The Future of the Welfare State


Book Description

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.




The Welfare State in Europe


Book Description

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.




Welfare States and Social Cohesion in Europe


Book Description

In this article, the authors evaluate whether the provision of good quality social services has the potential to create social cohesion. In addition to examining the relationship between social services and social cohesion, the authors expand institutional theories of social capital by investigating whether this potential for building social solidarity may be resilient to the corrosive effects of economic strain. Multilevel analyses of variations in the perceptions of social cohesion amongst Europeans were conducted for 27 member countries of the EU using the Eurobarometer 74.1 on poverty and social exclusion from 2010. The results suggest that individuals receiving better quality social service provision perceived higher levels of social cohesion within the country in which they live. By contrast, individuals living in households experiencing economic strain perceive lower levels of cohesion. Further analysis revealed that the experience of economic strain does not weaken the positive relationship between social services quality and perceptions of cohesion.




The European Social Model Adrift


Book Description

This volume presents a new perspective for discussing the European social contract and its main challenges, bringing together single-nation and comparative studies from across Europe. Presenting both theoretical discussions and empirical case studies, it explores various aspects of social cohesion, including social protection, the labour market, social movements, healthcare, social inequalities and poverty. With particular attention to the effects of the international economic and financial crisis on social cohesion, particularly in the light of the implementation of so-called ’austerity measures’, authors engage with questions surrounding the possible fragmentation of the European model of social cohesion and the transformation of forms of social protection, asking whether social cohesion continues to represent - if it ever did - a common feature of European countries. Breaking new ground in understanding the future of Social Europe and its main dynamics of change, The European Social Model Adrift will appeal to scholars of sociology, social policy and politics, with interests in social cohesion, the effects of financial crisis and the European social model.




Precarized Society


Book Description

This book provides international and transdisciplinary perspectives on Hyperprecarity and Social Structural Transformations in European Societies, USA and Russia enforced through other special transformation processes such as digitalisation, migration and demographic change. It has been observed that precarity and social insecurity do not refer any longer only to certain groups of the society such as unemployed people or to those ones who are ‘traditionally’ more in need of social benefit etc. but it accompanies and affects greater parts of the society, particularly those sections of the middleclass who conceive their social identity merely via their work ethics. Consequentially new forms of social exclusion are being producing taxing the traditional social cohesion in European societies due to the demand of new forms of flexibility and mobility from the working people. This process can be termed with the notion 'Hyperprecarisation'. This book contains contributions from scientists all over Europe, Russia and the USA, who are members of the SUPI network “Social Uncertainty, Prequarity, Inequality”. PD Dr. Rolf Hepp teaches at the Institut for Soziologie at the FU Berlin and coordinates the S.U.P.I.-Network. Dr. David Kergel teaches at Universität Siegen, Medienwissenschaftliches Seminar. Dr. Robert Riesinger, (Prof. a.D., FH Joanneum Graz) is author and researcher for sociology in Steyerberg.







Social Cohesion and Social Change in Europe


Book Description

Social cohesion has had different meanings for people depending on their background, their interests, where they live in the world, and at what time they lived. In the social sciences, social cohesion is a term used to explain the social and cultural consequences of structural changes related to industrialization and modernity. In the European Union, structural changes which relate to globalization, European integration, the restructuring of welfare states, ageing societies, and transitions from communism, have often led to more insecurity and material inequalities between people. Higher rates of immigration, and issues related to the integration of migrants and their descendants, have also led to anxieties about the preservation of national cultures and identities. This book argues that perceived crises in social cohesion in Europe have more to do with the consequences of structural change rather than the failure of multiculturalism and immigration. It looks at the relationship between social cohesion and social change in Europe, focusing on the European Union as a whole, and on urban areas such as Paris, France and Bradford, UK. This book was originally published as a special issue of Patterns of Prejudice.




Social Vulnerability in European Cities


Book Description

What has been the impact on social cohesion of contemporary cities in Europe, of the rise of new social risks and of the recent economic crisis? Focussing on 20 European urban contexts, this book provides an empirical analysis of the socio-economic transformations driving the emergence of new social risks and of the capacity of welfare policies.




Concerted Development of Social Cohesion Indicators


Book Description

This publication contains guidance on developing a methodological framework for social cohesion indicators which can be applied at local, regional, national and European levels, covering the conceptual approach used and its practical application. It sets out the results of the main applications and trials carried out in 2003 and 2004 and how they tie in with devising a framework of action.




The Welfare State in the European Union


Book Description

This book offers an account of the performance of the welfare state in the European Union, and explores its future prospects in an ever evolving setting. The objectives of the welfare state are twofold: to relieve poverty and to provide a sense of security for everyone. It can be shown that over the last four decades the welfare state has been quite successful in achieving these objectives, more visibly in the Nordic countries than in the Southern or the Anglo-Saxon ones. But todaythe welfare state is at a crossroad. It is facing a variety of challenges that include demographic aging, the changing role of families, increased opportunism, economic integration and declining job security. All these challenges call for a drastic reform of the welfare state, one that requires morecontrol of abuses and more accountability. The authors that it is crucial that all the components of the welfare state be made as efficient as possible, and that if a choice has to be made between alleviating poverty and protecting individuals against lifetime risks, priority should be given to the first objective. This book devotes a chapter to each of the main social protection programs: health care, unemployment insurance, pensions and child policies. In addition, special consideration isgiven throughout to the necessary interdependence among the State, the market and the family.