Social assistance in Southern Europe: the case of Greece revisited

2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manos Mataganis
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Relative Weight ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Poor Relation ◽  
Of Greece

Social assistance is a largely neglected part of the welfare state in Greece. Recent surveys of social assistance arrangements in developed countries from a comparative perspective tend to portray Greece as the most 'rudimentary' member of the 'rudimentary' group of countries or social assistance regimes, i.e. Southern Europe. While not entirely unfounded, this view rests on a less than complete account of social assistance in Greece, and also ignores the latest developments that further challenge this position. This article aims to 'map' social assistance benefits in Greece, describe recent developments and discuss current debates on future directions of welfare reform in the country. This review suggests that although social assistance remains a 'poor relation' within Greece's social protection system as a whole, its relative weight is much greater than previously thought. Moreover, the profile of social assistance is set to rise due to a renewed emphasis on notions of selectivity and targeting, but also in connection with the revival of the debate on the merits and practicalities of introducing a minimum guaranteed income scheme in the country. The article concludes that the search for the proper place of social assistance within a reconstructed welfare state in Greece has only just begun.

scholarly journals Migrants’ Access to Social Protection in Sweden

2020 ◽  
pp. 421-435
Author(s):  
Anton Ahlén ◽  
Joakim Palme
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Market Orientation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Social Security Benefits ◽  
Benefit System

Abstract While the Swedish welfare state has undergone an intensified market orientation and a number of cutbacks since 1990, it has maintained many of its universal characteristics. It still provides all residents with a rather extensive system of benefits from the cradle to the grave. This chapter contributes to a systematic and detailed analysis of eligibility criteria and conditions for accessing social benefits in five core policy areas of the Swedish social security system. As universalism continues to be a cornerstone of the Swedish welfare state, nationality or the immigration status of a person does not condition his/her entitlement to social security benefits. More recently, however, a political debate has emerged regarding immigration and the welfare system, both in terms of the benefit system being a magnet that attracts migrants and concerning the capacity of the system to cope with large-scale immigration. By discussing the main features of the Swedish welfare regime and key patterns and policy developments in the field of migration, the chapter seeks to account for recent developments, trends and directions in the access to social protection for residents, non-national residents and non-resident nationals.

The Limits of Selectivity as a Recipe for Welfare Reform: The Case of Greece

2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
MANOS MATSAGANIS
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Pension System ◽  
The Core ◽  
Policy Paradigm ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Government ◽  
Of Greece

Selectivity emerged as the core of a new social policy paradigm in Greece when a new ‘modernising’ government took office in 1996. Though it was adopted energetically, its real impact eventually proved negligible, except for an initial flutter of activity. The article argues that its failure as a recipe for welfare reform was inevitable. The nature of social protection arrangements in Greece severely constrained the scope for selectivity, while the particular version pursued was poorly designed and badly administered. Moreover, the elevation of selectivity to the status of a ‘Big Idea’ was an indirect cause of serious lateral damage: while fruitlessly puzzling over the place of selectivity in the ‘new social policy’, the government was losing the crucial battle on the reform of an unviable and inequitable pension system. The article concludes that selectivity has little relevance to the priorities for reform in a welfare state still struggling to cope with its Bismarckian, south European contradictions.

scholarly journals The transformation of solidarity in times of austerity: The case of Greece

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Andreas Feronas
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Parallel Processes ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Bail Out ◽  
Of Greece

The severe economic crisis that has surfaced in Greece over the last eight years, not only has resulted to an unprecedented social crisisbut has also challenged long established domestic patterns of solidarity. By defining social solidarity very generally as “the willingnessto share social risks” this paper aims at highlighting two parallel processes of transformation of solidarity in Greece in the contextof the ongoing crisis. First, a process of retrenchment of an already problematic formal welfare state solidarity, largely imposedby the successive bail out agreements with the Troika. Secondly, the emergence of various forms of informal solidarity, aimed at supportingthe social groups most affected by the crisis. The paper concludes that although the latter has played an important role in offeringimmediate relief to those “in need”, is far from being considered, neither as a panacea for solving social problems nor as a substituteto welfare state solidarity, at a time when the demand for social protection has increased dramatically.

The welfare state and the crisis: the case of Greece

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 501-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manos Matsaganis
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Fiscal Crisis ◽  
Safety Nets ◽  
Harsh Climate ◽  
Social Safety Nets ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Of Greece ◽  
Do So ◽  
The Welfare State

The paper examines the relationship between the severe economic crisis facing Greece and the country’s social protection system, arguing that this relationship is ambivalent. On one level, the welfare state itself has contributed in a far from trivial way to the fiscal crisis of the state, with its various failures including huge deficits in key programmes such as pensions and health. On a second level, the crisis and the measures to counter it deprive the welfare state of resources, while at the same time setting in motion sweeping changes. On a third level, social protection can help cope with the consequences of the crisis, but enhancing its capacity to do so will require considerable reconfiguration and proper funding of social safety nets. The paper concludes by discussing the prospects for a revival of welfare state building in Greece in the current harsh climate.

Recent Developments

2021 ◽  
pp. 111-130
Author(s):  
Anton Hemerijck ◽  
Stefano Ronchi
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Impact

The trajectory of developed welfare states in the early twenty-first century is perhaps best understood through the idea of ‘social investment’. The first section of the chapter defines social investment as a sui generis welfare paradigm, distinct from both the Keynesian–Beveridgean welfare state and its neoliberal critique, and analytically rooted in the three interrelated policy functions of lifelong human capital stocks, work–life-balanced flows, and inclusive buffers. The second section identifies the trajectories of (non-)social investment reform that have cross-cut welfare regimes in the past two decades. Section three takes stock of the impact of the economic crisis on recent welfare state developments. The final section concludes by reflecting on the challenges and opportunities for welfare reform after the Great Recession. Most notably, it highlights how high public spending on established social protection commitments seemingly operates as a ‘productive constraint’ that accelerates social investment reform, reinforcing employment and productivity growth, to sustain popular welfare states.

Sozialpolitik für die Soziale Arbeit

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thilo Fehmel
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Soziale Arbeit ◽  
Welfare Production

This volume provides an introduction to social policy and the system of social protection in Germany, focusing in particular on social work as a part of social policy. It explains the fundamental societal mechanisms of redistribution and social security, discusses welfare state theories and presents the development of German social policy. It focuses on providing a detailed description of the structure of the German welfare state, discussing both the different welfare state pillars (social insurance, social compensation, social assistance and social support) as well as the various levels of sociopolitical institutions. It also hones in on recent social policy developments (the transformation of welfare production) in terms of their respective significance for social work as a discipline and a profession.

scholarly journals Welfare sanctions and the right to a subsistence minimum: A troubled marriage

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-272
Author(s):  
Valery Gantchev
Keyword(s):  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Subsistence Minimum ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Right

Can welfare sanctions and the right to a subsistence minimum coexist? The present article sheds light on this question by examining recent developments in German social assistance law and placing them in the broader international legal context. In November 2019, the German Constitutional Court declared a large portion of the applicable regime unconstitutional because it violated the basic right to a guaranteed subsistence minimum. The first part of the article examines this German basic right and the way its normative requirements are applied by the Constitutional Court to welfare sanctions. Two important points of reference which are discussed relate to the effectiveness of the measures and the availability of sanction mitigation instruments that safeguard the constitutionally guaranteed subsistence minimum. The second part of the article carries out a similar examination into the international human right to social assistance and the respective case law of the international supervisory bodies. A comparative legal analysis is carried out in the third part, which highlights the similarities between the German and the international legal approach to minimum social protection and welfare sanctions. The article concludes with the observation that welfare sanctions and the right to a subsistence minimum can only coexist under the condition that states respect the absolute nature of minimum social protection and reconcile the adopted measures with the primary objective of social assistance: reintegration and social inclusion.

LONGEVITY VARIATIONS AND THE WELFARE STATE

2016 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Pestieau ◽  
Gregory Ponthiere
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Early 19Th Century ◽  
Life Expectancy At Birth ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
The Social ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Normative Foundations ◽  
The Welfare State

Abstract:Life expectancy at birth has more than doubled in Europe since the early 19th century. This demographic trend constitutes a major victory against scarcity, but raises also deep challenges to the Welfare State, concerning the sustainability and the equity of the social protection system. This paper surveys recent developments in the economic analysis of longevity, both at the positive and the normative levels. Taking mortality risks into account is shown to affect the study of the life cycle model significantly, in particular concerning the strength of life horizon effects. It raises also, at the level of normative foundations for policy-making, a dilemma between ex ante and ex post valuations. Finally, we explore the design of policy reforms under varying longevity, in fields including preventive and curative policies, education, pension, and wealth taxation.

Społeczeństwo holenderskie i los Żydów: skomplikowana historia

2016 ◽  
pp. 425-434
Author(s):  
Dan Michman
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Dutch Society ◽  
Nazi Occupation ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Western European ◽  
Post War ◽  
Of Greece

The percentage of victimization of Dutch Jewry during the Shoah is the highest of Western, Central and Southern Europe (except, perhaps of Greece), and close to the Polish one: 75%, more than 104.000 souls. The question of disproportion between the apparent favorable status of the Jews in society – they had acquired emancipation in 1796 - and the disastrous outcome of the Nazi occupation as compared to other countries in general and Western European in particular has haunted Dutch historiography of the Shoah. Who should be blamed for that outcome: the perpetrators, i.e. the Germans, the bystanders, i.e. the Dutch or the victims, i.e. the Dutch Jews? The article first surveys the answers given to this question since the beginnings of Dutch Holocaust historiography in the immediate post-war period until the debates of today and the factors that influenced the shaping of some basic perceptions on “Dutch society and the Jews”. It then proceeds to detailing several facts from the Holocaust period that are essential for an evaluation of gentile attitudes. The article concludes with the observation that – in spite of ongoing debates – the overall picture which has accumulated after decades of research will not essentially being altered. Although the Holocaust was initiated, planned and carried out from Berlin, and although a considerable number of Dutchmen helped and hid Jews and the majority definitely despised the Germans, considerable parts of Dutch society contributed to the disastrous outcome of the Jewish lot in the Netherlands – through a high amount of servility towards the German authorities, through indifference when Jewish fellow-citizens were persecuted, through economically benefiting from the persecution and from the disappearance of Jewish neighbors, and through actual collaboration (stemming from a variety of reasons). Consequently, the picture of the Holocaust in the Netherlands is multi-dimensional, but altogether puzzling and not favorable.

Green Synthesized Nanomaterials as Theranostic Platforms for Cancer Treatment: Principles, Challenges and the Road Ahead

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1311-1327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pala Rajasekharreddy ◽  
Chao Huang ◽  
Siddhardha Busi ◽  
Jobina Rajkumari ◽  
Ming-Hong Tai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nanoparticle Synthesis ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Synthesis Methods ◽  
Synthetic Approach ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
The Road ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Theranostic Applications ◽  
Insight Into

With the emergence of nanotechnology, new methods have been developed for engineering various nanoparticles for biomedical applications. Nanotheranostics is a burgeoning research field with tremendous prospects for the improvement of diagnosis and treatment of various cancers. However, the development of biocompatible and efficient drug/gene delivery theranostic systems still remains a challenge. Green synthetic approach of nanoparticles with low capital and operating expenses, reduced environmental pollution and better biocompatibility and stability is a latest and novel field, which is advantageous over chemical or physical nanoparticle synthesis methods. In this article, we summarize the recent research progresses related to green synthesized nanoparticles for cancer theranostic applications, and we also conclude with a look at the current challenges and insight into the future directions based on recent developments in these areas.

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