Social Protection in Greece: A Brief Glimpse of a Welfare State

This paper examines the delayed development of the welfare state in Greece and its restructuring since the early 1990s. The emphasis is on factors, such as the rapid shift from pre-Fordist to post-Fordist socio-economic structures, the weak development of contractual relationships and a solidaristic culture, and the extensive reproduction of a statist/clientelist form of social organization strongly linked to a high degree of social fragmentation and a particularistic appropriation of welfare benefits and services, which have hindered the full maturation of social citizenship in Greek society up to now. An expensive trend of social protection in conjunction with some major law reforms in the early 1980s contributed to the development of a “weak form” of universalism. These trends were soon overturned, however, well before Greek society could develop a welfare state, under the pressure of a serious fiscal crisis, low economic growth, increasing international competition, significant demographic changes and a fragile social consensus. Thus, the national health care system has hardly succeeded in establishing universal coverage, the social insurance system has remained highly fragmented and dualist, while policy measures for tackling increasing unemployment, hardship and poverty have been rudimentary. These have caused serious deadlocks and a deep institutional crisis. For this crisis to be overcome, it is essential that a new social balance promoting social solidarity is achieved in the country, while a reinvigorated Social Europe can help enormously in this direction.     

Risk and its Management in Post-Financial Crisis Hong Kong

In the 1970s and up until the financial crisis occurred in the late 1990s, Hong Kong prospered in a relatively stable social, economic and political context. Since the financial crisis, however, its population has been increasingly exposed to risk: there has been job uncertainty and decreasing capacity for self‐reliance, leading to a growing reliance on public welfare and on families at a time when both are under pressure. The old welfare policies, unable to cope with the new risks, have been replaced by neo‐liberal reforms, redistributing the roles and responsibilities of the individual and the state, with a greater burden falling on the former. Individuals are required to be prudent to manage risk. While these reforms have relieved some of the burden on the state, both new social risk groups and ‘net taxpayers’ considered themselves to have borne disproportional costs. Society is facing serious problems resulting from ineffective old welfare policies, new social risks due to new policies, and the political upheavals arising from increased social conflicts and weakened social cohesion and solidarity. A further complication is that there is no acceptable platform or agent to negotiate a compromise between the polarized groups. This article argues that reliance on publicly funded risk coping strategies or on neo‐liberal risk prevention and mitigation strategies is not a desirable and sustainable policy. A commonly accepted political platform is required to negotiate a compromise which emphasizes shared and balanced roles and responsibilities, and a well‐conceived combination of risk prevention, mitigation and coping strategies.     

From Enlightened Self‐interest to Welfare Coalitions: Overcoming Identity‐based Tensions in the Israeli Welfare State

A common argument in the social policy literature is that ethnic and identity‐based heterogeneity undermines the welfare state. In part, this happens because of difficulties in the generation of broad social solidarity in diverse societies: solidarity which is allegedly necessary for sustaining public support for the welfare state. This study explores this argument's logic in the context of welfare state politics in Israel. Israel would appear to be a near‐perfect example of how heterogeneity strains social solidarity and, in turn, undermines the welfare state. Quite differently from most studies, however, this work's emphasis is not on public attitudes or voting, but on the political interaction between economically disadvantaged identity‐based minorities – specifically Arabs on the one hand and religious Jews on the other – in the welfare field. It is argued that shared interests enable extensive co‐operation among political elites in the welfare field despite religiously‐ and nationally‐based antagonism.     

The Politics of (Fractured) Solidarity: A Cross‐National Analysis of the Class Bases of the Welfare State

This article considers the politics of social solidarity from a cross‐national perspective. In the analysis, we rely on four waves of international social survey data for our sample of Western nations, representative of different welfare state traditions. The time span is a 20‐year period and the total country‐wave sample comprises over 40,000 records. While there is popular support for governmental actions to protect citizens in old‐age and sickness, views about the social rights of unemployed citizens are shifting. High‐profile activating labour‐market reforms are reapportioning the burden of risk in society. With the rise of right‐wing populism in Europe and the USA, this article examines how interests change as citizens lose their stake in the means of security – revealing an ever more fragile and fractured social solidarity.     

Youth‐oriented active labour market policies and economic crisis: Explaining policy effort in Greece and Portugal

The starting point of this study is the implementation of seemingly similar youth‐oriented labour market policies in Greece and Portugal. Both countries have suffered high youth unemployment rates and have been pressured to restructure their labour market as part of the rescue programmes adopted during the European sovereign debt crisis. Despite convergence in terms of policy trajectories, there is a significant divergence in employment outcomes. In Portugal, youth‐oriented policies were better‐targeted and structured. Their implementation has been more effective and has involved the social partners from the outset of the crisis. In Greece, policy design failures, administrative weaknesses and unfavourable macroeconomic conditions have limited the dynamics of youth‐oriented policies thus increasing youth insecurity. Τhe analysis suggests that convergence in policy content can be compatible with divergence in terms of outcomes.     

追寻神圣社会:纪念爱弥尔·涂尔干逝世一百周年

本文试图从涂尔干所揭示的失范之现代性内在根源入手,详细剖解个人主义、民族主义以及表现为绝对国家意志的帝国主义的深刻的社会原因,并以此来表明涂尔干的核心思想任务,是在构成现代社会的所有要件之间,重新搭建起多重的连结纽带,使人重新回到具体的社会之中,使政治重新落实在具体的社会之中。为了全面揭示群体与国家、职业与民主、道德与政治的内在关联,涂尔干分别从法团、国家、财产、契约四个规范性范畴出发,对社会的性质做了历史论证。不仅如此,涂尔干在其宗教研究中,还从本体论、实在论、知识论和伦理学四个方面对社会存在做了证明。最后,本文还表明,涂尔干对教育核心议题的讨论,是试图解决道德的凝聚,乃至文明内在精神的传承等问题。本文希望以此来纪念这位思想的集大成者逝世一百周年。     

Foundations of the Workfare State – Reflections on the Political Transformation of the Welfare State in Britain

The British ‘welfare state’ has been transformed. ‘Welfare’ has been replaced by a new ‘workfare’ regime (the ‘Work Programme’) defined by tougher state regulatory practices for those receiving out‐of‐work benefits. US‐style mandatory community work programmes are being revived and expanded. This article, therefore, considers shifting public attitudes to work and welfare in Britain and changing attitudes to working‐age welfare and out‐of‐work benefits in particular. It also considers the extent to which recent transformations of the state may be explained by declines in traditional labourist politics and class‐based solidarity. Thus, we attempt to develop a richer understanding of changing public attitudes towards welfare and the punitive regulatory ‘workfare’ practices engaged by the modern state in the liberal market economy; reflecting on the nature of the relations between ideology, party policies, popular attitudes and their political impact.     

‘The only place worth thinking about’: personal testimony and Irish and Scottish migrants in Australasia, 1921–61

ABSTRACT

In the late nineteenth century, in most industrialized countries, the coverage of social risks in general and the risk of sickness in particular came from four basic sectors with different weighting according to country: the state, the market, the traditional family network and solidarity among workers. Historians have shown that, across time, hospital systems tended to be created in developed countries where at least one of these public or private elements was prominent. Spain provides an excellent case study of how a country in Western Europe made modest progress with respect to its hospital system between the 1880s and 1930s in a context of low coverage capacity in all four of the areas that comprise the mixed economy of welfare. Changes to the hospital map occurred above all during the 1920s and 1930s with the emergence of new actors responding to new demands: companies that created hospitals for workplace victims; friendly societies; insurance companies; and medical specialists who set up clinics to attend to an emerging middle class. Despite this, the majority of the working population lacked hospital coverage due to the state’s inability to establish a health insurance scheme in a country with a predominance of agricultural workers.     

Fear of Others: Social Exclusion and the European Crisis of Solidarity

In recent years a major challenge for the EU has emerged around social issues and collective identities. With the emergence of a European political community that has diminished national sovereignty at a time when global forces are also undermining nation states, both Europe and migration become linked as sources of instability. Anxieties about Europe and migration are linked with fears of a clash of civilizations and anxieties about social securities. Social discontent, fuelled by socio‐economic changes, has undermined the traditional sources of identity around class and the nation, releasing xenophobic and nationalistic currents. Fear of others and anxieties about the future have emerged as potent social forces in contemporary society. The result is a crisis of European solidarity, along with a wider crisis of collective purpose. To combat such developments it is essential that the European project gives greater attention to issues of social justice and inclusive forms of social solidarity.     

Marital History and Intergenerational Solidarity: The Impact of Divorce and Unmarried Cohabitation

Among the more recent challenges for the family are the increasing divorce rates and the decline in marriages. This article examines the possible consequences of these trends for intergenerational family relationships. How does divorce in the parent generation, and the shift from marriage to unmarried cohabitation among adult children, affect intergenerational solidarity? These questions are explored with data from the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation Study (NorLAG, n = 5,589, age 40–79). Scandinavian countries have high divorce and cohabitation rates and may therefore be of interest as comparative cases for countries where these events are less institutionalized. The findings suggest, however, that Norway accommodates to the general norm in the sense that divorce among parents is associated with lower solidarity with adult children on most solidarity dimensions. This is more true for fathers than for mothers. There is, on the other hand, no difference in solidarity between married and cohabitating children vis à vis the parent generation. The explanations and implications of these findings are discussed.     

Non‐Take Up of Social Benefits in Greece and Spain

Even though interest in non‐take up of social benefits is considerable in many European countries, the topic is under‐researched in southern Europe. This article provides preliminary estimates of the extent of non‐take up of two pairs of means‐tested retirement benefits in Greece and Spain. The benefits examined are: (1) the minimum pension supplements pensioner social solidarity benefit EKAΣ and complementos por mínimos; and (2) the social pensions pension to uninsured elderly and pensión de jubilación no contributiva. The article finds that non‐take up of social benefits in the two countries is rather extensive, examines the methodological difficulties inherent in the analysis of non‐take up, and concludes with a discussion of the results and their implications.     

Health care in post-crisis South Europe: Inequalities in access and reform trajectories

The European debt crisis stimulated debate about the future of national health systems. The objective of this article is to contribute to this debate by examining any changes in the scope and content of universal coverage and underlying pattern of solidarity in South Europe. Access to health care provides the vantage point for our analysis. Inequalities in access are scrutinized along a number of dimensions by using data from various sources. Our main conclusions clearly show that the public health care systems in Italy and, particularly, in Spain weathered the crisis pretty well and retained their universalistic features. Nonetheless, rising supplemental private coverage (of an “occupational-mutualist” type) adversely impacts access, but it is unclear how this will unfold in the near future. Tackling fragmentation through expansion and equalization of coverage, though for a comparatively “lean” basket of provisions, has been the focus of reforms in Portugal and Greece. This keeps private spending high and sustains inequalities, whereas any prospects for a stronger variant of universalism remain an open question.     

‘A Common Sense of the Times’? Neo‐liberalism and Changing Public Opinion in New Zealand and the UK

Neo‐liberalism represents a significant and enduring shift in the politics shaping social policy. Although frequently ascribed a hegemonic, all‐powerful status that focuses our attention on the coherence found in neo‐liberal policies, this article builds on scholarly work highlighting variegation in the neo‐liberal project across different policy areas, national settings and time periods. Specifically, it employs Peck's and Tickell's (2002) view that neo‐liberalism has gone through multiple phases in response to both external and internal crises as an entry point for studying neo‐liberalism's impact on public support for the welfare state. Drawing upon New Zealand and British attitudinal data, the article argues that public reactions to an early period of retrenchment (‘roll‐back’ neo‐liberalism) differ from those reported in the ‘roll‐out’ or embedding phase of neo‐liberalism implemented by Third Way Labour Governments in both countries. Indeed, continuing public support in many policy areas arguably contributed to the internal crisis that provoked an adaptation to the neo‐liberal project. The article further explores public support for the welfare state following the external crisis provoked by the financial meltdown of 2008–09 asking whether New Zealand and British attitudes showed signs of resisting austerity measures or whether they, instead, indicated a third, ‘roll‐over’ period of neo‐liberalism where the public accepted not only a neo‐liberal economic agenda but also the need for further retrenchment of the welfare state. Conclusions about the politics of social policy at the level of public opinion offer both good and bad news for welfare state advocates.     

The performance of social security contributory and tax‐financed pensions in Central America,and the effects of the global crisis

Over the last 30 years, Latin America has pioneered structural pension reforms. This article focuses on a representative regional sample of seven Central American countries with diverse levels of development (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama) studying contributory and tax‐financed pensions as well as recent pension reforms. It comparatively assesses system performance regarding five social security principles: unity; universal coverage; adequacy of benefits; equal treatment, solidarity and gender equality; and financial sustainability. It also evaluates the impact of the world crisis on these pension systems, highlighting the differences between public and private pensions, and extracts lessons and suggests policies for the future.     

Maintaining solidarity across generations in New Zealand: Support from mid‐life adult to ageing parent

Abstract

This paper establishes the key factors influencing functional solidarity—the material and emotional support mid‐life New Zealanders provide to an ageing parent or in‐law. Using the theoretical framework of intergenerational family solidarity, empirical analysis draws on the 1997 Transactions in the Mid‐Life Family survey of individuals aged 40–54. Results indicate that mature, adult children with no partner and living far from their parent are the least likely to provide emotional and in‐kind help and will be more hesitant to offer emotional support to in‐laws compared to their own parents. Adult children of Christian background, and possibly those who are homemakers and not employed, are more likely to provide in‐kind help, but those in rural areas are less likely. Surprisingly, ill health, a large household, being employed, and continuing to provide help to a young adult child who has left home do not necessarily hinder the respondent in helping an ageing parent. The argument that intergenerational relations are increasingly subject to compromise as mid‐lifers face unprecedented demands for support from other generations needs critical consideration. Further analysis should consider the cultural significance of intergenerational transactions, and how they may be influenced by the cognitive‐affective dimensions of intergenerational family solidarity.     

Challenging Solidarity? An Analysis of Exit Options in Social Policies

Processes of adverse selection are generally considered as challenges to the viability of the solidarity that has been institutionalized in insurance schemes in the social domain. This article analyses to what extent the introduction of free choice in social policies might trigger processes of adverse selection in modern welfare states. Free choice not only concerns the choice between different providers or different types of services, but also creates possibilities to exit or partially exit social policies that previously were mandatory. Free choice in social policies might contribute to increasing responsiveness in service delivery. However, when the decisions to exit social policies are not distributed equally among the participants in social policy schemes but are related to participants' risk profiles, adverse selection might occur. The common response to the challenge of adverse selection is obligatory and universal participation in health insurance schemes, pension schemes and other social policies. The introduction of exit options as part of free choice strategies thus might threaten solidarity. Although the issue of free choice in social policies has received considerable scholarly attention, the introduction of exit options and its consequences have been analysed less extensively. This article sets out to fill this gap by exploring to what extent the introduction of free choice in modern welfare states has created exit options, and to what extent this triggers processes of adverse selection in health policies, unemployment policies and pension schemes in four European countries: the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.     

Solidarity towards immigrants in European welfare states

The concern that immigration could threaten the sustainability of the European Social Model is a reason to have a closer look at popular images of immigrants in the context of European welfare states. The focus is on Europeans' informal solidarity towards immigrants relative to other vulnerable groups in society. Using data from the European Values Survey 1999/2000 we find that in all European countries the public is least solidaristic towards migrants, in comparison with elderly people, sick and disabled people and unemployed people. Contrary to expectation, there is little relation between welfare state characteristics and people's solidarity, while the relative solidarity towards immigrants is higher in culturally more diverse countries. As expected, the relative solidarity towards immigrants is lower in countries with a more negative opinion climate towards immigrants and in poorer countries of Europe.     

Compulsory intergenerational family solidarity shaping choices between work and care: Perceptions of informal female carers and local policymakers in Estonia

Estonians are obliged by law to provide maintenance for family members who are unable to cope by themselves. As a result, 80% of fragile older people receive informal care. Whether this is because the carers themselves feel solidarity and choose informal caring or because they lack alternatives is the question. We applied the cultural approach for explaining the construction of compulsory family solidarity in care provision to older people through the perceptions of informal carers and policy actors. Our interest is in how filial norms framed by individual responsibilities of care provision required by law can influence (i) informal carers’ perceptions concerning their choices between work and care and (ii) impact policy actors’ perceptions concerning eldercare service provision. Analysing the empirical data produced during focus groups with female carers and interviews with policy actors, we demonstrate the triple‐fold pressure to informal caregiving as an expression of compulsory family solidarity. Key Practitioner Message: ? The article demonstrates how the national Family Law Act constitutes a compulsory requirement of family solidarity in society; ? The compulsory family solidarity norm influences local‐level policymaking and inhibits the development of formal care services for older people; ? Informal carers’ choices between work and care are shaped by their personal filial norms, familialistic policymaking, and pressure exerted by older people.     

国家与祖国:涂尔干论政治社会的两个面向

1905年国家与教会分离法案确定了国家的世俗性质,保障个人的良知自由。不过,法案也内含潜在的危机：良知自由与世俗国家之间的紧张。一方面,共和体制为良知自由转化为个人政治权利提供了合法途径,进而挑战国家权威。另一方面,个人与共和国之间的感情越来越疏远。涂尔干判断,危机根植于法国的政治传统,特别是“1789年原则”。不同于契约论和教权主义,涂尔干提出国家与祖国是政治社会的两个面向,个人主义和爱国主义是对应的两种伦理,符合有机团结与机械团结的特征。人格崇拜是国家和个人所共享的,国家是社会的大脑,拥有相对的独立性和权威性。祖国是现存的最大的实体,爱国主义是集体意识,人们不能为了理念上的无形的祖国,而与同胞为敌。     

Perceived pension injustice: A multidimensional model for two most‐different cases

This article analyses a nationally representative sample of 3,000 respondents from the 2006 wave of the International Social Justice Project to investigate the determinants of citizens' perceptions of the injustice of their country's prevalent pension system. We studied two ‘most‐different’ cases: Israel, a relatively new democracy and demographically young society, and Western Germany, an established democracy and demographically older society. We found that age is negatively associated, and social status positively associated, with reported levels of PPI. Moreover, PPI is higher both when citizens lack intra‐familial social solidarity and when they more strongly endorse pro‐state welfare attitudes. At the same time, there are distinct culture‐specific patterns in PPI, such as the stronger effect of subjective class position and pro‐social family norms in Israel. We explain these by reference to the institutional characteristics of the Israeli pension system and the particularly dominant normative position of the family in Israeli‐Jewish culture.