Welfare attitudes and social class: the case of Hong Kong in comparative perspective

Based on a survey of Hong Kong residents, this article explores the attitudes towards the welfare state and whether or not there are significant differences between different social classes with regard to their approval of the welfare state. The findings were then compared with those for Sweden and the USA. The study shows that Hong Kong residents strongly approve of the welfare state. The strength of their support is similar to that in Sweden and is far stronger than in the USA. In Hong Kong, the influence of social class on attitudes towards the welfare state is negligible. In some cases, the privileged classes expressed greater approval for the welfare state than the underprivileged classes. This is in striking contrast to the experiences in Sweden and the USA where the underprivileged classes are more supportive of the welfare state than are the privileged classes.     

Economic Policy and Social Policy: Policy-linkages in an Era of Globalisation

This article argues that changes in the role of the state in economic affairs will affect the process of social policy. Growing economic integration caused by globalisation now places a greater constraint upon the discretion of the nation state, bringing about a transformation into a more competitive state. States are increasingly having to compete against each other in order to promote competitiveness and attract foreign direct investment (FDI) from international capital markets. This competition influences in turn the social policy formation requiring the redesigning of social policy. Thus, welfare states may need to reform their social policy towards a "business-friendly social policy". The analysis of social policy inputs and outputs presented here suggests that there are common trends in most welfare states towards: a market-conforming policy on business taxation, a reduction of the share of employer's contributions in social protection revenues, more limited income security programmes, an increased allocation of resources for active labour market programmes and less state intervention in the labour market. All these reforming trends in social policy can be understood as a response of welfare states to the evolving needs of business caused by structural change, notably globalisation.     

Choosing Welfare or Losing Social Citizenship? Citizens' Free Choice in Recent Italian Welfare State Reforms

In the past fifteen years, the Italian welfare state has gone through various important reforms. Almost all social policy fields have been significantly challenged by the presence of both national and European constraints, and in different policy fields some fundamental principles of the welfare state have been questioned and changed. The purpose of this article is to present an analysis of the most recent arguments used for welfare state reforms in Italy, focusing in particular on one key question: have the reforms been formulated and implemented in order to increase the freedom of choice of Italian citizens with respect to social protection? After a brief introduction and conceptual clarification, each section of the article will focus on one social policy field (employment, pensions, health care) and discuss the origins and consequences of the reforms with respect to the freedom of choice of citizens. The main argument is that very limited attention has been paid in the national political discourse and reform design to the freedom of choice for citizens in welfare state policies, since other goals (such as cost containment) were much more crucial. The article will end with an overall assessment of the evolution of freedom of choice in the Italian welfare state setting.     

Introduction: social policy, economic growth and developmental welfare

Although the notion of developmental welfare is not new, it is only in recent times that its central premises have again attracted attention in social policy circles. Since developmental welfare offers an opportunity to challenge the neo-liberal claim that social expenditures harm the economy, and that economic development requires retrenchments in state welfare, more information about this approach is needed. This article discusses the developmental welfare approach with reference to neo-liberalism's current hegemonic influence on social policy. It traces the historical evolution of developmental welfare, discusses its theoretical implications and outlines its practical proposals.     

Family policy and social order – comparing the dynamics of family policy-making in Scandinavia and Confucian Asia

This article compares family policies in two Scandinavian and three Confucian Asian countries. Through a general survey on schemes of child allowance and parental leave, it seeks explaining factors for cross-regime diversity of the welfare systems. In focus are the agents affecting the family policy-making process, including social classes, the state, women and families. In order to assess the roles these agents have played, this study retraces the preconditions of family policy development and its associated socio-cultural backgrounds. Results from such an examination will illustrate how the social order determines the patterns of family policy, which offers a new path to travel to these different cultural 'worlds'. Taking the Confucian Asian states into its frame of reference, the study will take a fresh look at Scandinavian welfare systems, which still have some general implications for the study of the dynamics, model and outcome of family policy in an international context.     

Welfare State Developments in the Russian Federation: Oil-led Social Policy and 'The Russian Miracle'

This article investigates the main welfare state developments of the Russian Federation that have occurred since the fall of communism. It argues that the contemporary welfare expansion strictly depends on high oil and gas prices, and that this oil-led social policy makes the future of the 'Russian miracle' highly volatile. The main conclusion is that the Russian welfare state will be able to function properly and to ensure social integration and solidarity only under conditions of sustained oil-led growth. The article also identifies a variety of different, but equally important, endogenous, as well as exogenous, factors that have influenced the social policy developments in the Russian Federation since 1989. These correspond to the existence of few veto points present in the political arena, the lack of a well-structured system of interest representation, the presence of informality in the welfare state organization, but also to the presence of national economic vulnerabilities and/or strengths in the now open global economy, as well as to non-contingent decisions taken in strategic sectors of the state, such as those related to the energy or defence sectors.     

Swedish Family Policy – Continuity and Change in the Nordic Welfare State Model

The main question addressed in this regional issue is whether or not the Nordic welfare states can still be considered a distinct welfare regime cluster given recent changes, such as the introduction of more private elements into the welfare state. The Nordic welfare states are often described as emphasizing full employment, economic and gender equality, and universal access to cradle‐to‐grave welfare state benefits and services. In the case of Sweden, often pointed to as the model of a social democratic welfare state, such elements remain intact in most aspects of the welfare state, even given the challenges presented by the global neo‐liberal economic paradigm since the 1970s. One way to determine whether or not the Nordic welfare states remain a distinct cluster is to provide an in‐depth examination of various welfare state policies in each Nordic country. To contribute to this analysis, an investigation of family policy in the Swedish context will be provided. Even given recent challenges, such as the introduction of private for‐profit childcare providers and a home care allowance, I argue that Swedish family policy has remained largely social democratic in its underlying goals, and thus acts to support the case for a distinct Nordic welfare regime cluster.     

The Korean welfare state: a paradox of expansion in an era of globalisation and economic crisis

When the Asian financial crisis took a heavy toll on Korea in the late 1990s, policy makers responded by extending welfare policy. For many analysts, this was a paradoxical move, marking a fundamental reconfiguration of the social policy system. This article contests that interpretation. It examines the changes made to Korean social policy in recent years, and considers their impact on the Korean welfare state. It notes both that welfare extensions have been comparatively limited, and that they have often formed part of wider attempts to boost labour market flexibility. It thus concludes that limited expansion of the Korean welfare state is chiefly an attempt to bolster industrial competitiveness and economic growth. For now, Korea retains the productivist social policy orientation that has long characterised it. It also concedes, however, that in the future underlying social change, notably a rapidly ageing population, may prompt policy makers to make significant changes to the Korean welfare state.     

Social Policy in a Federal Europe

The European Union has a federal structure, in which each citizen is subject to two governments. The position of social policy within the federation is contested, but the EU has gradually developed powers through the extension of its competence, direct intervention in social welfare issues and the push for “convergence”, or agreement on minimum standards. Consistent with its federal nature, the European model of the welfare state is based on convergence, integration of the excluded and social protection through the gradual extension of solidarity. The precise role that the federal government will take on within this is unclear, but it is already having a major impact on social welfare and its influence is likely to increase.     

The Dynamics of Welfare Policy‐Making in South Korea: Social Movements as Policy Entrepreneurs*

This paper analyzes the role of social movements in the creation and evolution of a welfare state in South Korea. We begin with a theoretical overview of the existing works on policy change, highlighting concepts such as ideas, policy paradigms, and windows of opportunity. We then examine state institutions, hegemonic policy paradigms, and the specific dynamics of welfare policy‐making during South Korea’s authoritarian period (1961–1987). Next, characterizing the democratic transition in 1987 and the economic crisis of 1997–1998 as “windows of opportunity,” we probe how social movements emerged as “policy entrepreneurs” and played crucial roles in building welfare institutions and promoting welfare policies. In particular, we focus on the role of social movements in legislating the National Basic Livelihood Security Act in 1999 and consolidating fragmented health insurance systems in 2000. We conclude that social movements in democratized South Korea have assumed the role of policy entrepreneurs, filling the vacuum left by the central government and elite bureaucrats in the field of social welfare policy‐making.     

Attitudes towards the welfare state in the Scandinavian countries

The current trajectory of the Scandinavian welfare states is unclear. However, social policy in the Scandinavian countries is, undoubtedly, in a period of transition. This article's main purpose is to analyze whether Scandinavians' support for the welfare state has played a critical role in this transition. Based on surveys from Sweden. Norway and Denmark, two conclusions are reached. Firstly, at the highest aggregated level, the Scandinavian welfare states had solid support in the beginning of the 1990s. Secondly, this support was characterized by significant cleavages between social groups. This article also attempts to further the research on the relationship between institutional characteristics and attitudes. The conclusion is that institutional characteristics provide a reliable guidance for an understanding of attitudes toward social policy in the Scandinavian countries.     

The hidden welfare state, tax expenditure and social policy A comparative overview

This article describes, discusses and presents information about tax expenditure and its relation to social policy. It stresses that the hidden welfare state strongly influences social policy and that only looking at the direct provision of welfare goods may be misleading when making comparisons between countries. The article presents new figures on tax expenditure in relation to social policy and does so in a comparative perspective. It is argued that tax expenditure seems to have an upside down effect, but further research is needed to substantiate this. It concludes that tax expenditure strongly influences the provision, financing and delivery of social policy, and tax expenditure therefore has to be more fully integrated into the analysis of the welfare state.     

Indications of Social Policy Convergence in Europe

This paper explores the extent to which, and the ways in which, it might be justified in talking of a movement towards convergence of social policy within Europe. It reviews definitions and typologies of the welfare state as a prelude to discussion of the different theoretical types and possibilities of social policy integration, which itself leads into consideration of supranational EU developments. The empirical data presented in respect of “social protection” expenditures (and taxation regimes) in general and of “active” and “passive” labour market expenditures in particular, lend support to the notion not merely that the welfare state is not yet over in Europe, but that forms of social policy convergence are in evidence already.     

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.     

The decomposition of social policy in Sweden

The traditionally strong dominance of the state in social security in Sweden has been replaced by a more mixed structure. Individuals are increasingly covered by a mix of private welfare, employment-based corporate welfare and state programmes. There are several reasons behind this development: shifts in the economic and political conditions, strong tax incentives for the individual to buy private insurance, increasing problems for the public system in covering the loss of income for middle and high income earners, repeated media reports that the public welfare system will go bankrupt in the near future and increasing reports on free-riding and cheating in the area of public insurance. The advantage of the more mixed system may be its similarities to social insurance in some of the European Community Member States. However, from a social policy point of view there are also some dangers. There will be increasing tendencies towards inequality. In particular, the difference in social security conditions between the skilfully employed and marginal groups will be even more marked. The unemployed, the young and people with physical or mental handicaps will be left outside the private and corporate structures. There is also a marked risk that some individuals be reach a level of coverage well above the loss of income, and this will be a disincentive to work. Private and corporate welfare systems are also largely invisible in the sense that individuals may not even know under what conditions they are covered. Another problem is that public attitudes towards the public welfare system will increasingly become more negative and different in various parts of the population. The effect of this may be a vicious circle: public social policy becomes increasingly inefficient and unpopular among the working population and remains only as a marginal system for small marginal groups.     

Ideas and Social Policy: An Institutionalist Perspective

Since the beginning of the 1980s, historical institutionalism has emerged as one of the most influential theoretical perspectives in social policy studies. Although their work is insightful, most institutionalist scholars tend to relegate policy ideas to the back of their theoretical constructions dealing with welfare state development. The objective of this paper is to show how institutionalist scholarship can pay greater attention to ideational processes without abandoning its core assumptions about the structuring impact of political institutions and policy legacies on welfare state development. If institutions truly influence policy‐making, policy ideas matter in and beyond the agenda‐setting process. Related to existing policy legacies, perceived problems mesh with policy alternatives grounded in a specific paradigm. When stressing the need to reform, and promoting new alternatives, policy entrepreneurs draw on existing ideological repertoires to frame these alternatives. The ability to successfully frame policy alternatives can become a decisive aspect of the policy process. A discussion of recent European and North American policy debates illustrates these claims.     

Cultural Traditions and the Scandinavian Social Policy Model

This article assesses the extent to which cultural interpretation may be useful in understanding social policy models. By surveying cultural traditions, the study explores the context in which the Scandinavian social policy model was developed. The study investigates the institutional legacies of Scandinavian agrarian societies and identifies certain cultural traits, making observations as to their implications for the social policy model. The study does not intend to establish any “causal relation” between specific historical phenomena and the modern welfare states, but regards cultural traditions as forming the “contextual basis” for the operation of a welfare state system. Hence this is not merely a case study of Scandinavia, but a methodological undertaking that could play a significant role in broadening the scope of the study of social policy.     

Beyond Continuity? Understanding Change in the UK Welfare State since 2010

One approach to identifying policy change stresses policy instruments, settings and policy paradigms, while another also considers the process and culmination of various shifts and consequent outcomes. This article illustrates the debate through an examination of how far developments in social security policy between the 1997–2010 New Labour and 2010–15 Coalition Governments in the UK constituted real policy shifts. It shows that, despite continuities in instruments and approach, there have been substantial changes in the impact of welfare state policies related to short‐term benefits, employment and housing. The article identifies new policy directions leading to a different kind of welfare state, concerned less with living standards and equality and more with individual responsibility and paid work. It suggests that this has been achieved without the need for radical changes in instruments and their settings.     

The treatment of families in the Australian welfare state, 1984 to 2010

This paper uses Australian Bureau of Statistics' fiscal incidence figures to track trends in the treatment of families with children in the Australian welfare state across the period 1984 to 2010. Our four main findings are that: sole parent families gained while couple families made no net gain; there was no growth in ‘middle class welfare‘; couple families are slightly better off than elderly households in terms of their final incomes, but considerably less well off in terms of their net worth; and stated differences in policy intentions by the major political parties have had little influence on trends in actual government redistribution.