European Welfare Production: Institutional Configuration and Distributional Outcome PDF
Preview European Welfare Production: Institutional Configuration and Distributional Outcome
EUROPEAN WELFARE PRODUCTION Institutional Configuration and Distributional Outcome Editedby JOACHIM VOGEL UniversityofUmeå,Stockholm,Sweden WithContributions by TÖRES THEORELL, STEFAN SVALLFORS, HEINZ-HERBERT NOLL and BERNARD CHRISTOPH ReprintedfromSocialIndicatorsResearch,Volume64,No.3(December2003) SPRINGERSCIENCE+BUSINESSMEDIA, LLC Social Indicators Research Series Volume18 GeneralEditor: ALEXC.MICHALOS UniversityofNorthernBritishColumbia, PrinceGeorge,Canada Editors: EDDIENER UniversityofIllinois,Champaign,U.S.A. WOLFGANGGLATZER J.W.GoetheUniversity,FrankfurtamMain,Germany TORBJORNMOUM UniversityofOslo,Norway JOACHIMVOGEL CentralBureauofStatistics,Stockholm,Sweden RUUTVEENHOVEN ErasmusUniversity,Rotterdam,TheNetherlands. This new series aims to provide a public forum for single treat- ises and collections of papers on social indicators research that are too long to be published in our journal Social Indicators Research. Like the journal, the book series deals with statistical assessments of the quality of life from a broad perspective. It welcomes the research on a wide variety of substantive areas, including health, crime, housing,education,familylife, leisureactivities,transporta- tion,mobility,economics,work,religionandenvironmentalissues. These areas of research willfocus onthe impactof key issuessuch as health on the overall quality of life and vice versa. An interna- tional reviewboard, consistingof Ruut Veenhoven,Joachim Vogel, Ed Diener, Torbjorn Moum and Wolfgang Glatzer, will ensure the highqualityoftheseriesasawhole. CONTENTS Preface JoachimVogel 1 Introduction JoachimVogel 5 TheLabourMarket JoachimVogel 25 WelfareState JoachimVogel 49 TheFamily JoachimVogel 69 IncomeandMaterialLivingStandards JoachimVogel 113 Health TöresTheorell,JoachimVogel 147 Welfare Regimes and Welfare Opinions: A Comparison of Eight WesternCountries StefanSvallfors 171 SubjectiveWell-BeingintheEuropeanUnionduringthe90s BernhardChristoph,Heinz-HerbertNoll 197 TowardsaTypologyofEuropeanWelfareProduction:Summaryand Discussion JoachimVogel 223 References 249 Appendix 261 AC.I.P.CataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress. ISBN 978-94-010-3757-0 ISBN 978-94-007-0977-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0977-5 Printedonacid-freepaper AllRightsReserved ©2003 SpringerScience+BusinessMediaNewYork OriginallypublishedbyKluwerAcademicPublishers 2003 (cid:54)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:87)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:83)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:75)(cid:68)(cid:85)(cid:71)(cid:70)(cid:82)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:20)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:72)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:21)(cid:19)(cid:19)(cid:22) Nopartofthisworkmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,or transmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying, microfilming,recordingorotherwise,withoutwrittenpermissionfromthe Publisher,withtheexceptionofanymaterialsuppliedspecificallyforthe purposeofbeingenteredandexecutedonacomputersystem,forexclusiveuse bythepurchaserofthework. PREFACE TheEuropeoftodayfacesaconcurrenceofdevelopmentalproblems related to structural shifts in the global economy, global compet- ition, changing regional labour markets, demographic change, and European integration. Economic crisis, decreasing industrial employment, the shift to a service economy, flexible and insecure jobs, and persistent mass unemployment exhaust the capacity of the welfare state institutions.Countermeasures byreductionsin the transfer systems and public services challenge the basic assump- tionsunderlyingtheWesternEuropeansocialpoliciesaswellasthe legitimacyofEuropeanintegration. Concurrently we are facing a gradual destabilisation of social bonds. Household sizes are declining, the populations are greying, birth rates are declining, divorce rates are inclining, single adults and single parents are increasing in number, and the family forms are becoming more pluralized. The family as a welfare-supporting institutionseemstodeteriorateaswell. Thesechangesareaffectingthelivingconditionsinmostmember states, at variant pace and intensity.They affect the social cohesion in the European Union. In fact, they also challenge the legitimacy of the Union: European unification fostering individual prosperity, a general convergence of living conditions, and union-wide norms for national policies. Instead, there is a new concern related to socialexclusionandpoverty,topermanentmassunemploymentand growinginequalities. There is an urgent need of knowledge of the basics of living conditionsintheEuropeanUnion,fromtwoperspectives: • First, the descriptive monitoring of living conditions and their differentiation within and between EU nations; and their convergenceordivergenceinEurope. • Second, an understanding of the institutional background shaping the differentiation of living conditions, within as well asbetweennations. [1] SocialIndicatorsResearch 64: 325–327,2003. 326 PREFACE Whilethereisarapidincreaseintheknowledgebaseconcerning living conditions within member states as well as its variation between nations and groups, there is less consensus on the driving forces shaping the distributive structure in Europe. Some focus on theevolvementofexogenousglobalisationrewritingtheagendafor welfare production. Global competition, the liberalisation of finan- cial markets, and the transition to the knowledge society requires adjustment of the labour market as well as the welfare state and the family. The last two decades have been a period of reorienta- tion to meet these challenges. The liberal approach of adjustment by increased competitiveness through cost reduction, deregulation, flexibility and wage differentiation is the offensive way of market logic. It includes deliberation from political control, export of responsibilityforthewelfareoflessproductivelabour,anditaddsto theresponsibilitiesofthewelfarestatetoreducesocialexclusionin all its variant forms. The principle is ‘less welfare state’, increased responsibilityforthehouseholdsectorandincreasedinequality. This is the ultimate test for the welfare state logic of solidarity. Redistribution by taxes, transfers and services serves to correct for inequalities created at the labour market. With decreased employment, increased unemployment, larger wage differentials, andinsecureincomelargerdemandswillbelaidonthewelfarestate as well as the family. Hence, ‘more welfare state’ is required, and equallyexpectedbythevoters,while‘lesswelfarestate’isenforced by economic realities. The crisis of the welfare state is financial as well as moral. Along with cutbacks goes an understanding of insecurity in the social protection net, the experience of lost values andtrustinpolitics. In consequence, we are facing a breakdown of the division of responsibility for welfare production between labour market (jobs,earnings),welfarestate(transfers,services),andfamily(care, sharing of resources). A new compromise is required between competitiveness and equality, redefining the roles of the market, welfare state and family. The character of this welfare mix is not an inevitable, technical matter; it is an ideological choice between differentvaluessuchassolidarity,equality,effectiveness,andvalued lifestyles. This is the theme of this book; to identify the choice of institu- tional configuration and distribution of responsibilities for welfare [2] PREFACE 327 delivery,andthecorrespondingwelfareoutcomeatthemicrolevel. WearelookingforvariationinwelfareregimeswithintheEuropean union,andtheirrespectivedistributiveoutcomes. The research agenda of this report sets out from the tradition of the social indicator movement, focussing on the distribution of living conditions at micro level. With access to new comparative welfaresurveys(ECHPandNordicdatabases)thevariationofliving conditions within as well as between nations can be studied in more detail, and for a complete set of EU member states, and for some nations even in a longitudinalperspective. Likewise is recent regime research drawing on new comparative data on the institu- tionalcontextbehindindividuallivingconditions.Combiningthese data on ‘welfare production’ provides insight into the way living conditions are monitored by the labour market, welfare state and familyatnationallevel,andonthecombined‘welfareefficiency’of theseinstitutions. The new perspective in this report is an integrated approach. We have combined these two research traditions. First, we have explored the general character of national welfare production by integrating labour market, welfare state and family characteristics in the European union towards an integrated typology. Second, the corresponding distributive features have been identified, and includedinthetypology. Wehaveabandonedthetraditionofusingnationsassingleillus- trations of idealtypical categories. Instead we use the new compar- ativedatabasestoutilizethefullsetofEU-memberstatestoexplore the variationof institutionalfeatures and distributiveoutcomes.We have explored this link in a comparative perspective as well as longitudinalperspective.Thecomparativeapproachisaimingatthe identificationofsimilaritiesanddissimilaritiesbetweenEUmember states with respect to institutional configuration and corresponding distributive outcomes in the mid 1990s. The longitudinal approach followstheSwedishcaseoveraperiodofsome35years. Thisresearchhasbeensupportedbyaconsultancyfromthestat- istical office of the European union EUROSTAT, and the Swedish SocialResearchCouncil. JoachimVogel StockholmandUmeå,Sweden [3] JOACHIMVOGEL INTRODUCTION TheEuropeoftodayfacesaconcurrenceofdevelopmentalproblems related to structural shifts in the global economy, global compet- ition, changing regional labour markets, demographic change, and European integration. Economic crisis, decreasing industrial employment, the shift to a service economy, flexible and insecure jobs, and persistent mass unemployment exhaust the capacity of the welfare state institutions.Countermeasures byreductionsin the transfer systems and public services challenge the basic assump- tionsunderlyingtheWesternEuropeansocialpoliciesaswellasthe legitimacyofEuropeanintegration. Thesechangeshaveamajorimpactonthestandardoflivingand quality of life in Europe. Public policies designed to protect and insureforrisksinthecourseofliferelatedtoemployment,income, health, and family maintenance fail to deliver, as the number of beneficiaries grows. Compensation levels and periods have been reduced, and individual contributions expanded. Life became less predictable. Concurrently we are facing a gradual destabilisation of social bonds. Household sizes are declining, the populations are greying, birth rates are declining, divorce rates are inclining, single adults and single parents are increasing in number, and the family forms are becoming more pluralized. The family as a welfare-supporting institutionseemstodeteriorate. Thesechangesareaffectingthelivingconditionsinmostmember states, at variant pace and intensity.They affect the social cohesion in the European Union. In fact, they also challenge the legitimacy of the Union: European unification fostering individual prosperity, a general convergence of living conditions, and union-wide norms for national policies. Instead, there is a new concern related to socialexclusionandpoverty,topermanentmassunemploymentand [5] SocialIndicatorsResearch 64: 329–347,2003. ©2003KluwerAcademicPublishers. PrintedintheNetherlands. 330 JOACHIMVOGEL growing inequalities. Today’s key discourse concerns the limits of socialpolicyandthedemandsofthemarket: • CanweaffordtheWelfareState? • Is enhanced economic insecurity, flexibility and social exclu- sionanecessaryprizeforcompetitiveness? • How are these forces to be balanced to preserve social cohe- sion and political legitimacy for the difficult task of European unification. WELFARERESEARCHPERSPECTIVES There is an urgent need of knowledge of the basics of living conditionsintheEuropeanUnionfromtwoperspectives: • First, the descriptive monitoring of living conditions and their differentiation within and between nations; and their conver- genceordivergenceinEurope. • Second, an understanding of the institutional background shaping the differentiation of living conditions, within as well asbetweennations. Whilethereisarapidincreaseintheknowledgebaseconcerning living conditions within member states as well as its variation between nations and groups, there is less consensus on the driving forces shaping the distributive structure in Europe. Concurrently we see malfunctioning of the labour market as well as the welfare state and the family. The popular interpretations are related to the major ideological beliefs. There is considerable consensus on the profound changes over the past decades in the way welfare is produced, as well as the direction of this change. However, there isdisagreementonthecausesanddesirabilityofthischange.Some focus on the evolvement of exogenous globalisation rewriting the agenda for welfare production. Global competition, the liberalisa- tionoffinancialmarkets,andthetransitiontotheknowledgesociety requires adjustment of the labour market as well as the welfare state and the family. The last two decades have been a period of reorientation to meet these challenges. The liberal approach of adjustment by increased competitiveness through cost reduction, deregulation, flexibility and wage differentiation is the offensive [6] INTRODUCTION 331 way of market logic.It includesdeliberationfrom politicalcontrol, export of responsibility for the welfare of less productive labour, and it adds to the responsibilities of the welfare state to reduce social exclusion in all its variant forms. The principles are is ‘less welfarestate’,increasedresponsibilityforthehouseholdsectorand increasedinequality. This is the ultimate test for the welfare state logic of solidarity. Redistribution by taxes, transfers and services serves to correct for inequalities created at the labour market. With deceased employ- ment, increased unemployment, larger wage differentials, and insecure income larger demands will be laid on the welfare state; first, because of more recipients, and second, because of less resources delivered by tax income. Hence, ‘more welfare state’ is required, and equally expected by the voters; while ‘less welfare state’ is enforced by economic realities. The crisis of the welfare state is financial as well as moral. Along with cutbacks goes an understanding of insecurity in the social protection net, the ideologicalsenseoflostvaluesandtrustinpolitics. The crisis of the welfare state is primarily a consequence of the crisis of local and regional labour markets, under the pressure of global competition. In consequence, we are facing a breakdown of the division of responsibility for welfare production between labour market (jobs, earnings), welfare state (transfers, services), andfamily(care,sharingofresources).Inthepasttwodecadesglob- alisationandtheneweconomydemandanewcompromisebetween competitiveness and equality, redefining the roles of the market, welfare state and family. The character of this welfare mix is not an inevitable, technical matter, it is an ideological choice between differentvaluessuchassolidarity,equality,effectiveness,andvalued lifestyles. This is the theme of this book; to identify the choice of insti- tutional configuration and distribution of responsibilities, and the corresponding welfare consequences at the micro level. We are lookingforvariationinwelfareregimeswithintheEuropeanunion, andtheirrespectivedistributiveoutcomes. ThisresearchhasbeensupportedbytheSwedishSocialResearch Council. [7]
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