La relación entre el Tercer Sector de Acción Social y las Administraciones Públicas. Una comparativa autonómica

El Tercer Sector de Acción Social (TSAS) se erige como un actor relevante en la coproducción de bienestar en el Welfare Mix, de forma interrelacionada con las Administraciones Públicas o, incluso, dependiente de la financiación de éstas. En los últimos años, las crisis económicas y la reconfiguración del ámbito de los servicios sociales con la creciente competencia del sector mercantil están redefiniendo el papel del TSAS en la provisión de servicios sociales. En el marco del proyecto Perspectiva Comparada del Tercer Sector de Acción Social en las Comunidades Autónomas (PECOTSAS), financiado por el Plan Estatal de Investigación del Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (ref CSO2017-85486-P), mediante una metodología cualitativa basada en entrevistas y grupos focales a expertos, profesionales y otros actores relevantes del TSAS y de la Administración, hemos analizado de forma comparativa el encaje institucional y social del TSAS en diferentes comunidades autónomas, para explorar si existen factores diferenciales en su desarrollo dentro de cada región. Este artículo se centra en concreto en las relaciones del TSAS con las administraciones autonómicas. En particular, analiza de forma comparativa la posición del TSAS en la legislación existente sobre servicios sociales en cada comunidad autónoma, las formas de colaboración económica predominantes para la prestación de servicios y el desarrollo de programas de acción social, así como la existencia de espacios para la participación del TSAS en la toma de decisiones relacionadas con el bienestar social.

Examining Family Living Arrangements, Economic Development, Education Expenditure and Children’s Weight from the Welfare Mix in China

There is increased social concern regarding children’s weight in China, but there is a relative lack of research concerning its social determinants. Based on 1,656 school-age children’s samples in mainland China from the Chinese Nutrition and Health Database (CHNS 2011), we analyzed the impact of multiple factors on children’s weight using a welfare mix framework that integrated factors including family living arrangements, economic development, and educational spending. School-age children’s weight was measured using body mass index (BMI). The independent variables were factors developed based on the social determinants of health perspective in conjunction with a welfare mix framework. These variables included family living arrangements to reflect the family welfare factor, average government educational expenditure per student to reflect the state welfare factor, and GDP per capita to reflect the market welfare factor. Multiple regression models were used to analyze the influences of each factor on children’s weight. The results showed that the factors were significant, with different directions of influence on weight. The results also showed that the factors considered in the welfare mix framework sometimes serve as risk factors rather than solely protective factors within the Chinese context. According to this study, a reasonable geographical distribution of health service resources and child-oriented health policies are needed to promote children’s well-being.

Navigating the transition to adulthood

The focus here is on the drivers of transitions and the routes that young people have to navigate in what is now a labour market ever-more associated with risk and precarity. Transitions are status passages of the life course that young people have to navigate. They are related to social pathways that differ in structure and number in England and Germany and reflect their management of personal relationships, education, and employment. The transition from education to work is considered from the perspective of institutional arrangements and discussed in terms of the effects of digitalisation in restructuring occupations on the pathways of vocational training and academic education. A core theme is how social class and differences in the welfare mix for young people are key influences on their access to occupational opportunities and the process and outcomes of such transitions.

A Bottom-up picture of intra-national welfare regimes: the case of marginalised communities in Puerto Rico

ABSTRACTThe main purpose of this article is twofold: (1) an examination of welfare regimes using a bottom-up approach, which enables a comprehensive analysis of welfare production based on recipients perceptions; and (2) an examination of more than one type of welfare-mix coexisting inside the national level across policy sectors. A classification of welfare regimes is carried out following a bottom-up approach and relying on the basis of the importance of welfare providers to satisfy social risks and promote well-being. Three traditional (e.g. state, market, family) and one alternative welfare providers (e.g. community) are considered. Data is collected through twenty semi-structured interviews in seven marginalised communities of Puerto Rico. The results show five configurations of intra-national welfare-mixes across the following welfare areas: housing, nourishment, health, education, maternity/paternity, disability, work-unemployment and older-age. This paper contributes to the theoretical proposals of intra-national welfare regimes, and alternatives providers in the welfare-mix.

Historical Evolution of the Welfare Mix in Colonial Korea

This paper aims to understand the welfare mix in Korea by examining its historical origins and tracing its evolution during Japanese colonial rule. After locating the origins of the welfare mix in the early Chosŏn Dynasty, this study examines the evolution of the welfare mix in Korea under Japanese colonial rule. By focusing on repressiveness and recognition, the dual aspects of Japanese colonial rule, we reveal a traditional aspect of the Korean welfare mix that remained strong and was, paradoxically, reinforced under Japanese colonial rule. Following the establishment of a colonial centralised state, Japanese attempts to impose modern dispensational welfare systems proved inadequate. The Japanese were forced to return to traditional, informal welfare providers, such as kyes, to satisfy Chosŏn’s need for welfare. The paper concludes by arguing that this welfare mix can help to explain the welfare regime in modern Korea.

Modalities of governing the welfare mix

To address unmet social needs and tackle complex societal challenges, social innovation initiatives often mobilise new actors, resources and/or approaches within specific fields of social action. Changing welfare mixes and the governance of various actors, instruments and resources are therefore key concerns for social innovation research. In this chapter, we analyse the changing welfare mixes in social innovation initiatives and their governance on the micro-level by looking at the networks of organisations and institutions behind these initiatives. We provide a descriptive analysis of the different welfare mixes of social innovation initiatives and their strategies and mode of governance and identify patterns and typologies in the governance of local social innovations. Particular attention is attributed to the role of public actors, resources and instruments. We use our empirical findings to assess the main tendencies on changing welfare mixes as identified in the scholarly literature.