Welfare Model Research Articles

Social Security and Gender Justice in South Africa: Policy Gaps and Opportunities

AbstractIf gender is neglected in the design and implementation of mainstream social welfare models, unequal social and economic outcomes for men and women tend to be reproduced. This paper contributes to debates about how social protection can contribute to promoting gender equality by considering the gendered redistributive and transformative effects of three types of social security instruments in South Africa: social assistance, unemployment insurance and public employment programmes. All the instruments have some pro-poor and gendered design innovations. The Child Support Grant has had better outcomes than the other instruments, but redistributive and transformative gender effects across the social security spectrum are disappointing. Limited social transformation is largely due to implementation inefficiencies and unresponsive institutions. To serve both economically redistributive and socially transformative ends, gender-sensitive synergies between social security instruments and with other multisectoral interventions could be strengthened, such as access to social services (especially quality child care) and access to basic services (such as water, electricity, transport and internet services).

The Nordic Model of Economic Development and Welfare: Recent Developments and Future Prospects

The stylised evidence from the Welfare State Sustainability (WSS) ratios points to a decrease in the future sustainability of public welfare spending in the Nordic countries.

Outsourcing Legal Aid in the Nordic Welfare States

The chapter gives an overarching analysis of the Nordic legal aid schemes, as described in this collection. The welfare state, and its development, serves as a common backdrop for the Nordic countries, and has influenced the legal aid schemes in all the countries. As the national reviews show, the schemes have adjusted to common challenges of cost and effectiveness, but failed to fully meet them. The development of the different national schemes has been divergent. Together with private legal expenses insurances, a third sector of legal aid initiatives has developed in light of the failings of the public schemes. The chapter argues that this can be seen as a flaw in the Nordic welfare state model. The experiences of the new legal aid organisations might provide basis for a reform of the public systems, ensuring access to the law for everyone.

Interaction of Authorities and Business in Solving Housing Problems for Orphaned Children as a Mechanism of Control and Moderation of Social Dependency

Analyzing the prerequisites and conceptual basics of orphaned childrens social dependency, one can note that the phenomenon «social dependency», as it is, has a long history and gained the greatest momentum during the golden age of the national economic possibilities. In terms of the national history it was inherent to the development period of the paternalistic model of social welfare. All segments of the population are subject to influence of parasitism, yet we consider the orphanage as a specific subject of social dependency and come to the conclusion that such a negative form of orphans behavior is shaped in the process of their entire life-sustaining activity as affected by certain personal qualities in terms of deprivation and boarding-school environment. The more the number of orphans, the more obligations arise for the government in implementing their social guarantees. The article analyzes the rights of the orphaned children. The orphaned childrens priority right if the right to housing, as one of the most important problems that the foster children of orphanage houses and the children without parental support face, is the problem of housing provision. The housing problems of orphaned children are rather difficult to solve without presence of sufficient amount of financing. The article shows the mechanism of control and moderation of social dependency brought to life by this right. By analyzing the ways of implementing the housing rights of the orphaned children and the children without parental support, as well as the persons of those involved at the governmental level, the article offers a possible way of attracting business representatives to solving this problem. In order to make the business interested in participation in solving the societys social problems, the government must create certain socio-economic conditions that would contribute to stimulating the business in providing highly-demanded social welfare and services.

Pokomunistinių valstybių socialiniai modeliai

Straipsnyje analizuojami pokomunistinių valstybių socialiniai modeliai. Pateikta socialinių modelių ir jiems būdingų bruožų analizė įrodo pokomunistinių valstybių socialinių modelių unikalumą, išskirtinumą ir pagrindžia atskiro, į tradicinę socialinių modelių tipologiją netelpančio, pokomunistinio socialinio modelio egzistavimo faktą. Atsižvelgiant į tai, straipsnyje pateikiama pokomunistinių valstybių socialinių modelių ištakų apžvalga, detaliai išanalizuotas transformacijos laikotarpis, taip pat pateikiama išsami pokomunistinių valstybių socialinių modelių analizė, išskiriant jiems būdingus bruožus, charakteristikas bei identifikuojant tarpusavio skirtumus.

On the constitutional model of the Russian economy

The article focuses on the analysis of the constitutional model of the Russian economy, including its conceptual underpinnings, fundamental principles, and overall design. Particular attention is paid to the problem of so-called “conflicting values” that are equally recognized by the constitutional foundation of the Russian economy. For example, the values of economic freedom and the usefulness of state regulation, and the importance of supporting competition and guaranteeing of social justice, are discussed as examples of conflicting principles. The authors conclude there is no irresolvable conflict. These equal constitutional values (i.e. the principles of economic freedom and the social nature of the state) create a “corridor of opportunities” which the state’s socioeconomic policy is balancing within in order to contribute to stability and sustainable development. It is noted in the article that the welfare state constitutional model becomes ineffective in modern conditions. In practice, excessive state social commitments lead to the exhaustion of the sources of growth, and to the slowdown and deterioration of human capital. The implementation of the concept of the workfare state is considered as the most promising. Furthermore, the authors show that the idea of the “neutrality” of the Constitutional Court in an assessment of economic regulations facilitates unlimited state expansion into the economy, provokes economic inequality and the decline of guarantees of economic liberties, and, as a result, leads to an economic slowdown.

The Origins of the “Cause of the Poor”: Logics of Appropriation of a “New Social Problem” in Spain (1960–1990)

A vast literature exists on contemporary transformations on welfare state models in Europe. However, these works tend to be focused on the study of social policies embodying these transformations. This article defends the idea that new social policies are preceded by a process of requalification of the social problems by using new categories such as poverty/new poverty instead of inequality or unemployment. The social logics of this process of requalification are linked to the transformations in the structure of the Catholic field after the Second World War, as well as the transformations in the intellectual field since the 1960s. These transformations have a transnational nature and affect countries with different welfare state regimes.

Access to general social protection for immigrants in advanced democracies

Immigration has become a central socio-political issue in most advanced democracies. While research mainly focuses on immigrant-specific policies in the area of immigration, integration and citizenship, we still know very little about the incorporation of immigrants into mainstream social policies. By analysing cross-national differences in the inclusion of immigrants into general social protection across 27 rich democracies on the basis of comparative indicators from the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) dataset, we seek to address this gap in a quantitative study. A cross-national comparison of these indicators shows a particularly large variation in the inclusiveness of the access to social protection for immigrants across countries. By drawing on the welfare state and integration regime literature, we assess the power of two contrasting perspectives, namely, the post-national welfare state and the welfare chauvinism models, in explaining this large cross-national variation in immigrants’ access to social security and social housing. Our overall findings suggest that both the welfare chauvinist and the post-national welfare state models comprise two theoretical perspectives that turn out to be fruitful to interpret cross-national variation in immigrants’ access to social protection. According to the welfare chauvinism model, we find robust evidence that left-wing cabinets are particularly reluctant to open general social protection schemes to immigrants. By contrast and in line with expectations derived from the post-national welfare state model, countries with an overall generous welfare state and countries facing large immigration flows tend to provide immigrants with more generous access to social protection.

Stå på tomma torg: Hinder för tillhörighet i bosnisk migrationslitteratur

The immigration of Bosnians to the Scandinavian countries in connection to the war in the 1990s is largely seen as a success. Aspects such as high employment and education levels has been foregrounded as indicating integration and personal accomplishment, especially among the younger population. However, the literature produced by Bosnian immigrant authors tells a different story, which focuses rather on personal hardships and obstacles in the affective and social “positionality” of the immigrant in the Scandinavian topography. Regarding texts by authors such as Alen Mešković, Bekim Sejranović, and Adnan Mahmutović, the article surveys recurrent themes associated with the immigrant’s inability to create belonging in the host country, such as the encounter with immigrant authorities or the continuous non-contact with Scandinavians. While the texts are not typical examples of literary “welfare criticism”, the article tries to suggest some ways in which these texts produce critique of mechanisms in the Scandinavian welfare state model.

O DIREITO DA UNIÃO EUROPEIA E A DETERIORAÇÃO DEMOCRÁTICA E SOCIAL

Se a União Europeia representa para muitos o auge dos processos de integração regional e, consequentemente, da paz pela normatividade, na primeira crise as brumas dissipam-se, revelando o real caráter do projeto comunitário. O objetivo deste artigo é escancarar o processo europeu pela ferramenta da crítica ao direito. A organização internacional atinge um patamar inédito de desenvolvimento institucional e normativo, ao mesmo tempo em que se deteriora socioeconomicamente, com a desconstrução do modelo de bem-estar social. Por isso, a compreensão do fenômeno social em sua plenitude demanda um olhar pela ótica da teoria materialista do Estado. A discussão teórica envolve o desfazimento das ilusões europeias pós-Maastricht. Dessa forma, a internacionalização das relações capitalistas da era pós-fordista esgarça o modelo de bem-estar social nas sociedades europeias.

Precarious work among young Danish employees - a permanent or transitory condition?

ABSTRACTThere is broad agreement that precarious work is a growing problem, and that it is highly prevalent among young employees. The financial crisis in 2008 has reinforced the need for knowledge about how precarious work affects young employees. This paper explores how the concept of precarious work may apply differentially to different groups of young people at work and whether this challenges the term ‘transition’, which until now has been one of the core elements within contemporary youth research. We examine discursive representations of precarious work, vulnerability and risks among young Danish employees aged 18–24 in the healthcare sector, the metal industry and retail trade captured in 46 interviews involving 74 participants. Results are discussed taking into consideration the Nordic welfare model with an active labour marked policy. We conclude that precarious work is not, in fact, simply a characteristic of young employees’ work as such, but rather it is related to their position in the labour market and the type of jobs in which they are employed. While some are in transition, others are at risk of being trapped in precarious and risky working conditions.

The economic consequences of neurosurgical disease in low- and middle-income countries.

The objective of this study was to estimate the economic consequences of neurosurgical disease in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The authors estimated gross domestic product (GDP) losses and the broader welfare losses attributable to 5 neurosurgical disease categories in LMICs using two distinct economic models. The value of lost output (VLO) model projects annual GDP losses due to neurosurgical disease during 2015-2030, and is based on the WHO's "Projecting the Economic Cost of Ill-health" tool. The value of lost economic welfare (VLW) model estimates total welfare losses, which is based on the value of a statistical life and includes nonmarket losses such as the inherent value placed on good health, resulting from neurosurgical disease in 2015 alone. The VLO model estimates the selected neurosurgical diseases will result in $4.4 trillion (2013 US dollars, purchasing power parity) in GDP losses during 2015-2030 in the 90 included LMICs. Economic losses are projected to disproportionately affect low- and lower-middle-income countries, risking up to a 0.6% and 0.54% loss of GDP, respectively, in 2030. The VLW model evaluated 127 LMICs, and estimates that these countries experienced $3 trillion (2013 US dollars, purchasing power parity) in economic welfare losses in 2015. Regardless of the model used, the majority of the losses can be attributed to stroke and traumatic brain injury. The economic impact of neurosurgical diseases in LMICs is significant. The magnitude of economic losses due to neurosurgical diseases in LMICs provides further motivation beyond already compelling humanitarian reasons for action.

Public kitchen menu substitutions increase organic share and school meal sustainability at equal cost

Organic agriculture is a worthy alternative to conventional methods, driving food systems toward more sustainable food with proven health benefits. Many authorities recommend and governments set targets for organic production and consumption. Public food procurement plays an important role in this development process. This is especially true in Finland where, following the principles of the Nordic welfare model, society offers free school meals to all students. The Finnish government has set a goal for year 2020 to triple organic consumption in public kitchens. So far, the use of organic ingredients in professional kitchens has been low, partly because of unstandardized quality and high prices. Because municipalities are not predicted to allocate a larger share from their budget to school meals, another way must be found to increase the organic share and sustainability of the school meals. The research question is, whether it is possible to increase the share of organic ingredients and, at the same time, reduce or maintain the same ingredient costs. This study modified an existing school menu into three versions, where some of the meat dishes were replaced by lacto-vegetarian dishes. The share of organic ingredients was increased in all three versions, first to 10% and then to 20%. There was an increase of cost in all menu versions when the organic share increased, but the increase in cost, when replacing meat with lacto-vegetarian dishes, started only when half of the meat dishes were replaced. A fourth menu version was created using the largest share of lacto-vegetarian dishes and a 20% share of organic ingredients, and its recipes were engineered for a smaller share of the most expensive ingredients. After that, the cost of the fourth menu did not differ significantly from the cost of the original menu. Menu changes to more lacto-vegetarian dishes should happen gradually, to prevent disturbing students. School meals are an important part of a welfare state and with food education, the ideas of sustainable eating can reach the whole society.

Viewing Nordic Public Management

How do Nordic states conduct policies in order to bring people closer to the socio-economic realm, in the sense that they, being social capital, tend to be integrated as active and participatory citizens? How do the interventionist and expensive Nordic welfare states survive in the global age, with demanding and ever changing claims to international competitiveness? This paper addresses these questions. Social capital and partnership building are introduced as terms and policy concepts in order to find answers in the framework of intended or unintended strategic taming endeavours. As a critical approach claims a contextual conceptualisation, we shall here view different European social models and administrative traditions in relation to comparative basic contexts in order to arrive at analytical answers. Leaning especially on the Anglo-Saxon model, the traditional Scandinavian universal welfare state model of the post-war Keynesian order has gradually been transformed into the contemporary Nordic model (Veggeland 2007). Contextual regulatory innovations and path-dependent processes have generated the survival of universal welfare state arrangements and collective action but with the mixed use of Market-Type Mechanisms (MTM) in the public sector of Anglo-Saxon origin. In summary, this blending of policies has resulted in the advantageous social capital of what is called flexicurity , social security combined with a flexible participatory labour market. We shall discuss both flexicurity policy and participatory subsidiarity defined downwards as contributions to an explanation of why the expensive welfare states of the Nordic type have not only so far been doing well but have also sustained both democratic and output-side legitimacy.

Mapping European Welfare Models: State of the Art of Strategies for Professional Integration and Reintegration of Persons with Chronic Diseases.

Background: Persons with chronic diseases (PwCDs) often experience work-related problems, and innovative actions to improve their participation in the labor market are needed. In the frame of the European (EU) Pathways Project, the aim of the study is to compare existing strategies (policies, systems, and services) for professional (re-)integration of PwCDs and mental health conditions available at both European and national level between different European welfare models: Scandinavian, Continental, Anglo-Saxon, Mediterranean, and “Post-Communist”. Method: The European strategies were identified by an overview of relevant academic and grey literature searched through Medline and internet searches, while national strategies were explored through questionnaires and in-depth interviews with national relevant stakeholders. Results: The mapping of existing strategies revealed that, both at European and national level, PwCDs are often considered as part of the group of “persons with disabilities” and only in this case they can receive employment support. European countries put in place actions to support greater labor market participation, but these differ from country to country. Conclusion: Strategies targeting “persons with disabilities” do not necessarily address all the needs of persons with chronic diseases. Countries should consider the importance of employment for all to achieve smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth.

Rattling Europe’s ordoliberal ‘iron cage’: the contestation of austerity in Southern Europe

This article explains the popular revolt against austerity in Southern Europe as the outcome of profound politico-economic changes that are shaped by the transformation of the European Union’s (EU’s) macro-economic governance. It comprises three parts. The first part demonstrates how ordoliberalism – the Germanic variant of (neo)liberal economic thinking – was embedded in the EU’s new macro-economic governance, in processes that constitutionalise austerity and remove democratic controls over the economy. The second part examines the impact of austerity-driven reforms on welfare and employment in the aftermath of the sovereign debt crisis. These reforms undermined the social reproduction of Southern Europe’s familistic welfare model by destabilising three key pillars of social protection: employment security for households’ primary earners; small property ownership; and pension adequacy. The third part analyses the emergence of anti-austerity social politics in Southern Europe, both parliamentary and grassroots, and assesses their effectiveness in light of the collapse of public trust in both EU and domestic political institutions. The article concludes with our reflections on the fragility of EU’s integration process under the hegemony of ordoliberalism.

Social Inclusion through Community Living: Current Situation, Advances and Gaps in Policy, Practice and Research

This article draws on the findings of the EU Framework 7 project DISCIT to explore the living situation of people with disabilities a decade after the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in nine European countries representing different welfare state models and different stages in the process of deinstitutionalisation. A review of the research literature, policy and available statistics was combined with interviews with key informants in each country to explore the current living situation, changes over time and the barriers to, and facilitators for change. The article focuses in particular on whether people are experiencing opportunities for social inclusion on an equal basis with others. Although a lack of available data hampered conclusions on living situation, it was clear that there had been some change in terms of policy and funding streams available to support community living. Some countries had moved slightly towards community living, while others reported more people in institutions or the development of bigger services in the community. There was evidence of continued inequality in the living situation and full inclusion of people with disabilities, with those with intellectual disability and psychosocial disabilities being the most affected. In terms of barriers (and consequently facilitators) there were three sources: 1) policy, 2) social care and support systems, and 3) awareness, attitudes and advocacy. The need to involve people with disabilities in policymaking and the need for a co-ordinated approach between all actors in the disability sector was seen as critical for achieving further change.

Integrating Indigenous approaches and relationship-based ethics for culturally safe interventions: Child protection in Solomon Islands

Traditional culture in post-colonial Solomon Islands is experiencing neoliberal impositions of market forces and individualistic social work programmes based upon global welfare rights. Previous research has emphasised culturally derived national resilience and the economic benefits of ‘Kastom’. Emergent research questions are (a) whether Indigenous social work could avoid absolute (colonial) impositions or negligent cultural relativism by using relationship-based ethical approaches that emphasise cultural strengths, and (b) whether this development might benefit Pacific social welfare models. Qualitative interviews with local child protection workers indicate that traditional values assist legislative intervention and that significant potential exists in better integration of Indigenous approaches into practice.

Economic growth, welfare models and inequality in the context of globalisation

AbstractThe recent economic crisis was a test case for many advanced countries to determine the capacity of their socio-economic model to cope with the challenges of globalisation and financial crash. From this perspective, the aim of this article is to explore whether the expansion of the welfare state should be seen as a barrier to economic growth and competitiveness, as ‘neoliberal’ economists often argue, or whether increasing public social provision might contribute to enhancing real income. After a comparative discussion of the evolution of different welfare models in developed countries, we advance our argument that public social spending is not a drain on competitiveness or an obstacle to economic efficiency. On the contrary, we explore the possibility that increasing welfare expenditure can stimulate economic growth along with lowering inequality, while the so-called ‘efficiency thesis’ (according to which globalisation needs to be accompanied by the retrenchment of welfare states in order to promote external competitiveness) produces worse economic performance and higher inequality. As a test of this hypothesis, we analyse empirical data on 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries from 1990 to 2013. We use econometric analysis to indicate that the so-called ‘compensation thesis’ (a process whereby globalisation is regulated through expansion of welfare states) may contribute to real income dynamics, while greater income inequality may inhibit per capita gross domestic product growth.

The Decent Society Index Mark 2: (1) Constructing the Index

In The Decent Society: planning for social quality (Abbott et al 2016) we developed the ‘Decent Society Model’ (DSM), on the shoulders of the ‘Social Quality’ approach (Beck et al 1997, 2001; Van der Maesen and Walker 2012) as a way of understanding, measuring and advising about the extent to which governments provide the resources and institutions within which their residents can live decent and productive lives. ‘Decency’ is not seen as some sort of latent variable underlying a range of indicators, but as a portmanteau term for characteristics which a society must have as ‘infrastructure’ for decent living. People have, acquire, display, profit from and develop or actualise themselves through ‘capabilities’ (see Sen 1993, 1999, 2004a,b, 2009). It is the business of the state to provide the means of acquiring developing and displaying capabilities, either directly as in the Scandinavian model of welfare or through some combination of how socioeconomic life is governed and what ‘safety-net’ provision is there for those who do not flourish. A ‘Decent Society Index’ (DSI) was constructed to explore the book’s ideas by comparing countries with which we were familiar – mostly Europe, the former Soviet Union, North America and sub-Saharan Africa. The fit of the indicators to the underlying theoretical concepts of the DSM could be improved, however, and we are now in the process of constructing a Mark 2 version which will be better conceived, and we shall try to construct ‘back data’ as well to permit the examination of trends. This first Working Paper outlines the principles and mechanisms to be used in the construction of the Index, with rationales for the decisions which are taken, and we will keep it up to date as a guide to the use of the Index by adding an Appendix giving precise origin of the data for each quadrant of the model as it is completed. Successive Working Papers will present illustrative analyses of each of the four quadrants of the Model and its corresponding Index as well as listing scores for as many of the world’s countries as we can retain despite the occasional absence of data in our main sources.