Society, Work and Welfare in Europe

214 Pages·1999·19.542 MB·English

by  Christine Cousins (auth.)

Society, Work and Welfare in Europe
Also by Christine Cousins and from the same publishers
CONTROLLING SOCIAL WELFARE: A Sociology of
State Welfare, Work and Organisation
Society, Work and
Welfare in Europe
Christine Cousins
First published in Great Britain 1999 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills. Basingstoke. Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-0-333-72995-3 ISBN 978-1-349-27016-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-27016-3
First published in the United States of America 1999 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division.
175 Fifth Avenue. New York. N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-21889-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cousins. Christine. 1943-
Society. work and welfare in Europe / Christine Cousins.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-21889-8 (cloth)
I. Welfare recipients-Employment-Europe. 2. Public welfare
-Europe. 3. Labor market-Europe. 4. Europe-Social policy.
5. Europe-Economic conditions-I 945- I. Title.
HV245.C695 1999
362.5'094-dc21 98-35436
CIP
© Christine Cousins 1999
All rights reserved. No reproduction. copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced. copied or transmitted save with
written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright. Designs and
Patents Act 1988. or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by
the Copyright Licensing Agency. 90 Tottenham Court Road. London WI P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance
with the Copyright. Designs and Patents Act 1988.
'This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
sustained forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99
Contents
List of Tables, Boxes and Figures vii
Introduction 1
I POST-WAR DEVELOPMENTS AND NATIONAL
VARIATIONS
1 National Diversity: Germany, Spain, Sweden
and the UK 13
1950s to 1970s 14
1980s and 1990s 29
Conclusion 36
II CHANGING PATTERNS OF WORK AND EMPLOYMENT
2 Labour Market Reform and 'Non-Standard'
Employment 43
1950s to early 1970s 45
Mid-1970s to the present 47
The nature and extent of non-standard employment 48
Labour market reforms 55
Evaluation 63
Conclusion 68
3 Women and Employment 72
Women's participation 73
Gender inequalities 82
Conclusion 94
4 Industrial Change in the Regions of Europe 97
Flexible specialization 98
Evidence from three case studies 104
Conclusion 112
v
vi Contents
III ISSUES OF SOCIAL POLICY
5 Women and Social Policies 117
Theoretical issues 117
The development of social policies for women 121
Conclusion 138
6 Poverty and Social Exclusion 141
Poverty research in Europe 142
Paradigms of social inclusion and exclusion 144
Poverty, exclusion and welfare regimes 149
Paradigms of social exclusion 152
Conclusion 163
Conclusion 167
Notes 170
Bibliography 181
Author Index 203
Subject Index 207
List of Tables, Boxes and
Figures
Tables
1.1 Germany: key dates, 1945 to 1990 15
1.2 Key dates during the Franco regime, 1939-75 20
1.3 The transition and consolidation of democracy
in Spain 1975-96 - selected dates 21
1.4 Sweden: key dates, late nineteenth century to 1995 23
1.5 UK: key dates, 1945 to 1997 28
2.1 Trends in non-standard employment in selected
European countries, 1985-95 50
2.2 Employment status of the economically active
in Spain, 1995 59
2.3 Unemployment in selected European countries, 1995 66
3.1 Gender occupational segregation in the UK, 1995
(employees) 83
3.2 Concentration of women and men employees in
occupational groups in the UK, 1995 83
3.3 The share of women's employment in occupational
groups in Europe, 1995 84
3.4 The gender pay ratio for manual and non-manual
workers in industry, 1991 90
3.5 Average hourly earnings of men and women in
selected occupational groups in Spain, 1993 91
5.1 Date of introduction of social policies for women
and the family in selected European countries 122
5.2 The development of social policies for women in
Spain after the transition to democracy: 1978-91 129
6.1 Poverty in Europe in the late 1980s 143
vii
viii Tables
Boxes
1.1 The main features of the social market economy
in west Germany 15
2.1 The regulatory framework of the employment
relationship 44
2.2 The employment relationship 44
2.3 Trends in non-standard work in Europe in the 1990s 49
2.4 The regulatory framework and part-time work in the
Netherlands 54
2.5 The regulatory framework in France 56
4.1 Pre-conditions and characteristics of industrial
districts in the Third Italy 100
4.2 Socio-economic conditions of the Catalonia industrial
region 105
5.1 Early European social policies for women 120
5.2 Family policy in west Germany 124
5.3 Parental leave in Sweden 133
Figures
2.1 Relation to head of household of the unemployed
and duration of unemployment in Germany, Spain
and the UK 65
3.1 Activity rates of men and women, 1975-95,
in Germany, Spain, Sweden and the UK 74
3.2 Activity rates of men and women, 1975-95,
in Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Italy 74
3.3 Female activity rates by age in Germany, Spain,
Sweden and the UK 76
3.4 Female activity rates by age in Denmark, France,
the Netherlands and Italy, 1995 77
3.5 Concentration of women's employment into
segregated occupations 86
Introduction
The aims of this book are twofold: first, to further our under
standing of processes of convergence and divergence in selected
European societies and of explanations for these; and secondly,
to provide an understanding of processes of social change, es
pecially in the spheres of work, employment and welfare. In this
respect the focus of the book is on the changing relationship
between work and welfare, which has become one of the central
academic and policy debates at the end of the twentieth cen
tury. One of the principal reasons for interest in this changing
relationship is that the restructuring of the welfare state is di
rectly related to transformations in the economy, increased inter
national competition, and, notably, the erosion of the standard
employment relationship on which social policies were premised
in earlier decades of the post-war period. The current charac
teristics of European economies with low economic growth and
high structural unemployment increasingly means the exclusion
and marginalization of many groups from participation in the
labour market and therefore from social protection based on
continuous employment. High unemployment also exacerbates
the costs to the welfare state, although, as we discuss in the
following chapters, the European welfare states have responded
in different ways to unemployment. Women's increased partici
pation at work has also undermined the male-breadwinner family
model which underpinned social policies in the early post-war
period and has led to a continuing debate about the relation
ship of women's paid and unpaid work and their access to wel
fare. These changes constitute the themes of this book.
The transformations affecting the European economies can be
related to a number of processes which include increasing inter
nationalization of the economies, a shift to neo-liberalism and
European integration, although in practice these three areas are
1