German family policy at the crossroads: analysing the impact of parental leave reform through simulation

Comparative studies of welfare reforms encounter two problems. First, the counterfactual problem is that in the real world schemes and their reforms do not coexist simultaneously and are hard to compare. Second, the contextual problem derives from the absence of comparable measures for change. Microsimulation helps to overcome these problems. It compares policy options – actual reforms or reform plans – simultaneously and provides a comparable measure: the disposable income of model families. This article uses a type–case approach to investigate recent reforms of the German parental leave benefit. Simulation makes those reforms comparable over time and across countries. Results show that the profile of the German scheme is changing from 'general family' towards 'dual-earner' support. Furthermore, the recent reforms make the German scheme converge towards the Swedish leave scheme. The recent reforms introduce a new concept of fairness and a focus on gender equality to German family policies.     

The state of the German social insurance state: Reform and resilience

At the core of the German system of welfare provision stand social insurance schemes whose central role contributes to Germany being labelled a social insurance state. In recent decades, Germany has been experiencing major social policy reforms that are often evaluated as paradigm changes. These changes have been reflected in analyses that sometimes even questioned common classifications of the German welfare state. The article sheds light on recent developments that have affected the German system of social insurance. It focuses on four aspects of social insurance: benefits, financing, governance, and coverage. Although confirming many earlier analyses of reforms in detail and sharing assessments of changes such as retrenchment and marketization, the article nevertheless stresses that social insurance remains structurally intact and that the work–welfare nexus underlying welfare provision has been reinterpreted but not surrendered.     

Successful yet insufficient: German policies for higher employment rates among older age groups

In recent years among the OECD countries, Germany has witnessed the largest increase in the employment rates of older people. This increase, and general German employment rates, are associated with both supply side measures in the fields of pensions and unemployment policies and employment promotion policies. Yet, supply side measures and Germany's shift from conservative towards liberal policy goals and policies in the case of older workers have resulted in economic inequality. These policies could be complemented by pro‐employability measures in order to become fully effective. This article describes recent policy reforms in the main policy fields of retirement, unemployment, and employment promotion, considers their effects on employment and inequality, and offers reform suggestions to raise further older worker employment rates without increasing inequality.     

The Impact of Neo-liberalism on South Korea's Public Pension: A Political Economy of Pension Reform

This article examines the recent Korean pension reforms from a political economy perspective. It argues that these reforms are of particular interest because, unlike major pay-as-you-go pension schemes in Europe, the Korean pension scheme is a funded one and, therefore, is subject to market exposure. Also in contrast to the problems that public pension reforms have encountered in European and other OECD countries, especially 'blame avoidance', the more radical Korean reforms were implemented without significant challenge or resistance. First of all, the National Pension Scheme is described prior to the 1997 Asian economic crisis. Then the impact of this crisis on the Korean welfare state and, especially, its pension system are analysed. The main part of the article consists of a political economy of the pension reform process, in which the key roles of the international governmental organizations and the domestic neo-liberal policy elite are pinpointed. This neo-liberal ideology was critical in developing and sustaining an influential discourse on the 'crisis' in Korea's national pension fund. The article concludes by arguing, against the neo-liberal tide, for the inclusion of a pay-as-you-go element in the national pension in order to tackle escalating poverty in old age.     

Policy Change at a Time of Retrenchment: Recent Pension Reform in France, Germany, Italy and the UK

Two influential recent approaches to social policy in Europe imply (for different reasons) that the reforms currently on the agenda, which typically involve cost-containment, are peculiarly difficult to achieve. Esping-Andersen sees much of Europe as set in a "frozen welfare landscape", due to the power of the interests advantaged by the status quo. Pierson sees retrenchment as a peculiarly difficult problem for all governments, regardless of their political ideology. This paper reviews recent pension policy in France, Germany, Italy and the UK. It argues that developments in Germany indicate that it is possible to achieve appropriate policy change in the country which is often used as the paradigm of entrenched interests without major restructuring of the system. Conversely, recent reforms in the UK (seen by Pierson as the country which has achieved the most rapid changes) appear disproportionate to the scale of the problems faced and may have damaged pensioners' interests. This indicates that the capacity to achieve substantial reform is not necessarily in itself a virtue. The real issue is the quality of reform achieved.     

Determinants of the use of parental leave benefits by women in Sweden in the 1980s

Sweden is famous for its high rates of female employment and fertility. This study uses longitudinal data from a nationwide Swedish company for 1983–1987 to address the role of the national parental leave program in facilitating women's combination of childbearing and paid work. In particular, we study how Swedish women used the options of paid parental leave (full time or part time), unpaid leave and reduced hours after childbirth. The flexibility and generosity of the program makes it possible for women to choose the combination of program usage and paid work that fits their family and work situation. We identify five distinctly different patterns of program usage (strategies) that are also found to differ in their determinants. For example, women who plan another child are more likely to stretch out their leave longer, and those older and more educated choose strategies that imply a quicker return to work.     

国企改革中伦理观的冲突与转换

随着我国商品经济的发展 ,在计划经济体制下建立起来的、完全受计划方式调节的国有企业难以应付复杂多变的经济形势 ,国有企业改革势在必行。经过 2 0年的改革 ,国有企业没有真正地实现脱困。从伦理学的角度看 ,其重要原因在于国有企业在伦理上的基本取向的偏执。因此 ,要实现国企改革的成功 ,解决国企改革过程中伦理观的冲突与转换问题 ,乃是当务之急     

A fistful of euros: Is the German one‐euro job workfare scheme effective for participants?

Hohmeyer K, Wolff J. A fistful of euros: is the German one‐euro job workfare scheme effective for participants? Welfare reforms have constituted a major policy issue in many OECD countries in recent decades. In Germany, a major reform in 2005 emphasised the activation of welfare recipients and introduced a workfare programme –‘One‐Euro Jobs’– on a large scale. In the present study, the impact of one‐euro jobs on the employment prospects of different groups of participants was estimated. The analysis was conducted on a large sample of welfare recipients using propensity score matching. The sample of one‐euro job participants and other welfare recipients was drawn from administrative records comprising all those who started their participation in the programme in early 2005. Our results showed that participation slightly improved the medium‐term employment prospects for women but not for men. Participation reduced the employment rate of participants younger than 25 years but raised it for some of the older participant groups. In conclusion, one‐euro jobs are effective for participants who have been jobless for several years but ineffective for participants who were recently employed.     

Do cutbacks pay off? Perceived changes in the standard of municipal services and attitudes towards services among citizens and municipal decision makers in Finland

One common aim in the Nordic countries during the last decade has been to lessen state control over municipal affairs and to increase the local community's influence over the development of (welfare) services. These reforms happened to coincide with the economic depression of the 1990s, which especially hit Finland and Sweden, and enforced extensive cutbacks that negatively influenced the standard of services in a number of ways. However, according to some indicators the cutbacks also made public services more efficient. This article – utilizing Finnish data from 1995 – focuses on a comparison between how the general public on the one hand and leading municipal politicians and administrators on the other hand perceived the development of services and, further, whether these perceptions influence the groups' attitudes towards future changes in the system. Results show that decision makers, in contrast to a significant proportion of citizens, have a quite positive view on the development of services as well as on the continuation of cutbacks and a reduction of the municipalities' responsibilities for service provision. The study also indicates that citizens' views on the decline of various services are related to negative attitudes towards further decrease or changes in the municipalities' responsibilities. Among the decision makers, those politicians who think that (particularly efficiency aspects of) services have developed favourably also exhibit the weakest support for the prevailing system. The results raise questions concerning the role of citizens' attitudes in the development of services in the municipalities.     

Farm level effects of policy reforms in Germany: First empirical evidence

The farm level effects of policy reforms in agriculture have been discussed in the literature for a long time. However, empirical studies based on field data are not yet available. In this paper, the effects of the EU agricultural reforms in the last two decades and the introduction of the German Renewable Energy Sources Act on agricultural enterprises are investigated. For this, panel data of arable farms in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia for the period from 1984/85 to 2010/11 is analyzed by means of a fixed effects model. The results suggest that the farm income level, transmission effects on land rental markets and the farm income risk were significantly affected by the respective reforms.     

Betwixt and between the market and the state: Israeli students' welfare attitudes in comparative perspective

Analysing comparable samples of students from the Cross-Cultural Variations in Distributive Justice Perception (CVDJP) project, we explore the multidimensionality of attitudes towards the welfare state in Israel compared with countries from liberal and social-democratic welfare regimes (the USA, Canada-Ontario, Sweden, Norway and The Netherlands). We derive six different attitudinal dimensions that constitute two distinct sets of opposing welfare ideological frames. The first set, market-based ideology, entails three coexisting criteria: individualism, internal attribution of inequality, and work ethic. The second set, welfare-statist ideology, entails three additional coexisting criteria: egalitarian redistribution, external attribution of inequality, and broad scope of welfare. Along with structural similarities, we find considerable variation in levels of aggregate attitudes across the different types of welfare regimes. Israeli respondents stand out because of their strongly ambivalent welfare attitudes. While scoring higher than respondents from the liberal regimes on market-based measures, they paradoxically record similarly high scores (comparable to social-democratic regimes) on state-based measures. On one criterion – attribution of inequality to external causes – Israeli respondents even score higher than respondents from both liberal and social-democratic regimes. We consider potential explanations for this ambivalence and suggest possible directions for further research.     

Deciphering Deservedness: Canadian Employment Insurance Reforms in Historical Perspective

In 2012, the Government of Canada introduced reforms to Employment Insurance (EI), Canada's primary income security programme for the unemployed. The changes entailed new requirements for particular types of claimants to apply for and accept jobs of increasingly less pay, and codified the efforts claimants must demonstrate in job searches to maintain benefits. These measures leave many claimants little choice but to accept precarious employment as a means of financial survival. The central claim of the article is that recent EI reforms are not adequately understood as an instance of neo‐liberal activation. Instead, they must be situated in a long history of attempts to categorize the unemployed as deserving or undeserving of income security on the basis of their work history and perceptions of their willingness to work. Through a survey of different periods of unemployment policy in Canada, we demonstrate continuity in authorities' efforts to differentiate the unemployed into categories of worthy and unworthy. Within this history, however, the 2012 reforms are unprecedented in the extent to which they reorient the EI programme to service low wage labour markets. By way of conclusion, we suggest that the current EI programme exacerbates insecurities for the growing segment of workers in precarious employment.     

The health care system of the People's Republic of China: Between privatization and public health care

Chinese health care policy has undergone numerous reforms in recent years that have often led to new challenges, inciting the need for further reform. The most recent reforms attempt to find a middle path between public health care provision and commercial private insurance. In this way, China is following in the footsteps of countries that initially increased the role of privatization in the 1990s and at the beginning of the 21st century, but are now gearing towards public health care. However, this process of constant reform has led to a lack of transparency in the functioning of the health care system, provoking a loss in public trust. There remains an important degree of uncertainty about the future direction of developments in China. Nonetheless, a dual financing approach to health care using tax finance and social insurance might yet crystallize, offering a potential model to inform developments in other countries.     

From Successful Family Planning to the Lowest of Low Fertility Levels: Taiwan's Dilemma

Since the implementation of family planning in the 1960s, Taiwan's fertility rate has rapidly decreased. This was praised as a family planning achievement. However, in the 21st century Taiwan has become one of the lowest of low fertility countries like European countries [ Kohler, H. P., Billari, F. C., & Ortega, J. A. (2002) . Population and Development Review , 28 (4), 641–80]. The government has begun to worry that these extremely low birthrates will result in rapid population aging and bring about other negative socio-economic effects. Thus, in its Mega Warmth Social Welfare Program (MWSWP) of 2006, the Taiwanese government targeted the issue of low birthrates. Based on secondary data analysis, we found that the reasons for rapid decrease in Taiwanese birthrates are: (i) a declining marriage rate; (ii) later marriage; (iii) changing attitudes towards child bearing; (iv) the burdens of child care; and (v) an increase in female labour participation rates. The MWSWP includes maternity leave benefits, parental leave benefits, a childcare subsidy system and early children education and care (ECEC). First, this article presents a chronological understanding of the demography in Taiwan. Second, we attempt to evaluate the reasons contributing to the low birthrates. The policy response to this is discussed next. Finally, the article provides a careful conclusion: that the extent to which these policies can significantly stop the population from declining requires further observation.     

The Changing Conception of Pension Rights in Canada, Mexico and the United States

Relying on four conceptualizations of the welfare state (universalism, redistribution, state capacity, and intergenerational equity), this article presents an overview of recent pension reforms in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Each country has introduced important reforms in the past 25 years and is currently engaged in debates to make other adjustments. The state is reducing its financial and programmatic commitment towards current and future retirees and is promulgating reforms tightening the link between contributions and benefits. In Canada, the government raised contribution rates substantially to maintain the same level of benefits while it sought to alter its universal flat-rate benefit. In the USA, changes to Social Security have resulted in a higher retirement age and lower replacement rates. In the case of Mexico, the most important public schemes have actually been privatized.     

Structural reforms and labor markets in Argentina

Argentina is considered to be one of the most successful cases of structural reforms in Latin America, because of the extent and rapid pace of the reforms after the hyperinflationary process of 1989–1990. At the beginning of 1991, the convertible plan was launched and inflation fell sharply. However, even when the economy is growing fast, the problems in the labor market seem to worsen. Unemployment and underemployment have risen, and an increasing number of people have fallen out of normal work. The article analyzes how changes in labor markets are closely related to the transformation process in the economic system. After a summary of the situation before the crisis of the 1980s, the article analyzes the stabilization plans applied and then discusses the current dynamics of labor markets and the policies implemented to change labor regulations. Finally, some hypotheses about future scenarios are presented.     

Getting a head start: early provision of day care among municipalities in Norway

Municipal day care services for children in Norway have experienced two important reforms: the introduction of the Kindergarten Act in 1975, and the introduction of preschools for 6-year-olds in 1991. Focusing on the relationship between environmental inputs and policy outcomes, this article attempts to identify characteristics influencing the propensity towards early provision of day care in the municipalities. Applying logistic regression, service-specific factors show the greatest importance, as opposed to more general municipal features. The political system, in terms of high female representation and low representation from the Christian Democratic Party, the Center Party, and the Progress Party in local councils, seems responsive to the proportion of children, the percentage of women working full time, and average net income per capita. The persisting importance of gender-specific variables is discussed – suggesting different interpretations of the results in relation to the feminization of politics.     

Activation Reform and Inter‐Agency Co‐operation – Local Consequences of Mixed Modes of Governance in Sweden

Organizational reform has become a recurring solution to problems of social exclusion and unemployment. In Europe, and other parts of the world, there is a trend towards policies of ‘activation’ in employment and social policy. The idea of flexible, individualized and tailor‐made services is coupled with managerial and market‐based reforms as well as collaborative governance. In these complex structures of service provision, coordination and inter‐agency co‐operation have become key concerns. Based on a study of a recent reform of programmes for newly arrived refugees in Sweden (Etableringsreformen), this article seeks to contribute to the literature on governance of ‘activation’ by examining the consequences of mixed modes of governance (market and collaborative) on local inter‐agency co‐operation. Drawing on data from in‐depth case studies in two municipalities, it is demonstrated how the coupling of managerial practices and quasi‐markets with existing collaborative arrangements has created barriers for inter‐agency co‐operation. The results indicate that institutional tensions between governance forms represent an important factor for explaining governance failure in this policy area.     

Institutional Options,Cultural Orientation and Mothers’ Work and Family Reconciliation in Korea

This paper examines what determines mothers' work and family reconciliation in the Republic of Korea. We conducted a survey to examine the influence of use of institutional options such as childcare leave and services, and cultural orientation towards gender roles on the probability of being employed, paid and unpaid care work time, and monthly wages. Our findings show that mothers' with high education tend to be in paid work and to have more traditional attitudes towards gender role. The use of maternity leave increases but the use of parental leave tends to decrease mothers' labor market participation. Maternity leave also is found to influence positively on working mothers' monthly wages. However, no factor is found to be relevant to reduce working mothers' time spent on unpaid care work. Issues have been put forwarded for policy considerations. Firstly, the use of maternity leave should be encouraged and job protection needs to be secured with the use of parental leave. Secondly, mothers with relatively higher education tend to prefer familial care to institutional care. Last but not least, the availability of institutional care services do not effectively reduce mothers' time spent on unpaid care work.