An article said that corporate welfare – direct and indirect state support to corporations – was commonplace in developed (OECD) countries, with various forms of assistance being delivered through social policies. It called for a deeper recognition, understanding, consideration, and embedding of corporate welfare in social policy analysis.
Source: Kevin Farnsworth, 'Bringing corporate welfare in', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 42 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
See also:
Sally Ruane, "Bringing corporate welfare in" and pushing further at the boundaries of social policy: a reply to Farnsworth (1)'
Adrian Sinfield, 'On "Bringing corporate welfare in": a reply to Farnsworth (2)'
Date: 2012-Dec
An article examined whether welfare state typologies persisted when applied to effective redistributive outcomes of welfare states' tax and transfer policies. The established welfare regimes were found to differ in both their welfare state institutions and their economic outcomes. It was possible to identify social-democratic, conservative, liberal, and southern welfare regimes.
Source: Andreas Kammer, Judith Niehues, and Andreas Peichl, 'Welfare regimes and welfare state outcomes in Europe', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 22 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
An article examined changes in happiness in European countries in the wake of the global financial crisis. It concluded that a causal relationship between per capita national income and happiness could not be confirmed on the basis of the existing limited data.
Source: Bent Greve, 'The impact of the financial crisis on happiness in affluent European countries', Journal of Comparative Social Welfare, Volume 28 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
A survey examined the quality of life in European Union countries. Although overall life satisfaction levels had not changed much between 2007 and 2011, optimism about the future and trust in institutions had declined markedly in those countries most affected by the economic downturn. Groups that were already vulnerable long-term unemployed people, older people in central and eastern Europe, and lone parents reported the highest levels of material deprivation and dissatisfaction with their life situation.
Source: Robert Anderson, Hans Dubois, Tadas Leoncikas, and Eszter Sandor, Third European Quality of Life Survey: Quality of life in Europe – Impacts of the crisis, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Date: 2012-Nov
An article said that welfare institutions in developed countries conditioned how individual-level factors affected social policy preferences. Institutions that directly altered the risk of unemployment (employment protection legislation) and those that de-linked benefits from the labour market created a more uniform system of social risk that reduced the importance of individual-level risk in shaping policy preferences. Individual risk mattered for social policy preferences only where employment protection was low and welfare benefits were dependent on employment.
Source: Jane Gingrich and Ben Ansell, 'Preferences in context: micro preferences, macro contexts, and the demand for social policy', Comparative Political Studies, Volume 45 Number 12
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A new book examined the links between changing social policies and welfare concepts with respect to 'citizenship-at-large' (personal, democratic, and social rights) in nine European countries including the United Kingdom. It looked at the ways in which citizenship had changed in key areas such as social security, labour market policies, and social services.
Source: Adalbert Evers and Anne-Marie Guillemard (eds), Social Policy and Citizenship: The changing landscape, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Notes: Chapters included: Ruth Lister, 'Social Citizenship in New Labour's New "Active" Welfare State: The case of the United Kingdom'.
Date: 2012-Nov
A report said that public social spending had increased to 22 per cent of national income on average across developed (OECD) countries in 2012, up from 19 per cent in 2007. This was due to increased government expenditure on social supports (such as unemployment and income support benefits) combined with stagnating or declining national income in many countries. The United Kingdom, along with Ireland, spent the most on family benefits, at around 4.2 per cent of national income.
Source: Social Spending after the Crisis, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Report | OECD press release
Date: 2012-Nov
An article examined how and why the issue of measuring quality of life had risen up the European Union's political agenda.
Source: Ian Bache, 'Measuring quality of life for public policy: an idea whose time has come? Agenda-setting dynamics in the European Union', Journal of European Public Policy, Volume 20 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A paper said that popular regime typologies of welfare states had 'degenerated' as a research programme, notwithstanding their many achievements. The main reason for this lay in a simplistic notion of the relationship between politics and economics in modern society. It outlined an alternative for analyzing welfare provisions and their evolution, giving a systematic account of welfare programme restructuring that undermined regime typologies. It suggested a different question for the political economy of welfare – namely how capitalism and democracy could be kept distinct.
Source: Waltraud Schelkle, Collapsing Worlds and Varieties of Welfare Capitalism: In search of a new political economy of welfare, LEQS Paper 54/2012, London School of Economics
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Nov
A paper examined whether long-term trends existed in welfare state 'decommodification' in developed (OECD) countries. Most remarkable was the substantial recommodification in most Nordic countries and the Netherlands. The Anglo-Saxon European Union member states – on the other hand – were characterized by increasing welfare state decommodification since the mid-1980s, following a short period of substantial retrenchment in the early 1980s. Overall there were indications of modest convergence, especially among EU countries. High 'benefit decommodification' was consistent with high 'in-work decommodification' – although the longitudinal relationship was less clear.
Source: Olivier Pintelon, Welfare State Decommodification: Concepts, operationalizations and long-term trends, Working Paper 12/10, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Nov
An article examined the mechanisms might be responsible for the correlation between countries' welfare efforts and the social capital of their inhabitants, using European data.
Source: John Gelissen, Wim van Oorschot, and Ellen Finsveen, 'How does the welfare state influence individuals social capital?', European Societies, Volume 14 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
An article examined to what extent, and how, individuals' welfare state attitudes related to their subjective assessment of the available social support in 25 European countries. The more welfare was provided by the state, the less of it was desired in countries where individuals had the general belief that they could rely on each other for support. Only when considered jointly did welfare state provision and social trust in support availability become essential in explaining welfare state attitudes.
Source: Klarita Gerxhani and Ferry Koster, '"I am not alone": understanding public support for the welfare state', International Sociology, Volume 27 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
A new book examined social reform in Europe over the previous two decades, and the future of the European welfare state in the wake of the financial crisis. The overall scope of social reform across the member states of the European Union varied widely: in some cases welfare state change had been accompanied by deep social conflicts, while in other instances unpopular social reforms had received broad consent from opposition parties, trade unions, and employer organizations. The trajectories of welfare reform in many countries were more pro-active and reconstructive than was often argued in academic research and the media.
Source: Anton Hemerijck, Changing Welfare States, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Oct
A paper examined the evolution of social spending in 21 European Union member states over the period 1985–2007, in order to determine the extent to which its focus had shifted from 'old' to 'new' social risks (with 'old' expenditures representing the core tasks of the welfare state, and 'new' expenditures representing programmes aimed at social risks inherent to a post-industrial society). Although growth of 'new' expenditures had been larger than the growth of 'old' ones, it was not possible to identify a substantial shift in absolute figures. Health and retirement spending remained the main part of social expenditures.
Source: Leen Meeusen and Annemie Nys, Are New Social Risk Expenditures Crowding out the Old?, Working Paper 12/08, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Sep
A new book provided an overview of welfare state research from a political science perspective. Since the early 1990s, European welfare states had undergone substantial changes, in terms of objectives, areas of intervention, and instruments. Traditional programmes had been curtailed (such as old age pensions) while new functions (such as helping non-working people back into employment, and promoting gender equality) had been taken up. The welfare settlement that was emerging at the beginning of the 21st century was very different in terms of functions and instruments from the one inherited from the previous century.
Source: Giuliano Bonoli and David Natali (eds), The Politics of the New Welfare State, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined whether welfare states were in terminal decline in the face of a new 'austerity consensus'.
Source: Kevin Farnsworth and Zoe Irving, 'Varieties of crisis, varieties of austerity: social policy in challenging times', Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, Volume 20 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Aug
A paper examined the impact of welfare services, as opposed to cash benefits, on inequality and poverty in European Union countries. Compulsory education and healthcare both reduced inequality and poverty when compared with a hypothetical situation without these publicly provided services. But cash transfers were more pro-poor than in-kind benefits in most countries.
Source: Gerlinde Verbist and Manos Matsaganis, The Redistributive Capacity of Services in the EU, Discussion Paper 53, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Aug
An article said that the 'criminalizing' tendency in contemporary social policy was actually part of the normal working of western welfare systems. In the face of largely uncontrollable global economic processes, the governance of society was increasingly focused on the management of people's behaviour. The author discussed the implications for the relationships between the welfare system, the criminal justice system, and civil society.
Source: John Rodger, '"Regulating the poor": observations on the "structural coupling" of welfare, criminal justice and the voluntary sector in a "Big Society"', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 46 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined the emergence of local welfare systems in many western countries – dynamic arrangements in which the specific local socio-economic and cultural conditions gave rise to different mixes of formal and informal actors, public or not, involved in the provision of welfare resources. The article considered some of the most important implications related to the emergence of local welfare systems, and the challenges they faced in seeking to build social cohesion.
Source: Alberta Andreotti, Enzo Mingione, and Emanuele Polizzi, 'Local welfare systems: a challenge for social cohesion', Urban Studies, Volume 49 Number 9
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
A paper examined the link between income and happiness in developed (OECD) countries. In countries with comparatively low income levels, average per capita income had a significantly positive leverage on the mean reported happiness. In countries with comparatively high income levels, by contrast, the link between per capita incomes and subjective happiness scores was not significant.
Source: Barbara Dluhosch, Daniel Horgos, and Klaus Zimmermann, Explaining the Income-Distribution Puzzle in Happiness Research: Theory and evidence, Working Paper 117, Department of Economics, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg – University FAF Hamburg
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jun
A paper examined whether the global financial and economic crisis had brought about changes in the quality of life of citizens of the European Union. On the whole, the crisis had led to a decline in quality of life. This was more apparent for those living in countries most affected by the crisis. Vulnerable groups such as those who were unemployed, elderly or retired, as well as people suffering financial difficulties, had experienced a considerable drop in their well-being.
Source: Branislav Mikulic, Eszter Sandor, and Tadas Leoncikas, Experiencing the Economic Crisis in the EU: Changes in living standards, deprivation and trust, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jun
A new book examined the development of political cultural processes in Europe, highlighting the way in which social protection and social justice had gradually became interwoven with systems of social protection, or welfare states. It showed how sociological and ethnographic analysis could help in understanding the existing and future challenges of European integration.
Source: Jean-Claude Barbier, The Road to Social Europe: A contemporary approach to political cultures and diversity in Europe, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jun
A new book said that the future of the welfare state in Europe looked increasingly uncertain in an age of government-imposed austerity, and after 30 years of neo-liberal restructuring. It identified the most important challenges, and presented practical proposals for combating the assault on welfare. The welfare state should be seen as the result of a class compromise forged in the 20th century, which meant that it could not easily be exported internationally. It was now going through a paradigm shift, illustrated by the shift from welfare to workfare, and increased top-down control.
Source: Asbjorn Wahl, The Rise and Fall of the Welfare State, Pluto Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
A new book examined how social welfare organizations 'medicalized' their environment – 'solving' social problems by viewing and treating them as medical problems.
Source: Mikael Holmqvist, The Institutionalization of Social Welfare: A study of medicalizing management, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
An article examined the origins and development of the 'social investment strategy' by European welfare states. The strategy was characterized by a move away from passive transfers and towards the maximization of employability and employment: but there were significant national distinctions and regime-specific trajectories. The authors examined whether the new policy paradigm had been established at the expense of social policies that mitigated poverty and inequality.
Source: Kees Van Kersbergen and Anton Hemerijck, 'Two decades of change in Europe: the emergence of the social investment state', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 41 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
An article examined the extent to which European Union citizens supported three dimensions of welfare state values – developed role of state, equal opportunities, and equal outcomes – and whether national level institutions and social policies could explain cross-national variation in these values. Two different mechanisms were distinguished: that institutions could have a norm-shaping function and thus were associated with stronger public support; or that the public opinion could function as a thermostat if there was dissatisfaction with the existing institutions. There was empirical evidence for both mechanisms.
Source: Ferry Koster and Monika-Ewa Kaminska, 'Welfare state values in the European Union, 2002-2008: a multilevel investigation of formal institutions and individual attitudes', Journal of European Public Policy, Volume 19 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
An article examined the increasing power of global cities that acted as co-ordinating hubs for the global economy. Though residing in nation states, these cities had a special status flowing from their central role in the global economy. Little attempt had been made to explore the implications of these cities for welfare regimes and welfare regime analysis. There were strong overlaps between global city types and welfare types.
Source: John Hudson, 'Welfare regimes and global cities: a missing link in the comparative analysis of welfare states?', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 41 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
An article examined how European citizens perceived the consequences of the welfare state; whether perceived positive consequences outweighed the negative consequences; and to the extent to which perceptions of consequences were determined by individual and country-level factors. The European public had a clearer eye for the positive social consequences than for negative economic and moral ones. Moreover, at the individual level these perceptions were mainly influenced by ideational factors, while they were affected by welfare state generosity at the country level. In more developed welfare states the public perceived the negative, as well as the positive, consequences more strongly.
Source: Wim van Oorschot, Tim Reeskens, and Bart Meuleman, 'Popular perceptions of welfare state consequences: a multilevel, cross-national analysis of 25 European countries', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 22 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A new book examined European capitalist welfare societies, focusing on the questions of sustainability and the financing of social rights. Setting out a new conceptual framework that integrated an adapted version of the theory of instituted economic processes with the changing structuration of the life course in European countries, the authors said that European capitalist welfare societies were not sustainable in their existing form, and that the future financing of social rights was conditional on substantial transformations.
Source: Patricia Frericks and Robert Maier, European Capitalist Welfare Societies: The Challenge of Sustainability, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book examined the potential of applying the political science theory of welfare state types to contract law in Europe.
Source: Jacobien Rutgers (ed.), European Contract Law and the Welfare State, Europa Law Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Apr
A think-tank report examined the state of knowledge on well-being. Well-being equations constructed using data from the United Kingdom, United States of America, and Europe revealed a range of different effect sizes. However, there appeared to be some consistency in the factors associated with the largest effect sizes: these were being unemployed (negative), being married (positive), being divorced or separated (negative), having good health (positive), and being in the highest income quartile (positive).
Source: Laura Stoll, Juliet Michaelson, and Charles Seaford, Well-Being Evidence for Policy: A Review, New Economics Foundation
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Apr
A report examined levels of happiness in each country of the world. The happiest countries were all in northern Europe (Denmark, Norway, Finland, Netherlands). Happier countries tend to be richer countries. But more important for happiness than income were social factors such as the strength of social support, the absence of corruption, and the degree of personal freedom. Over time as living standards had risen, happiness had increased in some countries – but not in others (for example, the United States). Unemployment causes as much unhappiness as bereavement or separation. At work, job security and good relationships did more for job satisfaction than high pay and convenient hours.
Source: World Happiness Report, Earth Institute
Links: Report | Earth Institute press release
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book used data from the European Social Survey to examine public attitudes to the welfare state, focusing on the issues of solidarity, social cohesion, and social capital.
Source: Heikki Ervasti, Jorgen Andersen, Torben Fridberg, and Kristen Ringdal (eds.), The Future of the Welfare State: Social policy attitudes and social capital in Europe, Edward Elgar Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
A paper examined the effects of macroeconomic performance and institutional quality on average levels of self-assessed well-being in European Union countries between 2004 and 2011. Variations in national levels of life satisfaction could largely be accounted for by a small number of socio-economic indicators. Life satisfaction was lowest in poor, corrupt countries where income inequality was pronounced. The adverse effect of higher unemployment on life satisfaction was partially offset by the positive impact of lower inflation. However, even when these factors were allowed for, significant country-level differences persisted.
Source: Brendan Walsh, The Influence of Macroeconomic Conditions and Institutional Quality on National Levels of Life Satisfaction, Working Paper 12/08, Centre for Economic Research (University College Dublin)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Mar
A paper compared the three main systems of welfare capitalism (Beveridgean, Bismarckian, and Liberal) from both a positive and a normative perspective. It introduced a new way to model a Bismarckian type of social insurance to account for the fact that this system allowed intra-group horizontal redistribution.
Source: Sarah Brockhoff, Stephane Rossignol, and Emmanuelle Taugourdeau, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism Revisited, Working Paper 2012.18, Centre d Economie de la Sorbonne (Paris)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Mar
A report examined new ways for European policy-makers and institutions to make social security systems (broadly defined) more sustainable in the face of long-term demographic trends and increased global competition. It investigated ways to achieve short- and long-term financial viability, as well as the key mechanisms that helped to achieve social cohesion, such as greater emphasis on social rights and social dialogue. It considered the main policy issues in sustaining programmes such as healthcare, social assistance and family benefits, pensions, unemployment and work incapacity benefits, and long-term care.
Source: Wouter van Ginneken, Sustaining European Social Security Systems in a Globalised Economy, Council of Europe
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined the short-term effects of social spending on economic activity, using data for developed (OECD) countries from 1980 to 2005. An increase of 1 per cent in social spending increased national income by about 0.1 percentage points. The effect was similar to that of total government spending, and was larger in periods of severe downturns. Among spending subcategories, social spending on health and on unemployment benefits had the greatest effects.
Source: Davide Furceri and Aleksandra Zdzienicka, 'The effects of social spending on economic activity: empirical evidence from a panel of OECD countries', Fiscal Studies, Volume 33 Issue 1, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined why similar industrialized market economies had developed such varying systems for social protection. It highlighted the importance of trustworthy, impartial, and uncorrupted government institutions as a precondition for citizens' willingness to support policies for social insurance.
Source: Bo Rothstein, Marcus Samanni, and Jan Teorell, 'Explaining the welfare state: power resources vs. the Quality of Government', European Political Science Review, Volume 4 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A report highlighted the growing body of evidence that GDP (national income) alone could not measure all aspects of human development in European countries, and did not account for social costs. It evaluated alternative indicators to GDP methods to measure well-being, such as life expectancy and rates of disease.
Source: A Post-GDP Critique of the Europe 2020 Strategy, European Public Health Alliance
Links: Report | EPHA press release
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined whether differences between welfare regimes in advanced countries could manifest diverse consequences for the health effects of insecure and precarious employment. Precarious workers in Scandinavian welfare states were found to report better or equal health status when compared with their permanent counterparts. By contrast, precarious work in the remaining welfare state regimes was found to be associated with adverse health outcomes, including poor self-rated health, musculoskeletal disorders, injuries, and mental health problems.
Source: Il-Ho Kim, Carles Muntaner, Faraz Vahid Shahidi, Alejandra Vives, Christophe Vanroelen, and Joan Benach , 'Welfare states, flexible employment, and health: a critical review', Health Policy, Volume 104 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined the extent of welfare state tendencies towards individualization of social citizenship rights in Europe. Individualization processes had transformed modern west European societies through the construction of self-sufficiency, the individualization of responsibility, and the personalization of social services.
Source: Minna van Gerven and Marinus Ossewaarde, 'The welfare state's making of cosmopolitan Europe: individualization of social rights as European integration', European Societies, Volume 14 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A new book examined the concept of social quality and its core components – socio-economic security, social cohesion, social inclusion, and social empowerment. It applied the concept of social quality to some of the most pressing policy challenges, including the future of the European Union and sustainability.
Source: Laurent Van Der Maesen and Alan Walker (eds.), Social Quality: From theory to indicators, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jan
A paper examined the most recent interpretation of 'social investment' adopted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Initial formulations could be seen as an example of inclusive liberalism: since then, however, the OECD had begun to embrace important elements of a social democratic version, including a concern with gender equality.
Source: Rianne Mahon, Social Investment According to the OECD/DELSA: A discourse in the making, Welfare Societies Working Paper 03/2012, University of Bremen (Germany)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jan
A new book examined the size, uses, and importance of 'corporate welfare' – government programmes designed to meet the needs of business – across various welfare regimes in developed (OECD) countries.
Source: Kevin Farnsworth, Social Versus Corporate Welfare: Competing needs and interests within the welfare state, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jan
A new book examined approaches to defining and promoting a 'good society' from alternative perspectives, including Marxism and feminism. It considered methodological principles and alternative socio-economic models that could contribute to the design of strategies for building a better world.
Source: John Marangos (ed.), Alternative Perspectives of a Good Society, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jan
A paper examined well-being in developed (OECD) countries based on self-reported life satisfaction surveys. Levels of income, state of health, not being unemployed, and social relationships were particularly important for well-being, with only some differences across countries.
Source: Sarah Fleche, Conal Smith, and Piritta Sorsa, Exploring Determinants of Subjective Wellbeing in OECD Countries: Evidence from the World Value Survey, Economics Department Working Paper 921, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jan
A new book examined the effects of the global financial crisis on welfare states around the world. One chapter compared reactive policy strategies in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.
Source: Bent Greve (ed.), The Times They Are Changing? Crisis and the welfare state, Wiley
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jan
