De-universalization and Selective Social Investment in Scandinavia?

The Scandinavian welfare states are at a critical turning point. Their future depends on the extent to which universalism continues to be the principle of social policy. Middle-class politics plays a decisive role in determining welfare state principles and outcomes. The surprising development is that, while the welfare state remains popular, reforms have made it much less universal than it used to be. Programmes aimed particularly at the poor and disadvantaged have been cut, while programmes particularly enjoyed by the middle class have been expanded. Such de-universalization and ‘selective social investments’ were neither expected nor can they be easily explained by the conventional wisdom on the Scandinavian welfare states. Why does this happen? Is the middle class abandoning universalism? How are social investment policies affected?

Compensation or Social Investment? Revisiting the Link between Globalisation and Popular Demand for the Welfare State

10.1017/s0047279418000569 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 48 (03) ◽

pp. 427-448 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

MARIUS R. BUSEMEYER ◽

JULIAN L. GARRITZMANN

Keyword(s):

Welfare State ◽

Empirical Support ◽

Welfare States ◽

Social Investment ◽

Investment Policies ◽

Compensation Theory ◽

Analytical Perspective ◽

Knowledge Economies ◽

Investment Function ◽

AbstractThe debate on effects of globalisation on welfare states is extensive. Often couched in terms of a battle between the compensation and the efficiency theses, the scholarly literature has provided contradictory arguments and findings. This article contributes to the scholarly debate by exploring in greater detail the micro-level foundations of compensation theory. More specifically, we distinguish between individual policy preferences for compensatory social policies (unemployment insurance) and human capital-focused social investment policies (education), and expect globalisation to mainly affect demand for educational investment. A multi-level analysis of International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) survey data provides empirical support for this hypothesis. This finding provides an important revision and extension of the classical analytical perspective of compensation theory, because it shows that citizens value the social investment function of the welfare state above and beyond simple compensation via social transfers. This might be particularly relevant in today's skill-centred knowledge economies.

A Social Investment Turn in East Asia?

10.1093/oso/9780198790488.003.0024 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Timo Fleckenstein ◽

Soohyun Christine Lee

Keyword(s):

Welfare State ◽

East Asia ◽

Family Policy ◽

Welfare States ◽

Low Fertility ◽

Female Employment ◽

Industrial Workers ◽

Social Investment ◽

Investment Policies ◽

Employment Participation

The welfare states of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were built by conservative elites to serve the project of late industrialization, and for this reason the East Asian developmental welfare state focused its resources on those who were deemed most important for economic development (especially male industrial workers). Starting in the 1990s and increasingly since the 2000s, the developmental welfare state has experienced a far-reaching transformation, including the expansion of family policy to address the post-industrial challenges of female employment participation and low fertility. This chapter assesses social investment policies in East Asia, with a focus on family policy and on the South Korean case, where the most comprehensive rise of social investment policies were observed.

Social Investment, Redistribution or Basic Income? Exploring the Association Between Automation Risk and Welfare State Attitudes in Europe

10.1017/s0047279421000519 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

MARIUS R. BUSEMEYER ◽

ALEXANDER H. J. SAHM

Keyword(s):

Welfare State ◽

Technological Change ◽

European Social Survey ◽

Welfare States ◽

Basic Income ◽

Social Investment ◽

Market Outcomes ◽

Social Survey ◽

Investment Policies ◽

Using Data

Abstract Rapid technological change – the digitalization and automation of work – is challenging contemporary welfare states. Most of the existing research, however, focuses on its effect on labor market outcomes, such as employment or wage levels. In contrast, this paper studies the implications of technological change for welfare state attitudes and preferences. Compared to previous work on this topic, this paper adopts a much broader perspective regarding different kinds of social policy. Using data from the European Social Survey, we find that individual automation risk is positively associated with support for redistribution, but negatively with support for social investment policies (partly depending on the specific measure of automation risk that is used), while there is no statistically significant association with support for basic income. We also find a moderating effect of the overall size of the welfare state on the micro-level association between risk and preferences.

Great Recession, great regression? The welfare state in the twenty-first century

Cambridge Journal of Economics ◽

10.1093/cje/beaa033 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Celia Lessa Kerstenetzky ◽

Graciele Pereira Guedes

Keyword(s):

Welfare State ◽

Great Recession ◽

Public Expenditure ◽

First Century ◽

Social Spending ◽

Tax Burden ◽

Social Investment ◽

Investment Policies ◽

Stable Performance ◽

Abstract Has the welfare state undergone significant retrenchment in the aftermath of the 2007–08 crackdown? In the literature, two contrasting views can be found. Some commentators argue that expansions that would otherwise be observed during crises have been suffocated due to the imperative of austerity. Other more optimistic assessments see social investment policies as having been experimented with in various places, alongside widespread retrenchment. In this paper, using an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) database for 35 countries, we check these assessments by examining aggregate figures, such as the evolution—over the 2007–13 period—of social spending and its composition, the participation of social spending in public expenditure, the tax burden and tax composition and welfare state effectiveness. We document expansion in the OECD area alongside stable performance. However, important challenges persist.

When voters favour the social investment welfare state

Japanese Journal of Political Science ◽

10.1017/s1468109920000122 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 194-205

Author(s):

Marc Brazzill ◽

Hideko Magara ◽

Yuki Yanai

Keyword(s):

Welfare State ◽

Online Survey ◽

Investment Strategy ◽

Welfare States ◽

Social Investment ◽

Investment Policies ◽

High Productivity ◽

Developed Economies ◽

Policy Context ◽

The Social

AbstractWe investigate when voters favour social investment. Welfare states have transformed their core policies as a result of low economic growth and fiscal pressures. The social investment strategy, such as broader education provision and promotion of women's employment, aims at shifting the economy from the traditional Keynesian welfare state to the high-productivity economy by encouraging long-term and inclusive human capital formation. Social investment is popular among citizens in many developed economies, especially in the EU where governments promote social investment as part of their welfare policy packages. However, in Japan, the term ‘social investment’ is rarely used in policy discussions. Consequently, we ask what levels of voter support social investment policies have in such an environment; which voter characteristics are associated with social investment support; and whether voter support for social investment differs when placed in a broader policy context. To answer these questions, we conducted an online survey with a conjoint experiment. Our data analysis shows that social investment policies are popular among Japanese people, despite a lack of familiarity with the concept of social investment. We find that social libertarians and female respondents are more likely than social authoritarians and male respondents to support social investment. In addition, there is some evidence that higher income voters are favourable to social investment policies. Furthermore, voter support for social investment depends on the policy context. Support becomes weaker when social investment policies are presented in combination with decreasing levels of social security spending. Our results highlight what kinds of social investment policies could be achieved without damaging electoral fortunes.

The Illusion of Class in Welfare State Politics?

10.1017/s0047279418000247 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 21-41 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

ANTHONY KEVINS ◽

ALEXANDER HORN ◽

CARSTEN JENSEN ◽

KEES VAN KERSBERGEN

Keyword(s):

Middle Class ◽

Welfare State ◽

Western Europe ◽

Original Data ◽

The United States ◽

Welfare States ◽

Class Identity ◽

Electoral Outcomes ◽

The Relationship ◽

AbstractSocial class, with its potentially pivotal influence on both policy-making and electoral outcomes tied to the welfare state, is a frequent fixture in academic and political discussions about social policy. Yet these discussions presuppose that class identity is in fact tied up with distinct attitudes toward the welfare state. Using original data from ten surveys fielded in the United States and Western Europe, we investigate the relationship between class and general stances toward the welfare state as a whole, with the goal of determining whether class affects how individuals understand and relate to the welfare state. Our findings suggest that, although class markers are tied to objective and subjective positional considerations about one's place in the society, they nevertheless do not seem to shape stances toward the welfare state. What is more, this is equally true across the various welfare state types, as we find no evidence that so-called ‘middle-class welfare states’ engender more positive middle-class attitudes than other regimes. Based on our analysis, we propose that researchers would do better to focus on household income rather than class; while income may not be a perfect predictor of attitudes toward the welfare state, it is a markedly better one than class.

Social Investment, Protection and Inequality within the New Economy and Politics of Welfare in Europe

Social Policy and Society ◽

10.1017/s1474746413000274 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 611-624 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Marion Ellison ◽

Menno Fenger

Keyword(s):

Welfare State ◽

New Economy ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Welfare States ◽

Social Investment ◽

Investment Protection ◽

Modern Britain ◽

The welfare state is one of the hallmarks of a civilised society. All developed countries have them and the less developed ones are striving to establish their own. Welfare states depend on a fair collection and redistribution of resources, which in turn rests upon the maintenance of trust between different sections of society and across generations. Misleading rhetoric concerning those who have to seek support from the welfare state, such as the contrast between ‘strivers’ and ‘shirkers’, risks undermining that trust and, with it, one of the key foundations of modern Britain. (Alcock et al., 2013)

The Eureka Moment? The creation of the British Welfare State

Social Work and Social Sciences Review ◽

10.1921/swssr.v20i3.1313 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 12-33

Author(s):

Martin Powell

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Welfare State ◽

Welfare States ◽

Social Citizenship ◽

Poor Law ◽

The Poor ◽

The Creation ◽

British Case ◽

This article explores when the welfare state was established in Britain. First it examines the definitions of the welfare state, before turning to outline the methods and criteria used in exploring the establishment of welfare states. It then discusses the criteria that have been applied to the British case (expenditure; legislation; content; social citizenship; antithesis of the Poor Law) before critically analysing the arguments for different creation periods for the British welfare state (Old Poor Law; nineteenth century; Liberal reforms; inter-war period; 1945; later periods). It is concluded that while the strongest case and the greatest number of dimensions suggest 1945, in the words of T H Marshall: ‘we may still be in doubt what was the exact combination of circumstances in Britain in the 1940's which evoked that cry of "Eureka !’

Social Investment and Poverty Reduction: A Comparative Analysis across Fifteen European Countries

10.1017/s0047279415000070 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 44 (3) ◽

pp. 611-638 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

OLAF VAN VLIET ◽

CHEN WANG

Keyword(s):

Welfare State ◽

Poverty Reduction ◽

Detrimental Effect ◽

European Countries ◽

Social Investment ◽

Investment Policies ◽

The Social ◽

Employment Rates ◽

And Shifts ◽

AbstractDespite the fact that employment rates have increased in many European countries since the beginning of the 2000s, poverty rates have stagnated and in some countries even increased. In the welfare state literature, it has been argued that these disappointing poverty trends may be partly attributable to the reforming of traditional welfare state programmes into social investment policies, because the latter are less redistributive. To date, there are only a few systematic comparative empirical analyses which focus on the outcomes of social investment policies. This paper contributes to the social investment literature by empirically analysing the distributional effects of shifts from traditional welfare state arrangements to social investment policies in fifteen European countries for the period 1997–2007. Our results suggest that the detrimental effect of social investment policies, described in some specific cases in the literature, cannot be generalised across a larger group of European countries. However, for European countries other than the Nordic countries, the results provide some evidence for a linkage between stagnating or increasing poverty trends and shifts in expenditures to new welfare state programmes.