Abstract
Based on the country chapters in the present volume, this contribution has two objectives: First, it gives a structured overview on the diversity of policy responses that have been adopted since 2007 in European Welfare Systems (EWS). Thereby, we cover the policy areas of labour market, pensions, health, long-term care, family policy and social assistance. Second, on this basis, the chapter identifies three major tendencies of change: To begin with, retrenchment of universal risk prevention turns out to be an important driver of reform during the crisis, but also activation policies and extended choices are getting increasingly important. In addition, we identify a growing number or extensity of measures that are targeted towards special (vulnerable) groups.
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Notes
- 1.
In a recent article, Van Kersbergen et al. (2014) make a similar undertaking. Analysing welfare state reforms during the crisis (2010–2012) in four countries, they operationalize these reforms as (a) “social investment if they aim to capacitate individuals and improve human capital”, (b) “compensation if they compensate the (income) losses of individuals”, (c) “retrenchment when it cuts back existing entitlements”, and (d) “cost containment when it reduces […] but does not cut back formal entitlements” (Van Kersbergen et al. 2014: 7). As will be explained later in this chapter, we partly depart from this operationalization.
- 2.
Although dealing with risks, it will be shown that this last section does not completely fit our analytical framework as it includes elements of both prevention and retrenchment.
- 3.
For a critique on social investment (as a political strategy) see e.g. Cantillon (2011).
- 4.
For people with at least 40 years of work, the retirement age increased from 60 to 62 in Greece.
- 5.
Leave policies can be divided into: maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave, leave to care for sick children, leave to care for other dependent relatives (see Moss 2014).
- 6.
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Acknowledgement
We are grateful to the authors who commented on our policy mapping and shared their expertise with us. Concerning conceptual aspects, we especially want to thank Minna van Gerven, Vojtech Ripka and Mare Ainsaar. Remaining errors are our own.
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Borosch, N., Kuhlmann, J., Blum, S. (2016). Opening Up Opportunities and Risks? Retrenchment, Activation and Targeting as Main Trends of Recent Welfare State Reforms Across Europe. In: Schubert, K., de Villota, P., Kuhlmann, J. (eds) Challenges to European Welfare Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07680-5_33
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