Download or read book The Governance of Active Welfare States in Europe written by Willibrord de Graaf and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-05-27 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the last decade, many European countries introduced extensive reforms to the way that income protection and activation programmes for the unemployed are implemented and delivered. This book analyzes and compares these reforms in nine European countries, focusing on the reforms programmes themselves, as well as on their effects.

Download or read book The Welfare State in Europe written by Pierre Pestieau and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-23 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although in Europe there continues to be a large degree of consensus that it is the responsibility of government to ensure that nobody who is poor, sick, disabled, unemployed, or old is left deprived, there are mounting calls to roll back spending on the welfare state. It is argued that it fails to achieve its main objectives, that it is responsible for a decline in economic performance, and that it was conceived in a very different period and is therefore not adapted to modern realities. This second edition of The Welfare State in Europe: Economic and Social Perspectives provides an informed analysis of the key criticisms of the welfare state and examines the prospects of this system in an increasingly integrated world. It answers important questions regarding the current social situation of European countries, the performance of the welfare states, and the reforms that should be undertaken. It calls for fundamental changes in social policies in order to address the rising inequality that hampers social cohesion in Europe. Now focused on Europe in its entirety and including a new chapter on long term care, this new edition of an integral text on the welfare state places increased focus on social divisions and the populist vote to provide a balanced and up-to-date analysis of the performance of current systems.

Download or read book The New Governance of Welfare States in the United States and Europe written by Mariely López-Santana and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2015-02-17 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Until recently, studies of changes in the welfare state have tended to focus on transformations in the nature of social policies and their level of generosity. The New Governance of Welfare States in the United States and Europe concentrates on an often overlooked dimension: territorial and governance transformations. Employing detailed case studies and more than seventy-five interviews, Mariely López-Santana captures how a variety of postindustrial countries across both sides of the Atlantic have transformed the postwar organization of their labor market policy settings through decentralization, centralization, and delegation reforms. These changes have in turn changed the role of national and subnational levels of government, as well as nongovernmental actors, in the organization, management, and provision of labor market policies and services. López-Santana's multidisciplinary, comparative, and multilevel approach to welfare state change is an original and important step forward in our understanding of welfare reforms enacted since the mid-1990s.

Download or read book Integrating Social and Employment Policies in Europe written by Martin Heidenreich and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2016-01-29 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A central goal of European activation policies is to provide coherent and actively inclusive employment and social services. This book offers new insights on the effective governance and implementation of such policies. Utilizing empirical studies from six European welfare states, expert contributors explore how different institutional contexts influence localized service delivery and how local authorities deal with the associated coordination challenges. Acknowledging that neither decentralization nor provider networks necessarily prevent fragmented service provision, Martin Heidenreich and Deborah Rice illustrate that an understanding of the European budgetary context, as well as individual network brokerage, is vital for a successful integration of employment and social policies at the local level. Timely and engaging, this innovative book will provide new theoretical perspectives and invaluable empirical materials for academics and students in the field of comparative social policy. Policy makers and officials will also appreciate the editors’ practical approach.

Download or read book Reshaping Welfare States and Activation Regimes in Europe written by SALTSA (Program) and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2007 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The activation-based intervention paradigm is being adopted by several European countries resulting in major reforms to the social welfare system. The spread of the activation paradigm has had major repercussions, not only for welfare interventions aimed at combating unemployment, but also for the political regulation of the social question and citizenship. Citizenship is being redefined in contractual terms and greater emphasis is being placed on its economic aspects. Nevertheless, a wide range of policies are labelled with recourse to this interpretative framework and a pluralistic approach to implementation could serve just as well to empower as to weaken workers'/citizens' position in society. This book analyses the extent of these changes from a cross-cultural perspective. Institutional settings as well as prevailing work values and social representation of social exclusion (activation regimes) have a key role in defining the instruments to be used in national activation strategies to regulate the behaviour of job seekers. In this book, a discussion about the range of social welfare model reforms throughout Europe and a typology of activation regimes is proposed.

Download or read book The Changing Welfare State in Europe written by David G. Mayes and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2013-12-27 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the standard of living has increased, aspirations and financial constraints have required major rethinking. There is considerable disparity between European countries in how they approach the welfare system, with differing concern over aspects such

Download or read book The Future of the Welfare State written by Robert Urbé and published by Lambertus-Verlag. This book was released on 2012-12-25 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Future of Europe has to be social, or there will be no Future! Welfare in itself is a concept that is dependent on cultural differences. These provide an explanation for the different historically-rooted welfare concepts throughout European countries. For our research we have consciously focused on European Union member countries, the number of countries involved in one way or another in the project is twenty. According to Esping-Andersen we differentiate three different types of Welfare models: the liberal "Beveridge systems, the conservative, corporatist "Bismarck systems and the social democratic or Scandinavian (Nordic) regimes. Our working group decided to opt for an "own class of countries belonging to a "Mediterranean Model. And we added also a group of "Central and Eastern European Systems. After having described these systems and their development, we have examined if, and to what extent the countries of a given regime are all following the same trends and developments. The question of a possible convergence of all these models in one future European social model was also investigated. At the end the most important questions remain: How can we overcome the austerity paradigm and move towards a cohesive society where everyone participates according to his means and where everybody gets according to his needs? How can we agree on a minimum socket of social rights in all European Countries

Download or read book Welfare States under Pressure written by Peter Taylor-Gooby and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2001-11-07 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exerpt from the Financial Times Comment & Analysis: Europe takes on reform of the welfare state: A new study indicates that while the UK has transformed its social policies, the rest of Europe has been far from idle - `[A] stimulating new book on European welfare states [Welfare States under Pressure] suggests that the view of Britain as the only great welfare state reformer is overstated. And it adds that the game across Europe is about to change.... This new study argues that, particularly in the late 1990s, there has been more reform in the rest of Europe than is appreciated in the UK. And that Europe as a whole is on the cusp of much greater changes.... Certainly in France and possibly in Germany, the study judges, the traditional power balance between government, employers, unions and welfare providers has shifted such that government may be able to impose much more drastic measures... In the UK, by contrast, the impact of EU institutions may in some areas mean a degree of levelling up - as in healthcare. The most intriguing question is how far reformed welfare states will retain the social cohesion they are designed to produce. So far, even in the UK, they have proved remarkably resilient - adapting to changing needs rather than being "rolled back". This study′s verdict on the issue is "don′t know". But so much change is on the way, it says, that "the past is unlikely to be a good guide to the future"′ - Nicholas Timmins, The Financial Times Welfare States under Pressure provides a timely and comprehensive review of welfare policy-making in Europe. The text compares the different ways in which welfare states have responded to similar pressures over recent years, and considers how welfare is likely to develop in the future. This work: · provides up to date accounts of welfare development in Finland, Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the United Kingdom. · explores how similar pressures can lead to different responses due to different policy-making mechanisms in each of the seven different countries · contains chapters written by leading national experts · written accessibly, and tightly edited, with each chapter following the same conceptual structure. This volume takes a fresh approach in its analysis of the future of the welfare state in Europe. It suggests that opportunities for radical change in welfare systems are now opening up, and that there will be little continuity between the future and the past/present of the welfare system in Europe. Welfare States under Pressure is invaluable to undergraduate students in social policy, European studies and politics, and will also be of great use to other social science students interested in Europe and its future development.

Download or read book The Handbook of European Welfare Systems written by Sonja Blum and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-12-16 with total page 785 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides the first comprehensive information and detailed data on the welfare systems of all twenty-seven EU member states and offers the reader an invaluable introduction and basis for comparative welfare research. The introductory chapter summarizes the actual debate about welfare states and welfare (state) regimes, gives an overview on current welfare (state) research and analyses the main recent developments necessitating a new focus on European Welfare Systems. The twenty-seven chapters on the welfare systems of the member states are written on the basis of a common structure by experts from the individual states. An additional chapter analyses the current social and welfare policies of the EU and focuses on the interplay and limits between European and national social policies. Two concluding chapters provide (a) a first comparative analysis on the basis of all twenty-seven European Welfare Systems and (b) a theoretical reflection both arguing for and venturing the idea of politically limited pluralism in European welfare politics.

Download or read book European Welfare States and Supranational Governance of Social Policy written by A. Johnson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2005-04-12 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ailish Johnson examines national welfare state regimes of EU Member States and the features of the European Union and the International Labour Organization that encourage cooperation and assure outcomes of supranational cooperation higher than theories of inter-state bargaining or social dumping would predict. By tracing the development of EU and global social policy from the 1950s to today, she identifies policy leaders, resisters and passive states. She concludes with an analysis of the forms and outputs of supranational social policy and suggests limits of social policy in an enlarged European Union.

Download or read book The European Social Model and an Economy of Well being written by Giovanni Bertin and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2021-02-26 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely book critically examines the European Social Model as a contested concept and concrete set of European welfare and governance arrangements. It offers a theoretical and empirical analysis of new economic models and existing European investment strategies to address key issues within post-Covid-19 Europe.

Download or read book The Future of the Welfare State written by Heikki Ervasti and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a time when welfare states in Europe are coming under increasing pressure from both growing demand and, in some countries, severe financial austerity measures, the attitudes of ordinary people and European social cohesion are much debated. Using data from the European Social Survey, these empirical analyses examine welfare state attitudes and draw conclusions for the future. Theoretically the book is linked to analyses of altering social risks, policy challenges, policy changes and policy performance of the European welfare states. The analyses in the book explore a variety of individual and macro-level determinants of welfare policy attitudes ranging from socio-economic factors to religiosity, but a special emphasis is laid on solidarity, social cohesion and social capital among European nations.

Download or read book New Contractualism in European Welfare State Policies written by Dr Even Nilssen and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2015-09-28 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ‘Golden Age' of the welfare state in Europe was characterised by a strengthening of social rights as citizens became increasingly protected through the collective provision of income security and social services. The oil crisis, inflation and high unemployment of the 1970s largely saw the end of welfare expansion with critical voices claiming the welfare state had created an unbalanced focus on the social rights of individuals, above their responsibilities as citizens. During the 1980s many western countries developed contractual modes of thinking and regulation within welfare policy. Contractualism has proved a significant organising principle for public reforms in general, and for social policy reforms in particular as it embraces both a way of justifying certain welfare policies and of constructing specific socio-legal policy instruments. Engaging with both the critique of the welfare state and the subsequent policy responses, expert contributors in this book examine contractualism as a discourse, comprising principles and justifying ideas, and as a legal and social practice. Covering the international debate on conditionality they discuss European experiences with active social citizenship ideas and contractualism providing individual case studies and comparisons from a wide range of European countries.

Download or read book Challenges to the Welfare State written by Henry Cavanna and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 1998 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Identifies the relative merits of welfare state systems in the US and Europe; examines and assesses cultural, economic, and political problems they face; and suggests policy to alleviate the problems. Queries whether the continued integration of Europe will result in all citizens being guaranteed only certain basic social rights, and being required to pay for health care, pension provision, and insurance. Concludes that the movement to reduce government debt will require either a big jump in taxes or a big drop in services. Also discusses the transition from communism to capitalism in eastern Europe. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Download or read book Activation or Workfare Governance and the Neo Liberal Convergence written by Ivar Lodemel and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-09-29 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last decade of the 20th century was marked by a shift in how welfare-states deal with those at the bottom of the income ladder. This shift involved the introduction/strengthening of work-obligations as a condition for receiving minimum income benefits - which, in some countries, was complemented by efforts to help recipients return to the labour market, namely through the investment in active labour market policies (ALMP). Based on case-studies of developments in the US and eight European nations (UK, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, France, Portugal and the Czech Republic), this book argues that this first set of reforms was followed by a second wave of reforms that, whilst deepening the path towards the focus on work, brings important innovations- be it the tools used to help recipients back to the labour markets (ex., financial incentives) and in how activation policies are delivered (ex., integration of benefit and employment services). Looking at the array of developments introduced during this period, we discern two key trends. The first concerns the strengthening of the role of the market in the governance of activation, which is visible in the strengthening of the focus on work, or the marketisation of employment services. The second, concerns a move towards the individualisation of service delivery, visible in the expansion of the use of personal action plans or in efforts to streamline service delivery. Finally, we show that the onset of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, has triggered a new wave of reforms. Whilst tentative only, our analysis points to a worrying trend of the curtailment or benefits (Portugal) and activation services (Netherlands, Czech Republic) to minimum income recipients and, in parallel, a further deepening of the focus on work-conditionality (UK and Norway).

Download or read book Welfare States in Transition written by Gøsta Esping-Andersen and published by SAGE. This book was released on 1996-05-21 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This wide-ranging comparative analysis of contemporary and future changes in welfare states looks at the different trajectories of the welfare states of Europe, North America, the Antipodes, and the emerging scenarios in Latin America, East Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. Leading experts on each of these regions examine the current structures of social protection, consider the causes of the current welfare state crisis and highlight evolving trends for welfare policy. Different welfare states are shown to manifest different forms of crisis. Among the symptoms of crisis, Welfare States in Transition suggests that the effect of popluation ageing is exaggerated, and an at least equally fundamental challenge lies in the revolution of the modern family and the changing economic role of women. The contributors are sceptical about the neo-liberal formula for reform, not only because it increases inequality but also because it does not address the growing need for an active social investment policy to ensure against entrapment in poverty or low-paid jobs.

Download or read book WELFARE STATE IN EUROPE 2E written by PESTIEAU & LEFEBVRE. and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: