scholarly journals Welfare state impact on mental wellbeing of the oldest old in Europe: A multilevel survey data study

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Kalseth
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Subjective Wellbeing ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Oldest Old ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Formal Support ◽  
Labour Market Participation ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Welfare State

Abstract Background Improving the health and wellbeing of the oldest old population is a key public health policy concern considering the rapid aging of the world’s population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the welfare state on different aspects of mental wellbeing of the oldest old population in Europe. Several approaches to measure welfare state types were compared. Methods The study used individual level data from Round 6 of the European Social Survey to measure six dimensions of mental wellbeing among the 80+ population including countries belonging to the European Union or European Economic Area. Welfare state types were measured using one welfare state- and three elderly care regime typologies, as well as three welfare state dimensions based on factor analyses of several welfare state characteristics. Welfare state impact on mental wellbeing was analysed by multilevel regression analyses, controlling for age and gender. Results The preliminary results show that universalistic and service-based regimes, as e.g. Nordic countries, are associated with higher level of subjective wellbeing and social trust, but not psychological wellbeing, compared to family-based regimes with low formal support. East Europe have lower scores on all dimensions compared to Nordic countries. The welfare state dimension capturing prioritisation of health and social services and gender equality is positively associated with all wellbeing aspects, whereas the factors capturing labour market participation of seniors and income equality respectively, are only significantly associated with subjective wellbeing and social trust. Conclusions The result point to caring approaches with high level of formal support and gender equalisation as key to enhance all aspects of mental wellbeing for the oldest old. Stimulating long duration of working life and reducing income inequalities have the potential to increase life satisfaction and happiness and social trust. Key messages Welfare state matter for the mental wellbeing in the oldest old population. General measures, supporting formal care, labour market participation and income and gender equality will also benefit the oldest old.

scholarly journals ISLAM AND MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS IN NORWAY

2019 ◽  
pp. 225-240
Author(s):  
Leirvik Oddbjørn
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Trust Building ◽  
Muslim Population ◽  
Majority Population ◽  
Close Observation ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Welfare State ◽  
The Way

In this paper the author describes and analyzes central features of Islam and Muslim-Christian relations in Norway. By close observation of the tension between interreligious solidarity and aggressive identity politics, the author highlights some central features of the trust-building Christian-Muslim dialogue in Norway. He also notes how anti-Islamic sentiments in part of the majority population are reflected in radicalization among some Muslim youths. However, the situation in general is described in more optimistic terms. He also identifies two examples showing that the majority of the Muslim population seem to endorse strong values evident in society in general– such as the welfare state and gender equality. Finally, the author poses the question pertaining to the way in which Christians and Muslims may adopt a unified stance against extremism.

The Welfare State and Gender Equality

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Bergqvist
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
State Policies ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Household Work ◽  
Different Shapes ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Welfare State

In all welfare states there is a general pattern where women have more substantial care obligations than men. Women usually do more household work than men, including taking care of children and elderly relatives. However, the pattern takes different shapes according to how social arrangements and policies are constructed. Welfare state policies have an impact on how work and family commitments are combined, and thereby also affect gender equality. The Swedish welfare state has explicitly been designed with the goal to increase gender equality. In this individual earner-carer model women as well as men are encouraged and expected to be breadwinners as well as caregivers. The question is how far it has succeeded.

scholarly journals Muslims in Norway: Value Discourses and Interreligious Dialogue

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oddbjørn Leirvik
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Interreligious Dialogue ◽  
Political Extremism ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Generational Changes ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Conservative Values ◽  
The Welfare State

This article discusses value discourses among Muslims in Norway in the light of political frameworks and public debates. It particularly analyses Norwegian Muslims’ relation to values associated with the welfare state and gender equality, and the role of interreligious dialogue in Norwegian society. Among the findings are, that while generational changes contribute to some young Norwegian Muslims’ identification with institutionalized Norwegian values and practices related to dialogue and gender, others choose to identify with strongly conservative values, not least concerning gender; and others again, although very few, identify with Islamic political extremism.

Introduction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Rothstein
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
Normative Foundation ◽  
The Welfare State

Sweden is often portrayed as the archetypal welfare state, emphasizing universalism, equality, and redistribution. The chapters in the section show that popular support for the welfare state remains strong and is indeed growing; that the global tendency toward neoliberalism has not left a major impact on the welfare state and neoliberals in Sweden actually subscribe to the basic idea of the welfare state; that although the welfare state promotes gender equality Sweden still has yet to achieve the goal of equality; and that the normative foundation of the welfare state can be seen as related to the ideas put forth by Habermas and Sen.

Gender inequality, the welfare state, disability, and distorted commodification of care in Turkey

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Reyhan Atasü-Topcuoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Shadow Economy ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Turkish Case ◽  
Care Regimes ◽  
The Welfare State

Abstract Reforming care regimes to cover the care deficit and enhancing the marketization of care to promote individualism and gender equality have been on the European agenda since the 1990s. However, both implementation and results have been path-dependent. This study first underlines some specificities in the Turkish case—namely, the limited welfare state, a large shadow economy, gender roles, patriarchal backlash, Islamization, and neoliberalism, all of which receive little treatment in the welfare state literature. It then analyzes how these specificities interact in the construction of the care regime in Turkey, conceptualizing the outcome as distorted commodification of care—namely, the continuing ambiguity of care services despite these activities producing precarity and positional suffering for caregivers and recipients. Finally, the study provides concrete examples from the less studied topic of long-term disability care. It presents a perspective on Turkey that foregrounds the connections between gendered care imagery and case-specific qualities of the commodification of care shaped by the long-standing shadow economy, the outsourcing of disability services to for-profit private companies, and the introduction of the cash-for-care policy. The study analyzes the outcomes of distorted commodification of care under these conditions in Turkey vis-à-vis visibility, valuation of work, working conditions, and gender inequality.

scholarly journals Campaigning on the welfare state: The impact of gender and gender diversity

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurenz Ennser-Jedenastik
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Welfare State

Social policy matters have long been considered women’s issues. Extant research has documented a strong link between gender and the policies of the welfare state in the legislative, executive and electoral arenas. Yet what determines the strength of this association has largely been left unexplored. Drawing on tokenism theory, this article proposes gender diversity at the group level as a key explanatory factor. It hypothesizes that the gender gap in social policy diminishes as the female representation in a political party increases. To test this argument, it examines almost 8000 press releases issued by over 600 politicians during four election campaigns in Austria between 2002 and 2013. The analysis demonstrates that women talk more about social policy issues during election campaigns than men, but that this emphasis gap disappears for parties with a more equal gender balance. These results have important implications for our understanding of the politics of gender and social policy.

The working hours issue in Sweden

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christer Sanne
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Working Time ◽  
Labour Market Participation ◽  
Male Labour ◽  
The Welfare State

The Swedish welfare state model is based on a high volume of male labour and steadily increasing labour market participation by women. General working time reductions to below the 40-hour norm did not previously enter into the trade unions' framework of goals, preference being given to individual working time reductions, for example in the form of parental leave. As a result of the employment crisis in the early 90s the prevalent conception of the welfare state based on economic growth was shattered, so that the idea of general working time reduction began to enjoy increased popularity in large sectors of the population, particularly among women.

scholarly journals Donne al lavoro in Italia tra parità formale e disparità sostanziale

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Toffanin
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Full Time ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Condition Of Women ◽  
The Welfare State

The contribution aims to articulate in critical terms the condition of women in Italy, in light of the recent transformations that have affected the welfare state and labour market. In particular, the attention has been paid to the more hidden aspects of the recent reforms implemented by Italian governments, concerning the relation between care work and social and material changes. The casualization of labour among young women is producing a postponement of the reproductive choices while among older ones, especially the unskilled ones, it is producing a returning as a full-time housewives, with all the implications that this dynamic has in terms of loss of emancipation and autonomy. For many women the impossibility to balance work and personal life is leading to their exclusion from the labour market. The reflections developed in this paper aim to highlight the process of invisibilization that continues to mark the reproductive work and the consequences that this process has on the reproduction of class and gender inequalities.

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