Expanding Welfare in an Age of Austerity

Increasing Protection in an Unprotected World

Author: Kevins, Anthony
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Serie: Changing Welfare States
ISBN: 9789462980211
eISBN Pdf: 9789048529391
Place of publication: Amsterdam , Netherlands
Year of digital publication: 2017
Month: May
Pages: 218
DDC: 330
Language: English

Caption

In recent decades, and particularly since the financial crisis, continental Europe has seen an increasing gap between those workers who have well-protected, good-paying jobs with strong benefits and those who work lower-quality, nonstandard jobs, or who have no regular work at all. This situation would seem to call for increased spending on the social safety net, yet governments throughout the region have instead been turning to austerity. In the face of that reality, the options for helping disadvantaged workers are to extend coverage through re-allocating the benefits given to higher-level workers, maintain the benefits of the well-off as the number of outsiders continues to grow, or simply ignore the problem. This book asks why different nations have taken different tacks in handling-or not handling-this problem.

Cover
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1. Struggling with Persistent Gaps
- Studying the Welfare State
  - Partisanship and Welfare Reform
  - Expanding Dualism
  - Dualisation and the Left
  - Public Opinion and the Welfare State
- Methodology
  - The Central Questions
  - The Central Cases
  - The Approach
- Conclusion
2. A Tale of Two RMIs
- Contextualising the Cases
  - France
  - Italy
- Explaining Benefit Reform
  - Theory 1: Anti-Outsider Left
  - Theory 2: Egalitarian Left
  - Theory 3: Southern European Exceptionalism
- Politics and the RMIs
- Southern European Characteristics and Public Pressure
- Conclusion
3. Public Attitudes towards the Unemployed in Continental, Southern Europe, and Beyond
- Extending the Comparison
  - Continental Europe
  - Southern Europe
- Examining Public Opinion
  - The Central Cases
  - Exporting the Model
- Conclusion
4. Southern European Characteristics in the Broader Context
- The Models
  - Dependent Variables
  - Explanatory Variables
  - Standard Variables
- Findings
  - Understanding Attitudes
  - Understanding Changes in Coverage Levels (Part One)
  - Understanding Changes in Coverage Levels (Part Two)
  - Summing Up
- Conclusion
5. Bismarck, Beveridge, and Making the Transition
- Contextualising the Cases
  - France
  - Italy
- Beveridge versus Bismarck
- Explaining Healthcare Reform
  - Theory 1: Left-wing Strength
  - Theory 2: Interest Group Weakness
  - Theory 3: Political Decentralisation
- Italian Advancements
- Staying the Course in France
- Conclusion
6. Healthcare Reform and Public Opinion in Continental and Southern Europe
- Extending the Comparison
  - Continental Europe
- Southern Europe
- Examining Public Opinion
- Conclusion
7. Examining Healthcare Coverage across the OECD
- The Models
  - Dependent Variables
  - The Explanatory Variables
  - Standard Variables
- Findings
  - Understanding Attitudes
  - Understanding Policy Changes (Part One)
  - Understanding Policy Changes (Part Two)
  - Summing Up
- Conclusion
8. Rectifying Coverage Gaps
Appendix: A Brief Methodological Note
Bibliography
Index
List of Tables and Figures
- Tables
  - Table 1.1 Conceptualising Dualisation
  - Table 1.2 Outcomes across the Core Cases
  - Table 3.1 Age and Mean Concern for the Unemployed in Italy
  - Table 3.2 Living with Parents and Mean Concern for the Unemployed in Italy
  - Table 3.3 Predicting Italian and French Concern for the Living Conditions of the Unemployed
  - Table 3.4 Predictors of Concern for the Living Conditions of the Unemployed in Southern Europe
  - Table 3.5 Predictors of Concern for the Living Conditions of the Unemployed in Continental Europe
  - Table 4.1 Concern for the Living Conditions of the Unemployed – Multi-level Model Analysis
  - Table 4.2 Time-Series Analysis – Unemployment Insurance Coverage Levels
  - Table 4.3 Time-Series Analysis – Unemployment Benefit Recipiency Ratios
  - Table 4.4 Duration Analysis – Benefits for the Unemployed
  - Table 6.1 Total Healthcare Coverage as a % of the Population – Continental Europe
  - Table 6.2 Total Healthcare Coverage as a % of the Population – Southern Europe
  - Table 6.3 French and Italian Mean Survey Responses in Our Key Cases
  - Table 6.4 Mean Survey Responses in the Continental Cases
  - Table 6.5 Mean Survey Responses in the Southern European Cases
  - Table 7.1 Predictors of Belief in Government Responsibility to Ensure Access to Healthcare across Countries
  - Table 7.2 Predictors of Belief in the Need for Extensive Healthcare Reform across Countries
  - Table 7.3 Time Series Analysis – Healthcare Coverage Levels
  - Table 7.4 Duration Analysis – Healthcare
- Figures
  - Figure 1.1 Outsiders as a % of Total Labour Force
  - Figure 1.2 Outsider Figures and Component Parts
  - Figure 2.1 Italian Attitudes towards Government Responsibility for the Unemployed
  - Figure 4.1 Informal Economy Size Comparison (1980s and 2000s)
  - Figure 4.2 Leaving Home Age Comparison (1980s and 2000s)
  - Figure 4.3 Countries without a National Social Assistance Programme
  - Figure 4.4 Median Home Leaving and Programme Introduction
  - Figure 7.1 Mean Left Government Presence
  - Figure 7.2 Mean Trade Union Density
  - Figure 7.3 Mean Structural Constraints
  - Figure 7.4 Countries without Universal Healthcare
  - Figure 7.5 Social Health Insurance, Left Government, and Programme Introduction