All lectures for the Key Challenges to the Welfare State Exam
18 views 0 purchase
Course
Key Challenges To The Welfare State (201800294)
Institution
Universiteit Utrecht (UU)
This document contains all information given during the 7 lectures of Key Challenges to the Welfare state, including information that was only given during the lectures specifically and isn't included in the slides.
What is a welfare state?
- One of the most powerful institutions of the 20th century and beyond
- The result of a long historical development
- Or:
1. Van Doorn (1978): “The welfare state embodies the formulation of a social
guarantee: society, organised as a nation state, guarantees all citizens a
reasonable standard of living.
2. Wilensky (1975): “The essence of the welfare state is government protected
minimum standards of income, nutrition, health, housing, and education
assured to every citizen as a political right, not as charity."
3. Thoenes (1962): “The welfare state is a society type, which is characterised
by a democratic system of government care, which guarantees the collective
social welfare of its subjects, while the capitalist production system remains
largely unaltered.”
The components of a welfare state:
1. Social security:
- Unemployment, sickness and disability benefits
- Pensions
- Maternity and parental leave
- Social assistance
- Etc
2. Health care
- Collective health insurance
- Funding of hospitals, rehabilitation centres
- Etc.
3. Education
- Funding of schools, universities
- Student grants
- Compulsory education laws
- Etc.
4. Social housing
- Funding of/ subsidies for affordable homes
- Property regulations
- Etc.
5. Social welfare
- Elderly people’s homes
- Community centres
- Debt assistance
- Shelters for homeless people
- Etc.
6. (Etc. etc?
- Mortgage deduction (the middle classes’ welfare state?)
- Tax cuts?
- Etc.)
,What’s important today:
- Knowing and understanding its development, both then and now
- Knowing and understanding major social changes and how these challenge the
welfare state today and in the future
→ What a welfare state is and what it should be is highly contested
The welfare state and social change
This course: about the interrelationship between the welfare state and social change:
- Then: the origins of the welfare state
- Now: welfare state change
The origins of the welfare state
Social change: three drivers:
1. Industrialisation
- From agriculture to industry
- Migration and urbanisation
2. Individualisation
- Disintegration of traditional communities
- Quest for individual rights
3. Rise of the nation/national state
- Bureaucracy and control
- Quest for national unity
Bismarck’s start (Germany, 1880s):
- First social insurance acts in history
- Protection of blue-collar workers
1900-1940: other countries follow
After World War II: further expansion:
- More categories of populations covered (non-workers, women etc.)
- Schemes become more generous
The Golden Age of the welfare state (1950s-1970s)
, The origins of the welfare state
Gøsta Esping Andersen: The three worlds of welfare capitalism (1990)
Institutional differences between welfare states:
- Who is entitled to what and when? (= “eligibility”)
- Generosity: benefit levels (what do you get?)
- Immunisation from market dependency (“decommodification”)
Three welfare state regime types:
1. Liberal welfare state
2. Conservative welfare state
3. Social democratic welfare state
Conservative welfare state:
- Mainly (male) breadwinners covered
- Generosity: rather high
- Decommodification: medium
- Examples: Germany, France, Austria
Social democratic welfare state:
- All citizens covered
- Generosity: high
- Decommodification: high
- Examples: Sweden, Norway, Denmark
Liberal welfare state
- All citizens covered (but means-tested)
- Generosity: low
- Decommodification: low
- Examples: UK, Ireland, USA, Australia
Esping Andersen and his critics:
- “Types are caricatures”
- What about:
1. Southern Europe: the family
2. Eastern Europe: communist past
3. Hybrids like the Netherlands
→ Is Esping Anderson’s typology outdated?
The welfare state after the golden age
The crisis of the welfare state (1975- present?)
- Economic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s
- The rise of neoliberalism
Welfare state reform
1. 1980s and early 1990s:
- Spending cuts
- Restriction of access
2. Late 1990s and 2000s:
- New organisational structures
- New policy types: activation, socialisation etc.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller lisaaalberts03. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $6.52. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
