Comparing Formal Unemployment Compensation Systems in 15 OECD Countries

This study contributes to the welfare regime literature by analyzing unemployment compensation programmes – unemployment insurance (UI)/assistance (UA) programmes and redundancy pay schemes – of welfare state/occupational welfare regimes. It covers 15 countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) selected from Southern European, Liberal, Continental‐corporatist and Social Democratic country clusters. In contrast to the common argument that Southern European countries have underdeveloped formal unemployment compensation systems, this study argues that they (especially in Spain, Portugal, and to some extent Italy) are comparable in strength to those in Continental‐corporatist countries if occupational welfare programmes – notably redundancy pay – are considered alongside welfare state programmes for unemployment protection. The study also outlines the characteristics of redundancy pay schemes in the four country clusters and shows how different redundancy pay schemes are linked to UI/UA schemes in these clusters.     

Comparing unemployment protection and social assistance in 14 European countries. Four worlds of protection for people of working age

Pfeifer, M. Comparing unemployment protection and social assistance in 14 European countries. Four worlds of protection for people of working age This article aims to show which policy responses 14 Western European countries have adopted to deal with rising unemployment levels and increased need for benefits during working age. In contrast to earlier studies, both components of unemployment benefits (UB), i.e. unemployment insurance and unemployment assistance, were taken into account in a social rights indicator that depicts the legal entitlements of the unemployed. In total, there were eight indicators of both UB and social assistance representing expenditure, generosity, problem pressure and benefit entitlements. The following cluster analysis groups countries using these indicators. The resulting typology consisted of four ways of protecting the working‐aged: an extensive safety nets type operating well with functioning labour markets; a liberal protection type dealing with low levels of unemployment; a targeted protection type combined with an insider–outsider divide on the labour market; and lastly, a patchy safety nets type facing high unemployment levels.     

Nordic Disability Policies in a Changing Europe: Is There Still a Distinct Nordic Model?

Nordic welfare states have usually been characterized by encompassing or institutional systems of public provisions, both in general and for people with impairment in particular. Provisions have been perceived as being more universalistic in coverage, more generous in terms of benefit levels and availability of services, and with a greater emphasis on prevention and coordination, than provisions in other Western countries. Yet the success of the Nordic system of disability protection has recently been questioned on various grounds. These criticisms have resulted in a number of reforms recently introduced or about to be implemented. This reorientation is likely to reduce the prominence of some characteristics of the Nordic model in this particular area. Under the ongoing influence of European integration, we will probably see a shift of emphasis away from redistributive provisions—especially income transfers—to regulative provisions, meant to ensure accessibility and combat discrimination.     

The politics of safety net reform in Southern Europe during the Great Recession: Introduction to the regional issue

Southern European welfare states have developed relatively solid social insurance income maintenance programs, but have lacked effective means-tested benefit systems to address poverty and protect outsiders. Spain and Portugal are usually considered the two first countries to depart from the traditional path with the creation of minimum income schemes between 1988 and 1995. In the Spanish case, minimum income programs were established at the regional level and are very heterogeneous despite their institutional stability. The limited extent of these programs in most Spanish regions must be put in the context of national means-tested income support schemes in the fields of pensions and unemployment. The introduction of these programs in the 1980s was also a significant path departure. The combination of these programs has offered some income support to low income groups left unprotected by traditional insurance benefits, although in a patchy and limited way, especially as regards the working-age population. The social effects of the Great Recession, especially in terms of long-term unemployment, evictions and impoverishment, have reopened the debate on how to combat monetary poverty, which has been on the general election agenda since 2014–2015. Most regions have reformed their programs in different directions since 2008, under the contradictory pressures of growing demand and financial constraints. Such debate, however, has not been able yet to set a clear basis for a new development of anti-poverty income support policy.     

Rethinking the construction of welfare in Mexico: Going beyond the economic measures

This study utilized a multidimensional measure of social welfare composed of 26 social indicators integrated in nine categories: education, employment and social protection, income, health, housing conditions, subjective wellbeing, social capital, use of technology, and culture and leisure to help understand social welfare in Mexico. We also compared the integrated measure with the Human Development Index. Estimation was performed using the method. Our analysis indicated that the health and housing conditions categories contributed the most to social welfare across the 32 Mexican States. In relation to the indicators, income and trust in other people were associated with welfare. Further, results on the welfare ranking of Mexican states revealed variations between the two indices and the HDI). Specifically, only four states occupied the same position on both indices, ten recorded different positions on moving up or down from their levels of social welfare. Implications of observed correlations are presented.     

Your position in society matters for how happy you are

This article shows that people's perception of their position in society is strongly correlated with their level of happiness, and thus that differences in happiness levels among countries in different welfare state clusters are influenced by people's perceptions of their relative position in society (subjective position). The study drew on data from the European Social Survey. Two important findings emerged from the analysis. First, an individual's subjective position in society is a more important predictor of happiness than objective measures such as income, education and labour market position. Second, the link between individuals’ perceived position in society and their level of happiness is moderated by the welfare state. In the Nordic countries, people's perceptions of their position in society have less influence on happiness whereas in Eastern European countries we found a strong connection between subjective position and happiness.     

Do ‘child‐friendly’ countries contribute to child satisfaction? A comparative study of OECD countries

Child‐friendliness is a new concept in the research literature. Derived from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, it assesses different nations’ commitment to the aspects of children’s rights: both self‐determination and nurturance and care. Since the concept is still in its infancy, there is a need to study the associations between child‐friendliness and the subjective well‐being of children in a comparative perspective. Accordingly, the present study compares country rankings in the Child‐Friendliness Index (CFI) with country scores in the Global Domain Satisfaction Index (GDSI) in a sample of ten OECD countries. Results show that there is no association between the adapted GDSI score and the CFI. However, the self‐determination sub‐index and specifically participation in the personal domain are found correlated with GDSI domains. Moreover, countries can be grouped into different clusters: Nordic, Mediterranean, European, Asian. Key Practitioner Message: ? There was no apparent association between the adapted GDSI score and the Child‐Friendliness Index (CFI) rank; ? The CFI self‐determination sub‐index and participation in the personal domain specifically were found to be correlated with GDSI domains; ? Countries may be grouped into different clusters when looking at their GDSI score and CFI rank: Nordic, Mediterranean, European, Asian.     

Unemployment and economic security for young adults in Finland,Norway and Sweden: From unemployment protection to poverty relief

In this study, we investigated if there has been a displacement in the type and coverage of welfare services available for young unemployed adults in Finland, Norway and Sweden over the last two decades. This question is important because a number of studies have argued that the generous unemployment benefits and extensive labour market intervention found in the Nordic welfare states shield young people from the most severe consequences of economic inactivity. In this article, we instead show that during this period, less generous means‐tested unemployment and social assistance benefits have become the most important form of income protection for young people. In evidence, earnings‐related unemployment benefits now cover only 10 per cent of unemployed Swedes and Finns and 45 per cent of unemployed Norwegians aged 24 years or younger. This development marks a significant change in our understanding of unemployment protection for young people in Nordic countries.     

Social workers' attitudes towards the unemployed in the Nordic countries

Kallio J, Blomberg H, Kroll C. Social workers' attitudes towards the unemployed in the Nordic countries In recent decades, municipal social workers have become the implementers of new types of social policy measures aimed at activating the unemployed. These policies put a greater emphasis on the individual's own responsibility for being unemployed. Little is known, however, about how social workers view the unemployed – one factor that might influence how policies are in fact implemented. Therefore, our purpose was to analyse Nordic social workers' attitudes towards the unemployed and their determinants: Do social workers' attitudes correspond with a more individualistic view on unemployment? We utilised the data from surveys of professional social workers in four Nordic countries. Our analyses showed that individualistic attitudes towards the unemployed appeared to be rather rare among Nordic social workers. However, attitudinal differences were found between and within countries.     

Microcredit for rural poverty alleviation and social well‐being: A study of Sabah,Malaysia

Microcredit is an influential intervention used to alleviate poverty and improve social well‐being in rural communities in Sabah, Malaysia. This study examined the effects of a microcredit scheme, Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), on the well‐being of these communities. Using a survey method, a pre‐tested interview schedule was administered to 277 AIM recipients in Sabah, Malaysia. Social well‐being was examined based on the three indicators of Midgley's social development approach: the management of problems, the fulfillment of basic needs, and social opportunities provided. AIM microcredit schemes were successful in improving the well‐being of AIM recipients, although the recipients faced a number of problems, including unemployment, lack of education, and access to public services and healthcare facilities. The findings of this study represent a useful guideline to the AIM authority, development practitioners, policymakers, and governmental organization and non‐governmental organization workers.     

Are European social safety nets tight enough? Coverage and adequacy of Minimum Income schemes in 14 EU countries

Figari F, Matsaganis M, Sutherland H. Are European social safety nets tight enough? Coverage and adequacy of Minimum Income schemes in 14 EU countries This study explored and compared the effectiveness of Minimum Income (MI) schemes for persons of working age in the European Union (EU). Using the European microsimulation model EUROMOD, we estimated indicators of coverage and adequacy of MI schemes in 14 EU countries. In terms of coverage, we found that in several countries, some individuals are ineligible for MI even when they fall below a poverty line set at 40 per cent of median income. With respect to adequacy, we show that in certain countries, a large fraction of those entitled to MI remain at very low levels of income even when MI benefit is added. Overall, our findings suggest that MI schemes in Europe remain divergent, and that their clustering may be more complex than has hitherto been allowed for. Key Practitioner Message: ?The ability of European welfare states to fight poverty is a key policy question, especially at times of crisis;?Adequacy and coverage of Minimum Income schemes are crucial aspects of the answer;?Microsimulation allows us to separate the effectiveness of MI schemes ‘by design’, from issues of benefit administration, targeting errors and so forth.     

Continental Drift: On Unemployment Policy Change in Bismarckian Welfare States

This article analyses the development of unemployment policies over the past 20 years in four continental European countries: Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands. It shows that, far from being as ‘frozen’ as many analysts have suggested, each of these Bismarckian welfare states has in fact seen considerable change in this policy sector in recent decades. In Belgium, France and Germany, significant changes in unemployment policy reforms have unfolded gradually, through an accumulation of small changes. This finding offers some support to recent theorizing on the potential for policy changes that are both incremental and transformative. However, while such processes have led to shifts in unemployment policy that are far from negligible, the article also argues that they fall short of those seen in this policy sector in other welfare institutional contexts as well as in the Netherlands, where substantive reforms have in the last decade been complemented with changes to the institutional framework for unemployment policy. Through its analysis of the relationship between the institutional features of these welfare states and the possibility frontier of unemployment policy reform, the article develops a nuanced perspective on the scope for and resistance to social policy change in continental Europe.     

Institutional Development of Sickness Cash-benefit Programmes in 18 OECD Countries

This article traces past and present trends in the institutional development of sickness daily allowance schemes in eighteen OECD countries. We are interested whether there still are—or if there ever have been—distinctive models in sickness benefits. The historical part of the study inspects the development of coverage and generosity benefits. Thereafter the extent to which sickness benefits have been targets for retrenchment will be analysed. The study shows that up until 1985 the Nordic programmes guaranteed better benefits than corporatist schemes, but the situation has since changed, and the Nordic countries do not any longer provide higher compensations. In this respect, these two groups of countries have clearly converged and simultaneously their distance from the countries with basic security or targeted schemes has increased. When it comes to coverage, the Scandinavian schemes have to a great extent preserved their universality, whereas the other groups of countries have lost a bit in their coverage. Thus, in this dimension at least, we can still depict a clear Scandinavian pattern. However, there are indications of convergence towards the corporatist or labour market‐based model.     

Denmark: Universal or Not So Universal Welfare State

This article questions whether or not Denmark is still a universal welfare state. It does so by first offering a comparative‐based analysis of the Nordic countries on central welfare state parameters. Second, the article utilizes a case‐based analysis in respect of three core areas of the Danish welfare state—pensions, unemployment and early retirement benefit—to assess the distinctiveness of the Danish model. The article concludes that, notwithstanding the Danish model is more mixed today than it used to be, it continues to be distinct in areas such as equality, full employment, a high level of spending on social security and an active labour market policy.     

Risk management in a globalizing world: An empirical analysis of individual preferences in 26 European countries

The risks that individuals face in everyday life, such as illness and unemployment, can be covered using market, government, or community mechanisms. The market can function with a lower level of solidarity compared to the other two mechanisms; the government mechanism requires the highest level of compulsory solidarity and communities are associated with voluntary solidarity. Social context affects individual preferences with regard to any one of these mechanisms. This article investigates to what extent these preferences are influenced by globalization: the economic, social and political openness of countries. The dataset used in this study combines data from the European Values Study 1999-2000 (EVS), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the KOF Index of Globalization, and contains information about 31,554 people living in 26 European countries. The results derived from logistic multilevel analysis show that preferences towards the organization of solidarity are related to the different dimensions of globalization.     

Minimum income programme and welfare dependency in China

In the mid‐1990s China introduced a means‐test cash benefit called the Minimum Living Standard Guarantee System (dibao). Alongside the increases in both the number of beneficiaries and the budget, there is growing public concern that dibao is creating welfare dependency. Using survey data collected in three cities in China, we investigated to what extent dibao beneficiaries look for work. Focus group discussions were held with programme administrators and beneficiaries. While headline figures suggest that a considerable proportion of beneficiaries are of working‐age and able to work, their personal and household circumstances are important factors in determining their long‐term unemployment. There are also dibao design issues that have created financial disincentives to work. The specific origins of the policy of addressing the problem created by layoffs of inefficient state‐owned enterprises are still affecting the implementation of the programme and preventing it from playing a significant role in poverty reduction.     

Protective legislation: The “third pillar” of the welfare state

Welfare states are built upon three central social policy pillars: (1) income programs, including an assortment of income maintenance and security benefits; (2) social services, comprising a diverse constellation of provisions, which furnish care such as health care and education, and “in kind” benefits; and (3) protective legislation, encompassing a dense web of proactive and preventative laws, rights, and entitlements, such as health and safety legislation, minimum wage laws, child protection acts, rent controls, and laws governing evictions and foreclosures. Despite its centrality to the welfare state and to our well‐being, this third pillar has received considerably less attention in comparative social policy research. The dominant welfare state typologies have focused almost exclusively upon income measures and, more recently, on social services, to construct their welfare state categories or “worlds” of welfare while largely neglecting this crucial third pillar. A greater focus on protective welfare legislation can help sharpen the distinctions among welfare states within and across the welfare worlds, which is particularly valuable in light of the ongoing erosion of the other two pillars over the past few decades.     

Gender Pay Differentials in Portugal: Contributions to the Employment Policy Debate in the European Union

Since the implementation of the European Employment Strategy in the 1990s, the issue of gender gaps in the European Union labour markets has been granted a high profile. The Portuguese labour market has performed well on various indicators relating to gender equality, namely, participation and employment rates. Nevertheless, a persistent pay gap remains despite the recent evolution of the labour market, especially concerning the average education level of workers. This article investigates the main factors explaining the gender pay gap across two decades and the way those factors perform along time. We also discuss the means of closing the gap in the context of the European Employment Strategy, considering the lessons from other member states. We used wage decomposition techniques to analyse the relative importance of differences in the productive characteristics of workers, differences in the way men and women are distributed among jobs and the relative importance of discrimination practices. Our findings suggest that most of the pay gap is due to discrimination practices. Individual action by economic agents is insufficient to solve the persistent pay gap. Social partners must incorporate this issue within collective bargaining in order to construct an adequate strategy for reducing the gap, which can only be done by engaging men and women, employees and employers.     

Childhood origins and adult destinations: The impact of childhood living conditions on coexisting disadvantages in adulthood

The aim of this study was to analyse linkages between childhood living conditions and coexisting disadvantages in adulthood. Analyses were based on the Stockholm Birth Cohort, consisting of more than 14,000 individuals born in 1953, followed up until 2007. Based on education, labour market outcomes, economic poverty and health, four outcome profiles with varying levels of disadvantage were identified by means of latent class analysis. Coexisting disadvantages were present in approximately one‐fifth of the individuals. Low educational attainment, social welfare recipiency and mental health problems simultaneously occurred in two of the profiles, suggesting that these dimensions are highly interconnected. Results from multinomial regression analysis showed that individuals who had experienced disadvantaged childhood conditions had particularly high risks of ending up in these two outcome profiles, with or without the presence of unemployment. Key Practitioner Message: ● Four outcome profiles with varying combinations of adult disadvantage are identified; ● Coexisting disadvantages are present in approximately one‐fifth of the individuals; ● Those experiencing adverse childhood conditions have higher risks of coexisting disadvantages, with or without the presence of unemployment.     

Social policy and poverty in post-totalitarian Europe

This article attempts to compare the social policy models of the west with social policies in post-totalitarian central and eastern Europe. It is argued that historical roots as well as recent developments make post-Communist social policy similar to the two major models in the west: the institutional redistributive model and the industrial achievement or performance model. The present problems of mass unemployment and growing poverty cannot be solved without a major reform of social policy, including state intervention and control. The residual social safety net and a strong market orientation are unlikely to be able to reduce poverty and unemployment. However, it is also argued that the strong role of the state and organized labour in both of these European welfare systems creates an obstacle to the future of social policy in the countries of central and eastern Europe. The state is viewed with great scepticism and organized mass social movements are weak in most of these countries. It will take time to develop such agents that can support the development of state social policy, and it may not even be accepted that the route of interventionist state welfare characteristic of western Europe is desirable.