scholarly journals The role of European welfare states in intergenerational money transfers: a micro-level perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1315-1342 ◽  
Author(s):  
NIELS SCHENK ◽  
PEARL DYKSTRA ◽  
INEKE MAAS
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
State Spending ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
State Regime ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Money Transfers ◽  
To Receive ◽  
European Welfare States

ABSTRACTThis article uses a comprehensive theoretical framework to explain why parents send money to particular children, and examines whether intergenerational solidarity is shaped by spending on various welfare domains or provisions as a percentage of gross domestic product. The theoretical model at the level of parents and children distinguishes parental resources and children's needs as the factors most likely to influence intergenerational money transfers. Differences in state spending on various welfare domains are then used to hypothesise in which countries children with specific needs are most likely to receive a transfer. For parents we hypothesise in which countries parents with specific available resources are most likely to send a transfer. We use data from the first wave of the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to analyse the influence of welfare-state provisions on the likelihood of intergenerational transfers in ten European countries. The results indicate that, in line with our expectations, the likelihood of a transfer being made is the outcome of an intricate resolution of the resources (ability) of the parents and the needs of a child. Rather large differences between countries in money transfers were found. The results suggest that, at least with reference to cross-generational money transfers, no consistent differences by welfare state regime were found.

What's Globalization Got to Do with It? Economic Interdependence and the Future of European Welfare States

2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Hay
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Models ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Usa ◽  
State Regime ◽  
European Welfare States ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractThe appeal to globalization as a non-negotiable external economic constraint plays an increasingly significant role in the linked politics of expectation suppression and welfare reform in contemporary Europe. Yet, although it threatens to become something of a self- fulfilling prophecy, the thesis that globalization entails welfare retrenchment and convergence is empirically suspect. In this paper it is argued that there is little evidence of convergence amongst European social models and that, although common trajectories can be identified, these have tended to be implemented more or less enthusiastically and at different paces to produce, to date, divergent outcomes. Second, I suggest that it is difficult to see globalization as the principal agent determining the path on which European social models are embarked since the empirical evidence points if anything to de-globalization rather than globalization. The implications of this for the future of the welfare state in Europe and for the USA as a model welfare state regime are explored.

Introduction: ‘New’ Welfare in Practice: Trends, Challenges and Dilemmas

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Ellison ◽  
Menno Fenger
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
European Welfare States

European welfare states have a tradition of compensating for social risks. But across Europe, remarkable transformations may be observed that shift the focus from a needs/rights based compensatory approach towards a more individualistic ‘social risk management’ approach to welfare (see Schmid, 2006; Abrahamson, 2010). The basic idea of social risk management is that citizens have their own responsibility for preventing social risks. The ‘new’ welfare state mirrors this approach by adopting the role of equipping individual citizens for this task. The concept of the ‘new welfare state’ has been discussed under different labels, including ‘positive welfare’ (Giddens, 1998), ‘enabling welfare’ (Gilbert, 2002), ‘new welfare’ (Taylor-Gooby, 2008) and ‘social investment state’ (Engelen et al., 2007).

scholarly journals Shaping tolerant attitudes towards immigrants: The role of welfare state expenditures

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolin Rapp
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Social Tolerance ◽  
Democratic Principle ◽  
Western European ◽  
State Expenditures ◽  
European Welfare States

This article contributes to the ongoing discussion on how tolerance may be fostered in Western European countries and to the question of how contextual factors such as welfare state expenditures may contribute to this formation. Tolerance is understood as a basic democratic principle that helps civil societies cope with rising levels of diversity stemming from increased immigration and individualism. Within the tolerance literature, it is commonly agreed upon that a comprehensive welfare state is capable of bridging class divides and overcoming social categorization. However, over the past decades, European welfare states experienced an ongoing influx of immigrants, challenging their general purpose and increasing notions of ‘welfare chauvinism’. Drawing on insights from both tolerance and welfare state solidarity literature, we implement hierarchical analyses based on Eurobarometer data to assess the potential influence of welfare state universalism on political and social tolerance in 15 Western European countries. Moreover, we demonstrate that this relationship is highly conditional on the degree of ethnic heterogeneity within a country.

Explaining Welfare State Adaptation in East Asia: The Cases of Japan, Korea and Taiwan

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gyu-Jin Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
North East ◽  
Social Policy Reform ◽  
State Regime ◽  
Welfare Production

Abstract A growing volume of literature suggests that the countries in North-east Asia are defying the productivist logic that has underpinned their welfare state regime. This article aims to unfold the developmental trajectory of welfare states in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. By combining structural accounts and political explanations of social policy reform, it discusses continuity and changes in the role of social policy over a stretched period of time. It then argues that although there has been significant change made to social policy in the region, structural conditions and the politics of expansion associated with them are yet to amount to a shift in the core foundation of their welfare production logic. The market-conforming role of social policy in East Asia has been persistent and, paradoxically, this explains their resilience against the forces of economic liberalisation.

scholarly journals Invited Commentary: Social Cohesion, Depression, and the Role of Welfare States

2019 ◽  
Vol 189 (4) ◽  
pp. 354-357
Author(s):  
Mikael Rostila
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
State Theory ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Neighborhood Disorder ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract In this issue of the Journal, Baranyi et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2019;000(00):000–000) examine the longitudinal associations of perceived neighborhood disorder and social cohesion with depressive symptoms among persons aged 50 years or more in 16 different countries. An important contribution of their article is that they study how neighborhood-level social capital relates to depression in different welfare-state contexts. Although the authors provide empirical evidence for some significant differences between welfare states in the relationship between social capital and depression, they say little about potential explanations. In this commentary, I draw attention to welfare-state theory and how it could provide us with a greater understanding of Baranyi et al.’s findings. I also discuss the potential downsides of grouping countries into welfare regimes. I primarily focus on the associations between social cohesion and depression, as these associations were generally stronger than those for neighborhood disorder and depression. Finally, I provide some suggestions for future research within the field and discuss whether the findings could be used to guide policies aimed at increasing social cohesion and health.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Johan P. Mackenbach
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Short History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Per Se

Chapter 1 (‘Introduction’) provides a short history of the discovery and rediscovery of health inequalities, as well as a short history and typology of the welfare state, and lays out the paradox that this book tries to explain: the persistence of health inequalities in even the most universal and generous European welfare states. It argues that micro-level studies alone cannot resolve this paradox, and that macro-level studies are needed to identify the determinants of health inequalities as seen at the population level. This will also make it easier to put health inequalities into a broader perspective, for example, that of social inequality per se. This chapter ends with an extensive preview of the main conclusions of the book.

But what about that nice house you own? The impact of asset tests in minimum income schemes in Europe: An empirical exploration

2020 ◽  
pp. 095892872097013
Author(s):  
Sarah Marchal ◽  
Sarah Kuypers ◽  
Ive Marx ◽  
Gerlinde Verbist
Keyword(s):  
Household Finance ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Microsimulation Model ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Minimum Income ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Consumption Survey ◽  
European Welfare States

Means-tested transfer schemes in Europe and elsewhere tend to include not only income tests but also asset tests of various sorts. The role of asset tests in minimum income protection provisions has been extensively researched in the Anglo-Saxon context. Far fewer authors have assessed the role of asset tests on social policy in a continental European context. Although asset tests may be useful in singling out the more deserving of the poor, we know relatively little of their actual impact on eligibility and social outcomes in European welfare states. This paper looks at the prevalence and design of asset tests in European minimum income protection schemes. We distinguish between two main types of asset tests: outright disqualification when assets reach a certain value, versus a more gradual tapering at a fictional rate of return. We then analyse in greater detail how asset tests in Belgium and Germany, as representatives of these two types, affect minimum income protection eligibility and poverty outcomes. We use the EUROMOD microsimulation model on the Household Finance and Consumption Survey data in order to assess the effects of asset tests. This survey was explicitly designed to more realistically reflect assets and capital incomes.

The American Welfare State

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Klosko
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Early History ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Welfare Programs ◽  
Causal Factors ◽  
Political Justification ◽  
History Of

Background on the American welfare state. What we mean by welfare states; early history of American welfare state; causal factors in regard to how it developed, and the American welfare state in comparative perspective. We also look at the role of political justification in the development of American welfare programs.

scholarly journals The Bias of American Federalism: The Limits of Welfare-State Development in the Progressive Era

1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brian Robertson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Progressive Era ◽  
The United States ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Welfare State Development ◽  
Socialist Movement ◽  
State Programs ◽  
American Federalism ◽  
European Welfare States

Welfare state programs developed later in the United States than in other nations. Today, American programs are less widely accessible, less uniform, and often less generous than programs abroad. Explanations for this relative conservatism usually focus on the lack of a socialist movement or a socialist ideological tradition in the United States. Yet during the Progressive Era, when the gap between the American and European welfare states widened significantly enough for contemporaries to acknowledge it, the forces for social reform had never been stronger in the United States. In many ways these forces resembled those in England, which at the time was laying the foundations for a model welfare state.

The Power of Citizens and Professionals in Welfare Encounters

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanna Mik-Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Crucial Issue ◽  
Sociology Of Professions ◽  
Market Values ◽  
Modern Welfare State ◽  
Welfare Workers ◽  
Micro Structures ◽  
European Welfare States

This book addresses the crucial issue of the interrelation between macro and micro structures within citizen-professional encounters of the modern welfare state. Since the 1990s, European welfare states have moved towards a so-called governance approach; a bottom-up approach that emphasises the activeness, engagement, coproduction, and cooperation of citizens. This framing of the encounter means that citizens are no longer best described as the passive clients of the bureaucracy and welfare workers are no longer automatically the powerful party of the encounter. However, the welfare encounter is structured by other powerful factors as well; factors such as market values and bureaucratic principles which often pull in different directions than the governance approach to citizens. This book sets out to explore how these various factors in combination affects the client-professional encounter. Aside from chapters on the sociology of professions, symbolic interactionism, power in welfare encounters, bureaucratic principles, market values, norms from psychology, the book includes a double-length chapter that qualifies the conclusions through empirical analyses of encounters between citizens and doctors, caseworkers and social workers. The book is aimed for academics, post-graduates, and undergraduates within sociology, anthropology and political science.

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