scholarly journals Immigration and the Future of the Welfare State in Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 697 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-147
Author(s):  
Alberto Alesina ◽  
Johann Harnoss ◽  
Hillel Rapoport
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Income Redistribution ◽  
Second Order ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Native Workers ◽  
The Future ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Welfare State

We analyze the effect of immigration on attitudes toward income redistribution in twenty-eight European countries over the period 2002 to 2012, before the “refugee crisis.” We find that native workers lower their support for redistribution if the share of immigration in their country is high. This effect is larger for individuals who hold negative views regarding immigration but is smaller when immigrants are culturally closer to natives and come from richer-origin countries. The effect also varies with native workers’ and immigrants’ education: more educated natives support more redistribution if immigrants are also relatively educated. Overall, our results show that the negative effect of immigration on attitudes toward redistribution is relatively small and is counterbalanced among skilled natives by positive second-order effects for the quality and diversity of immigration.

Perception and Reality—Economic Inequality as a Driver of Populism?

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hüther ◽  
Matthias Diermeier
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Causal Relationship ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Middle Classes ◽  
The Future ◽  
General Criticism ◽  
The Welfare State

Abstract Can the rise of populism be explained by the growing chasm between rich and poor? With regard to Germany, such a causal relationship must be rejected. Income distribution in Germany has been very stable since 2005, and people’s knowledge on actual inequality and economic development is limited: inequality and unemployment are massively overestimated. At the same time, a persistently isolationist and xenophobic group with diverse concerns and preferences has emerged within the middle classes of society that riggers support for populist parties. This mood is based on welfare chauvinism against immigration rather than on a general criticism of distribution. Since the immigration of recent years will inevitably affect the relevant indicators concerning distribution, an open, cautious but less heated approach is needed in the debate on the future of the welfare state. In order to address and take the local concerns of citizens seriously, an increased exchange with public officials on the ground is needed.

Zum Aufstieg und Niedergang des Normalarbeitsverhältnisses in Deutschland 1800-2010 - ein Forschungsprojekt

2009 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni Pierenkemper ◽  
Klaus F. Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Employment Contract ◽  
Unemployment Rates ◽  
The Future ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Welfare State

AbstractThis paper attempts to trace the construction of the standard employment contract in Germany from the beginning of the 19th century onwards. In 20th century Germany, it was reinforced alongside with the consolidation of the welfare state and developed into the modern concept of the standard employment contract. Due to globalization forces and dynamics of capitalist market economies, the standard employment contract has turned into an obstacle in the way of modern economy’s progress. The future might be determined by increasing work flexibility, rising working hours, falling income and increasing unemployment rates, rendering the standard employment contract anachronistic and obsolete.

The influence of the welfare state on the number of young old persons

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 609-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHRIN KOMP ◽  
THEO VAN TILBURG ◽  
MARJOLEIN BROESE VAN GROENOU
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Legal Responsibility ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Old People ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Country Differences ◽  
Southern European Countries ◽  
Young Old ◽  
The Welfare State

ABSTRACTMany current discussions of welfare state reforms focus on the ‘young old’, a group now generally perceived as healthy people past retirement age without a legal responsibility for dependent persons in need of care. For the welfare state, they constitute a resource whose activities are hard to steer. This article focuses on the influence of the welfare state on the number of ‘young old’ people. It describes different ways in which the welfare state influences the number of young old persons, and investigates whether variations in the regulations for the ages of normal, early and late retirement are the prime cause. The paper also estimates the share of the young old among those aged 50–90 years in 10 European countries in 2004 using comparable survey data. These shares ranged between 36 and 49 per cent for men and between 35 and 52 per cent for women. High shares were found in continental European countries, and low shares in Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom. The shares in southern European countries varied among the countries and by gender. To explain the variations in the share, country differences in retirement regulations proved helpful but insufficient. When the overall influence of the welfare state on the share of young old persons in the population was analysed, a country-characteristic pattern emerged.

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