Gender

2021 ◽  
pp. 345-363
Author(s):  
Ann Shola Orloff ◽  
Marie Laperrière
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
Feminist Scholarship ◽  
Intersectionality Theory ◽  
Feminist Perspectives ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Welfare State

This chapter traces how scholars have conceptualized the relationship between gender and welfare states, examining significant differences among mainstream, gender-aware, and feminist perspectives. We discuss how feminist scholarship has broadened scholars’ understanding of social citizenship, how gender structures, and is structured by, the policies and institutions of the welfare state, and how women and men participate in social politics. We describe how insights from intersectionality theory and the adoption of more fluid conceptions of gender have shaped investigations of social policies and politics, bringing greater accuracy to analyses of the gendered effects of welfare states. Finally, we turn to analyses of how welfare states have reorganized in response to crises of care. We conclude by discussing normative debates over the role of welfare states in reducing gender inequalities and supporting people’s choices about care and employment.

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.

The Persistence of Poverty under Welfare States and the Prospects for its Abolition

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Walker
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
New Right ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Main Factor ◽  
The Welfare State

This article examines the relationship between poverty and the welfare state and attempts to answer the question as to why poverty has persisted under all welfare states. Several major reasons for the persistence of poverty are advanced, and the author argues that the main factor underlying the failure to abolish poverty is the conflict between economic policy and social policy. The challenge to welfare states from the New Right is examined—particularly the contention that welfare states themselves create poverty and dependence—in the light of evidence of the impact of the Thatcher government's policies in Britain. Finally, the author proposes an alternative approach to the abolition of poverty, one that is based on the integration of economic and social policy.

Changing Expectations? The Change in the Role of the Welfare Ministry in the Regulation of Personal Social Services

2020 ◽  
Vol 691 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-173
Author(s):  
Lihi Lahat
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Regulatory Role ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Historical Changes ◽  
The Welfare State

Many welfare states have increased their regulatory role, but little attention has been given to historical changes in the regulatory role of government ministries. This study embraces a mezzo perspective and explores the regulatory role of the Welfare Ministry of Israel in the field of personal social services, asking the following questions: 1) What are the changes in regulatory expectations versus practices over the last five decades? and 2) How can we explain these changes and their outcomes? The study is based on the qualitative analysis of comptroller reports and other resources. It reveals a growing gap between society’s expectations of the Ministry as a regulator and the Ministry’s capacities over five decades. Notably, it points to the variety of regulatory spaces that have appeared in a regulatory welfare state. The Israeli case is relevant for other countries that have experienced processes of outsourcing and privatization in the welfare state and whose ministries had to change their role.

Left Government, Policy, and Corporatism: Explaining the Influence of Partisanship on Inequality

2008 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Rueda
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Earnings Inequality ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Significant Determinant ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Government Employment ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Welfare State

The author argues that to understand the relationship between partisan government and equality two fundamental things need to be done: separate the effects of partisanship on policy and of policy on the economy; and assess the influence of government partisanship once the mediating role of corporatism is accounted for. The main goal of this article is to explore the relationship between government partisanship, policy, and inequality at the lower half of the wage distribution. The analysis is motivated by a puzzling finding in previous work: the absence of government partisanship effects on earnings inequality. The author focuses on the role of three different policies: government employment, the generosity of the welfare state, and minimum wages. The results show that government employment is a most significant determinant of inequality (although it is affected by left government only when corporatism is low). They also demonstrate that welfare state generosity does not affect inequality and, in turn, is not associated with left government. Finally, they reveal that the effect of government partisanship on minimum wages and of minimum wages on inequality is completely conditional on the levels of corporatism (these effects are only present when corporatism is low). The author explains why specific policies do or do not affect earnings inequality and also why corporatism mitigates or magnifies the influence of government partisanship. By explicitly exploring the determinants of policy and earnings inequality, the article represents an important contribution to our understanding of how governments can promote redistribution.

scholarly journals Governmental Illegitimacy and Incompetency in Canada and Other Liberal Nations: Implications for Health

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Raphael ◽  
Morris Komakech ◽  
Toba Bryant ◽  
Ryan Torrence
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Relative Role ◽  
Health It ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Economic Elites ◽  
Developed Nations ◽  
Made In ◽  
The Welfare State

The welfare state literature on developing nations is concerned with how governmental illegitimacy and incompetency are the sources of inequality, exploitation, exclusion, and domination of significant proportions of their citizenry. These dimensions clearly contribute to the problematic health outcomes in these nations. In contrast, developed nations are assumed to grapple with less contentious issues of stratification, decommodification, and the relative role of the state, market, and family in providing economic and social security, also important pathways to health. There is an explicit assumption that governing authorities in developed nations are legitimate and competent such that their citizens are not systematically subjected to inequality, exploitation, exclusion, and domination by elites. In this article, we argue that these concepts should also be the focus of welfare state analysis in developed liberal welfare states such as Canada. Such an analysis would expose how public policy is increasingly being made in the service of powerful economic elites rather than the majority, thereby threatening health. It would also serve to identify means of responding to these developments.

scholarly journals The Illusion of Class in Welfare State Politics?

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41 ◽  
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 ◽  
The Welfare State

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.

How does the welfare state model influence social political attitudes? An analysis of citizens' concrete and abstract attitudes toward poverty

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Toikko ◽  
Teemu Rantanen
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
State Model ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
State Models ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between the welfare state models and social political attitudes. The data are based on the sixth round of the European Social Survey. The study revealed a mechanism of how the relationship between concrete and abstract attitudes differs between the welfare states. In the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic welfare states the relationship is a positive one, which indicates that the welfare state has a broad support among citizens. In the Continental, Eastern and Southern welfare states the relationship is a negative one. This means that the less satisfied citizens are with governmental measures, the more positive their attitudes are regarding protecting citizens against poverty. Also the study showed that the welfare state model directly influences citizens’ concrete attitudes and indirectly influences abstract poverty attitudes. In this sense, the welfare state model is seen more as an attitudinal perception than an actual social policy.

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger E. Backhouse ◽  
Bradley W. Bateman ◽  
Tamotsu Nishizawa ◽  
Dieter Plehwe
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
The Welfare State

This volume reveals the complexity of the positions towards the welfare state taken by economists, most of whom could be counted as liberal in one way or another. Liberal economists were both at the heart of the original development of the welfare state and at the center of the counter movement against the welfare state. The nature of the interaction between liberalism and the welfare state, and the role of economists, varied greatly between countries. Initially, the structure of the welfare states in different nations made it difficult for transnational neoliberal ideas to have much influence in minimizing the size and nature of the welfare state. Today, however, one brand of free-market, anti-state neoliberalism plays a particularly effective role in attacks on the welfare state across countries. History shows that is not the only form of liberalism or the only ways that liberals might see the welfare state.

Attitudes to the Welfare State: A Systematic Review Approach to the Example of Ethnically Diverse Welfare States

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 202-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trude Sundberg
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
Welfare Attitudes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Welfare State

There has been a growing interest in and expansion of research on welfare attitudes and the legitimacy of welfare states as they face both internal and external pressures at social, political and economic levels. The number of cross-national surveys is steadily increasing and many studies examine developments in social provision and public attitudes towards welfare. However, there is a lack of a clear and comprehensive overview of knowledge about tendencies in support for the welfare state in light of these pressures. Moreover, there is a lack of understanding of what impacts variations in attitudes and the relationship between attitudes and other constructs such as perceptions, values and stereotypes, which all form part of support for the welfare state. The article reports on findings from a project using tools from the systematic review tradition in an innovative way to achieve a comprehensive and systematic overview of current knowledge. The article has three main contributions; firstly, it adds to our understanding of the relationship between attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, stereotypes and values, secondly, it adds to attitude theory and thus enhances our understanding of welfare attitudes and lastly it illustrates how it achieves the first two through applying adapted tools from the systematic review tradition. Systematic Review as a method originated in natural science and medicine, and the paper examines how it can be successfully transferred to issues in social science. The article argues in favour of emphasising the importance of differentiating and investigating what is known and not known by examining the relationship between immigration and support for the welfare state. Thus, an adapted systematic review is found to enhance our understanding of trends in welfare support by use of theoretically framed research synthesis.

scholarly journals Welfare State Attitudes and Support for Social Europe: Spillover or Obstacle?

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHARON BAUTE ◽  
BART MEULEMAN ◽  
KOEN ABTS
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Spillover Effect ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Welfare ◽  
Welfare Attitudes ◽  
Social Europe ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractThis study investigates how support for Social Europe is related to citizens’ welfare attitudes. On the one hand, welfare attitudes can spill over from the national to the European level, given that Social Europe aims to achieve similar goals to those of national welfare states. On the other hand, support for the welfare state can be an obstacle, if citizens perceive the nation state and the European Union as competing or substituting governance levels. Using data from the 2014 Belgian National Election Study, we take a multidimensional approach to Social Europe, capturing attitudes toward social regulations, member state solidarity, European social citizenship, and a European social security system. Results demonstrate that citizens who are more positive about the welfare state are also more supportive of Social Europe. However, positive welfare attitudes do not affect all dimensions of Social Europe to the same extent. The spillover effect of support for basic welfare state principles is strongest for policy instruments of Social Europe that are less intrusive to national welfare states (EU social regulations). By contrast, welfare state critique has a stronger impact on support for more intrusive instruments (European social citizenship).

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