Welfare states under pressure

Book abstract:

This book examines welfare policy-making in detail in seven key countries. Each chapter has been written by a leading national expert to an overall conceptual structure developed in collaboration with the Economic and Social Research Council. There are two particular features of the book. It focuses on the welfare politics and on the policy-making framework of each country. It also builds on the evidence of recent development of policy and the changes in the roles and opportunities available to the various political actors to show the factors likely to influence policy in the future.

The book begins with an introduction to the politics of welfare in Europe paying attention to the characteristics of welfare systems, the pressures on the welfare state, and policy-making frameworks. The next chapter examines welfare state reform in Finland and Sweden focusing on pension and unemployment benefit reforms as well as means-tested social assistance. Chapter 3 examines the French social welfare system and policy-making framework and the challenges it faces before analysing how institutional structure has delayed political reform and is now itself undergoing change. Chapter 4 examines welfare state reform in Germany in the 1990s in pensions, policies for the unemployed and taxation. A chapter on Spain analyses developments in the second half on the twentieth century. It focuses on the process of devolution of power to the regions and changes to unemployment, pensions and the financing of social policies. Chapter 6 deals with Switzerland, looking at policy making and welfare policy changes emphasising the difficulty the Swiss government has in defining policy directions. Chapter 7, on the United Kingdom, describes the framework in which policy is made followed by discussion of the development of policy in the finance of welfare, pensions and unemployment. Finally a conclusion indicates that the evidence of the previous chapters shows a period of rapid change is imminent in the welfare state in Europe.

The book is particularly aimed at undergraduate students. Peter Taylor-Gooby is Professor of Social Policy at Darwin College, University of Kent.