This book surveys and analyses the welfare consequences of the Great Recession in Europe and investigates how the burdens of the crisis were shared—between countries, between different socio-economic groups across Europe, and within individual countries. The studies are based on broad comparisons of 30 countries and deeper analyses of 9 country cases. The approach is grounded in classical theories about crisis responses and relates financial hardship to institutional characteristics—such as welfare regimes, currency regimes, socio-political patterns, affluence levels, public debt, and policy reactions during the crisis period—for example, stimulus versus austerity, the degree of social protection emphasis, the commitment to redistribution, and the significance of activation. Welfare and the Great Recession offers new evidence on and demonstrates the importance of the welfare state and government policies with regard to sheltering populations from the level of living consequences of serious economic contraction and distributing burdens in a crisis situation. The book offers various lessons from the crisis experience in Europe and ends with a discussion about welfare futures in a globalized, crisis-prone environment.
The welfare state after the great recession