Challenges to European Welfare Systems

Challenges to European Welfare Systems PDF Author: Klaus Schubert
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319076809
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 854

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Book Description
This book provides the first comprehensive analyses of the challenges all European welfare systems have been facing since 2007, combining in-depth country-based studies and comparative chapters. It focuses on: 1) the economic and financial crisis, 2) demographic change, and 3) the balance between avoiding risks and opening up opportunities in social policy. The results show that European welfare systems tend to face the same challenges in different ways and that also their responses to those challenges differ considerably. Although the EU also plays a part in shaping national welfare systems, it becomes evident that European welfare systems are by no means converging: in terms of social policy, national diversity within Europe is still a major factor that will shape future developments in European welfare systems.

Challenges to European Welfare Systems

Challenges to European Welfare Systems PDF Author: Klaus Schubert
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319076809
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 854

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book provides the first comprehensive analyses of the challenges all European welfare systems have been facing since 2007, combining in-depth country-based studies and comparative chapters. It focuses on: 1) the economic and financial crisis, 2) demographic change, and 3) the balance between avoiding risks and opening up opportunities in social policy. The results show that European welfare systems tend to face the same challenges in different ways and that also their responses to those challenges differ considerably. Although the EU also plays a part in shaping national welfare systems, it becomes evident that European welfare systems are by no means converging: in terms of social policy, national diversity within Europe is still a major factor that will shape future developments in European welfare systems.

Perspectives for Digital Social Innovation to Reshape the European Welfare Systems

Perspectives for Digital Social Innovation to Reshape the European Welfare Systems PDF Author: F. Davide
Publisher: IOS Press
ISBN: 1643681575
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description
Social welfare is riddled with ingrained problems that have already defeated all standard approaches, and reform calls for counterintuitive action. Digital Social Innovation (DSI) is primarily about promoting grassroots initiatives to address localized societal problems, and is not normally talked about in relation to welfare reform, but perhaps social innovation initiatives, with their localized and case-based approach, could help to solve the enormous structural problems faced by our welfare democracies today. This book addresses the potential and implications of DSI for the reform of the European welfare state. The 14 papers collected here focus on key issues, such as the nature of social innovation and its effects; scaling up to address structural problems and make systemic change; new social risks and challenges; the role of digital thinking and emerging technologies; public governance approaches; tolerance of institutions; integrating innovation in the welfare system; and the empowerment of marginalized citizens. These topics are examined from an integrated and multi-disciplinary perspective, taking into consideration not only current EU debate on policy trends for social protection, but also the nature of digital transformation and its effects on social change. The book also highlights barriers to adoption, as well as the potential limitations and failures of this emerging approach. Digital social innovation is an emerging discipline that deserves more attention from policy makers and more resources from government. Drawing on welfare studies, political science, sociology, psychology, law and computer science, this book will be of interest to researchers, practitioners and policy makers alike.

The Future of European Welfare

The Future of European Welfare PDF Author: Martin Rhodes
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349265438
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
European welfare states are currently under stress and the 'social contracts' that underpin them are being challenged. First, welfare spending has arguably 'grown to limits' in a number of countries while expanding everywhere in the 1990s in line with higher unemployment. Second, demographic change and the emergence of new patterns of family and working life are transforming the nature of 'needs'. Third, the economic context and the policy autonomy of nation states has been transformed by 'globalization'. This book considers the implications of these challenges for European welfare states at the end of the twentieth century with interdisciplinary contributions from first-rate political scientists, economists and sociologists including Paul Ormerod.

Routledge Handbook of European Welfare Systems

Routledge Handbook of European Welfare Systems PDF Author: Taylor & Francis Group
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781032176338
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 620

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Book Description
Published ten years after the first edition, this new Handbook offers topical, and comprehensive information on the welfare systems of all 28 EU member states and their recent reforms, giving the reader an invaluable introduction and basis for comparative welfare research. Additional chapters provide detailed information on EU social policy, as well as comparative analyses of European welfare systems and their reform pathways. For this second edition, all chapters have been updated and substantially revised, and Croatia additionally included. The second edition of this Handbook is most timely, given the often-fundamental welfare state transformations against the background of the financial and economic crises, transforming social policy ideas, as well as political shifts in a number of European countries. The book sets out to analyse these new developments when it comes to social policy. In the first part, all country chapters provide systematic and comparable information on the foundations of the different national welfare systems and their characteristics. In the second part, using a joint conceptual foundation, they focus on policy changes (especially of the last two decades) in different social policy areas, including old-age, labour market, family, healthcare, and social assistance policies. As the comparative chapters conclude, European welfare system landscapes have been in constant motion in the last two decades. While austerity is not to be seen on the aggregate level, the in-depth country studies show that all policy sectors have been characterised by different reform directions and ideas. The findings not only reveal both change and continuity, but also policy reversal as a distinct type that characterises social policy reform. The book provides a rich resource to the international welfare state research community, and is also useful for social policy teaching.

Resilient Welfare States in the European Union

Resilient Welfare States in the European Union PDF Author: Anton Hemerijck
Publisher: Comparative Political Economy
ISBN: 9781788214865
Category : SOCIAL SCIENCE
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The European welfare systems, established after the Second World War, have been under sustained attack since the late 1970s from the neoliberal drive towards a small state and from the market as the foremost instrument for the efficient allocation of scarce resources. After the 2008 financial crash, Europe's high tax and generous benefits welfare states were, once again, blamed for economic stagnation and political immobilism. If anything, on the contrary, the long decade of the Great Recession proved that the welfare state remained a fundamental asset in hard times, stabilizing the economy, protecting households and individuals from poverty, reconciling gendered work and family life, while improving the skills and competences needed in Europe's knowledge economy and ageing society. Finally, the Covid-19 pandemic has, unsuprisingly, brought back into the limelight the productive role of welfare systems in guaranteeing basic security, human capabilities, economic opportunities and democratic freedoms. In this important contribution, Anton Hemerijck and Robin Huguenot-Noel examine the nature of European welfare provision and the untruths that surround it. They evaluate the impact of the austerity measures that followed the Great Recession, and consider its future design to better equip European societies to face social change, from global competition to accelerated demographic ageing, the digitization of work and climate change. Book jacket.

Southern European Welfare States

Southern European Welfare States PDF Author: G. Katrougalos
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230523722
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
In this first analytical monograph on the subject, George Katrougalos and Gabriella Lazaridis examine the social welfare state of the main four Southern European countries, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece. They conduct an overall system analysis of the welfare state in Southern Europe which challenges the prevalent Ferrera model. Additionally, they present a detailed outlook of policies adopted in the fields of employment, migration, health, social security, pensions and gender-family issues.

Divergence in European Welfare and Housing Systems

Divergence in European Welfare and Housing Systems PDF Author: J. S. C. M. Hoekstra
Publisher: IOS Press
ISBN: 160750667X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
This book explores the relationship between the characteristics of the welfare state and the characteristics of the housing system (housing policies, housing outcomes and housing market developments) in different European countries. It consists of a theoretical framework, six published articles and a concluding chapter. All six articles use the welfare state regime theory and typology of Esping-Andersen, the housing system typology of Kemeny or both, or at least some aspects of these, as an explanatory framework. The results of the investigations indicate that there are considerable differences between the various European housing systems. As far as this is concerned, especially the Southern European countries occupy a rather distinct position. For this reason, two articles in the study specifically focus on the Southern European housing system of Spain. The book is relevant for both academics and policy-makers interested in international housing & housing policy developments.

The Italian Welfare State in a European Perspective

The Italian Welfare State in a European Perspective PDF Author: Ugo Ascoli
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1447316886
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
In the Trente Glorieuses era of economic prosperity that followed World War II, Italy grew into one of Europe's--and, indeed, the world's--largest economies. While the more tumultuous decades since have resulted in the rise of the Italian welfare state, Italy remains a globally important economic player and important social policy indicator, but as of yet it has received little academic research attention. This is the first English-language book to explore the evolution of the Italian welfare state, with a particular emphasis on how it has changed since the 2008 economic crisis. Drawing on a variety of social policies--including pension, schooling, higher education, healthcare, and taxation policies--this collection both offers a broad overview of the Italian situation, featuring detailed analysis of the connections between particular policies and their outcomes, and a comparative approach that frames the Italian case within a larger European context.

European Foundations of the Welfare State

European Foundations of the Welfare State PDF Author: Franz-Xaver Kaufmann
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : es
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Fundamentos del estado de bienestar en Europa desde un punto de vista sociológico.

European Welfare States and Globalization

European Welfare States and Globalization PDF Author: Ali Hajighasemi
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1789905567
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 431

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Book Description
This timely book assesses how Europe’s welfare states have dealt with the challenges of globalisation and the financial crisis. It asks whether the European Union has adopted a general strategy for dealing with four major threats to the sustainable development of European societies: the employability of a growing number of redundant workers, an aging population, low birth rates and the persistent problem of gender inequality. The book will be an important read for social policy scholars, particularly those focusing on European welfare states, how they differ and lessons to be learnt from them. It also highlights key lessons from a broad range of case studies to help policymakers in understanding how and where improvements may be made in the future.