of the labour market
as well as pressures to maximise labour force participation given
the more limited potential for productivity-led growth. The book
develops an original framework for analysing adaptive reform in
unemployment protection along three discrete dimensions of
institutional change, which are termed benefit homogenization, risk
re-categorization, and activation. This framework is then used to
structure analysis of twenty years of unemployment protection
reform in twelve European countries. In addition to mapping reforms
along these dimensions, the country studies analyse the political
and institutional factors that have shaped national patterns of
adaptation. Complementary comparative analyses explore the effects
of benefit reforms on the operation of the labour market, assess
evolving patterns of working-age benefit dependency, and examine
the changing role of active labour market policies in the
regulation of the risk of unemployment.
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