Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T11:19:38.223Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Four Worlds of ‘Welfare Reality’ – Social Risks and Outcomes in Europe

Part of: SPS Beveridge Report Archive Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 December 2014

Emanuele Ferragina ,
Martin Seeleib-Kaiser  and
Thees Spreckelsen
Emanuele Ferragina
Affiliation:
Oxford Institute of Social Policy, University of Oxford E-mail: [email protected]
Martin Seeleib-Kaiser
Affiliation:
Oxford Institute of Social Policy, University of Oxford E-mail: [email protected]
Thees Spreckelsen
Affiliation:
Oxford Institute of Social Policy, University of Oxford E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

After three decades of welfare state crisis, change and transformation can we still speak of welfare state regimes when looking at their outcomes? The analysis of outcomes provides a picture of ‘the real worlds of welfare’ and is of considerable importance to understanding political legitimacy across countries. We use aggregate longitudinal data for West European countries in order to map welfare outcomes and cluster countries. The cluster results are also assessed for their sensitivity to the choice of different countries, years or indicators. All European welfare states have a significant capacity for reducing poverty and inequality. However, the degree of this reduction varies considerably, especially when examining different social groups, i.e. unemployed people, children, youths or the elderly. Outcomes cluster countries largely in line with previous institutionalist literature, differentiating between conservative, liberal, Mediterranean and social-democratic regimes. As the main exception, we identify Germany, which can no longer be characterised as the proto-typical conservative welfare state. When analysing old social risks such as unemployment and old age, Europe appears to be characterised by two groups, i.e. one consisting of liberal and Mediterranean countries and a second made up of social-democratic and conservative countries. New social risks such as child and youth poverty, by contrast, replicate very closely the theoretical four-cluster typology. Our sensitivity analyses reveal that our clusters tend to be stable over time. Welfare regimes continue to serve as a useful analytical tool and relate to outcomes experienced by European citizens.

Keywords

Welfare state regimespovertyinequalitycomparativesocial policycluster analysisEU-SILC
Type
Themed Section on Twenty Five Years of the Welfare Modelling Business
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , April 2015 , pp. 287 - 307
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aidukaite, J. (2009) ‘Old welfare state theories and new welfare regimes in Eastern Europe: challenges and implications’, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 42, 1, 23–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldenderfer, M. S. and Blashfield, R. K. (1984) Cluster Analysis, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Arts, W. A. and Gelissen, J. (2002) ‘Three worlds of welfare capitalism or more? A state-of-the-art report’, Journal of European Social Policy, 12, 2, 137–58.Google Scholar
Arts, W. A. and Gelissen, J. (2010) ‘Models of the welfare state’, in Castles, F. G., Leibfried, S., Lewis, J., Obinger, H. and Pierson, C. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 569–83.Google Scholar
Bambra, C. (2005) ‘Worlds of welfare and the health care discrepancy’, Social Policy and Society, 4, 1, 31–41.Google Scholar
Bleses, P. and Seeleib-Kaiser, M. (2004) The Dual Transformation of the German Welfare State, Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Bonoli, G. (1997) ‘Classifying welfare states: a two-dimension approach’, Journal of European Social Policy, 26, 3, 351–72.Google Scholar
Bonoli, G. (2005) ‘The politics of the new social policies: providing coverage against new social risks in mature welfare states’, Policy and Politics, 33, 3, 431–49.Google Scholar
Bonoli, G. (2007) ‘Time matters: postindustrialization, new social risks, and welfare state adaptation in advanced industrial democracies’, Comparative Political Studies, 40, 5, 495–520.Google Scholar
Cantillon, B. and Vandenbroucke, F. (2014) Reconciling Work and Poverty Reduction: How Successful Are European Welfare States?, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Castles, F. C. and Mitchell, D. (1992) ‘Identifying welfare state regimes: the links between politics, instruments and outcomes’, Governance: An International Journal of Policy and Administration, 5, 1, 1–26.Google Scholar
Castles, F. G. and Mitchell, D. (1993) Worlds of Welfare and Families of Nations, Dartmouth: Aldershot.Google Scholar
Castles, F. G. and Obinger, H. (2008) ‘World, families, regimes: country clusters in European and OECD area public policy’, West European Politics, 31, 1/2, 321–44.Google Scholar
Council of the European Union (2008) Consolidated Versions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Brussels: Council of the European Union.Google Scholar
Dale, P. (1986) The Myth of Japanese Uniqueness, London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Danforth, B. (2014) ‘Worlds of welfare in time: a historical reassessment of the three-world typology’, Journal of European Social Policy, 24, 2, 164–82.Google Scholar
Decancq, K., Goedemé, T., Van den Bosch, K. and Vanhille, J. (2014) ‘The evolution of poverty in the European Union: concepts, measurement and data’, in Cantillon, B. and Vandenbroucke, F. (eds.), Reconciling Work and Poverty Reduction: How Successful are European Welfare States?, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 60–93.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (ed.) (1996) Welfare States in Transition – National Adaptations in Global Economies, London: Sage.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (1997) ‘Hybrid or unique? The Japanese welfare state between Europe and America’, Journal of European Social Policy, 7, 3, 179–89.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (1999) The Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (2009) The Incomplete Revolution, Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. and Myles, J. (2009) ‘Economic inequality and the welfare state’, in Salverda, W., Nolan, B. and Smeeding, T. M. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Economic Inequality, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 639–64.Google Scholar
Eurostat (2014a) ‘Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income [ilc_di12a/b]’, http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=ilc_di12&lang=en [accessed 23.06.2014].Google Scholar
Eurostat (2014b) ‘At-risk-of poverty rate by most frequent activity status [tessi124]’, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tessi124&plugin=0 [accessed 23.06.2014].Google Scholar
Eurostat (2014c) ‘At-risk-of poverty rate by detailed age group [tessi120]’, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tessi120 [accessed 23.06.2014].Google Scholar
Eurostat (2014d) ‘Aggregate replacement ratio [ilc_pnp3]’, http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=ilc_pnp3&lang=en [accessed 23.06.2014].Google Scholar
Eurostat (2014e) ‘Employment rates by sex, age and nationality (%) [lfsa_ergan]’, http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=lfsa_ergan&lang=en [accessed 23.06.2014].Google Scholar
Eurostat (2014f) ‘Participation rates in education by age and sex [educ_thpar]’, http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=educ_thpar&lang=en [accessed 23.06.2014].Google Scholar
Ferragina, E. (2012) Social Capital in Europe: A Comparative Regional Analysis, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Ferragina, E. and Seeleib-Kaiser, M. (2011) ‘The welfare regime debate: past, present, future?’, Policy and Politics, 39, 4, 583–61.Google Scholar
Ferragina, E., Seeleib-Kaiser, M. and Tomlinson, M. (2013) ‘Unemployment protection and family policy at the turn of the 21st century: a dynamic approach to welfare regime theory’, Social Policy and Administration, 47, 7, 783–805.Google Scholar
Ferrera, M. (1993) Modelli di Solidarietà, Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Ferrera, M. (1996) ‘The “southern model” of welfare in social Europe’, Journal of European Social Policy, 6, 1, 17–37.Google Scholar
Fleckenstein, T., Saunders, A. and Seeleib-Kaiser, M. (2011) ‘The dual transformation of social protection and human capital: comparing Britain and Germany’, Comparative Political Studies, 44, 12, 1622–50.Google Scholar
Gabel, M. and Whitten, G. D. (1997) ‘Economic conditions, economic perceptions, and public support for European integration’, Political Behavior, 19, 1, 81–96.Google Scholar
Gal, J. (2004) ‘Decommodification and beyond: a comparative analysis of work-injury programmes’, Journal of European Social Policy, 14, 1, 55–69.Google Scholar
Gallie, D. and Paugam, S. (2000) Welfare Regimes and the Experience of Unemployment in Europe, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Goedemé, T. (2013) ‘How much confidence can we have in EU-SILC? Complex sample designs and the standard error of the Europe 2020 poverty indicators’, Social Forces, 110, 1, 89–119.Google Scholar
Goodin, R. E. (1988) Reasons for Welfare: The Political Theory of the Welfare State, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Goodin, R. E. (2001) ‘Work and welfare: towards a post-productivist welfare regime’, British Journal of Political Science, 31, 1, 13–39.Google Scholar
Goodin, R. E., Headey, B., Muffels, R. and Dirven, H. (1999) The Real Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gough, I. (2001) ‘Social assistance regimes: a cluster analysis’, Journal of European Social Policy, 11, 2, 165–70.Google Scholar
Haller, M. (2009) ‘Is the European Union legitimate? To what extent?’, International Social Science Journal, 60, 196, 223–34.Google Scholar
Hauser, R. (2008) ‘Problems of the German contribution to EU-SILC: a research perspective comparing EU-SILC, microcensus and SOEP’, SOEP Papers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research, No. 86, DIW Berlin: The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).Google Scholar
Hemerijck, A. (2012) Changing Welfare States, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hennig, C. (2007) ‘Cluster-wise assessment of cluster stability’, Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, 52, 1, 259–71.Google Scholar
Henning, C. (2008) ‘Dissolution point and isolation robustness: robustness criteria for general cluster analysis methods’, Journal of Multivariate Analysis, 99, 6, 1154–76.Google Scholar
Hudson, J. and Kühner, S. (2009) ‘Towards productive welfare? A comparative analysis of 23 OECD countries’, Journal of European Social Policy, 19, 1, 34–46.Google Scholar
Iacovou, M., Kaminska, O. and Levy, H. (2012) Using EU-SILC Data for Cross-National Analysis: Strengths, Problems and Recommendations, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) Working Papers, 2012–03, Colchester: University of Essex, ISER.Google Scholar
Kammer, A., Niehues, J. and Peichl, A. (2012) ‘Welfare regimes and welfare state outcomes in Europe’, Journal of European Social Policy, 22, 5, 455–71.Google Scholar
Kangas, O. E. (1994) ‘The politics of social security: on regressions, qualitative comparisons, and cluster analysis’, in Janoski, T. and Hicks, A. M. (eds.), The Comparative Political Economy of the Welfare State, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 346–64.Google Scholar
Kautto, M. (2002) ‘Investing in services in West European welfare states’, Journal of European Social Policy, 12, 1, 53–65.Google Scholar
Korpi, W. and Palme, J. (1998) ‘The paradox of redistribution and strategies of equality: welfare state institutions’, American Sociological Review, 63, 5, 661–87.Google Scholar
Leibfried, S. (1992) ‘Towards a European welfare state? On integrating poverty regimes into the European community’, in Zsuza, F. and Kolberg, J. E. (eds.), Social Policy in Changing Europe, Frankfurt: Campus, pp. 245–79.Google Scholar
Lipset, S. M. (1996) American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edge Sword, New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Moran, M. (2000) ‘Understanding the welfare state: the case of health care’, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 2, 2, 135–60.Google Scholar
Nolan, B. (2013) ‘What use is “social investment”?’, Journal of European Social Policy, 23, 5, 459–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Obinger, H. and Wagschal, U. (1998) ‘Drei Welten Wohlfahrtsstaates? Das Stratifizierungskonzept in der Clusteranalytischen Überprüfung’, in Lessenich, S. and Ostner, I. (eds.), Welten des Wohlfahrtskapitalismus, Frankfurt and New York: Campus Verlag, pp. 109–35.Google Scholar
Obinger, H. and Wagschal, U. (2001) ‘Families of nations and public policy’, West European Politics, 24, 1, 99–114.Google Scholar
Pierson, P. (2001) ‘Coping with permanent austerity: welfare state restructuring in affluent democracies’, in Pierson, P. (ed.), The New Politics of the Welfare State, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 411–55.Google Scholar
Potuček, M. (2008) ‘Metamorphoses of welfare states in Central Eastern Europe’, in Seeleib-Kaiser, M. (ed.), Welfare States Transformations – Comparative Perspectives, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 79–95.Google Scholar
Powell, M. and Barrientos, A. (2004) ‘Welfare regimes and the welfare mix’, European Journal of Political Research, 43, 1, 83–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, M. and Barrientos, A. (2011) ‘An audit of the welfare modelling business’, Social Policy and Administration, 45, 1, 69–84.Google Scholar
Ragin, C. C. (1994) ‘A qualitative comparative analysis of pension systems’, in Janoski, T. and Hicks, A. M. (eds.), The Comparative Political Economy of the Welfare State, Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, pp. 320–45.Google Scholar
Room, G. (2000) ‘Commodification and decommodification: a developmental critique’, Policy and Politics, 28, 3, 331–51.Google Scholar
Sabatier, P. A. (1988) ‘An advocacy coalition framework of policy change and the role of policy-oriented learning therein’, Policy Sciences, 21, 2–3, 129–68.Google Scholar
Saint-Arnaud, S. and Bernard, P. (2003) ‘Convergence or resilience? A hierarchical cluster analysis of the welfare regimes in advanced countries’, Current Sociology, 51, 4, 499–527.Google Scholar
Scharpf, F. W. (1999) Governing in Europe: Effective and Democratic?, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Schröder, M. (2009) ‘Integrating welfare and production typologies: how refinements of the varieties of capitalism approach call for a combination of welfare typologies’, Journal of Social Policy, 38, 1, 19–43.Google Scholar
Scruggs, L. A. and Allan, J. P. (2006) ‘Welfare state decommodification in 18 OECD countries: a replication and revision’, Journal of European Social Policy, 16, 1, 55–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seeleib-Kaiser, M. (2002) ‘A dual transformation of the German welfare state?’, West European Politics, 25, 4, 478–96.Google Scholar
Shalev, M. (1996) ‘Introduction’, in Shalev, M. (ed.), The Privatization of Social Policy?, London: Macmillan, pp. 1–23.Google Scholar
Shalev, M. (2007) ‘Limits and alternatives to multiple regression in comparative research’, Comparative Social Research, 24, 261–308.Google Scholar
Soede, A., Vrooman, C., Ferraresi, P. M. and Segre, C. (2004) Unequal Welfare States: Distributive Consequences of Population Ageing in Six European Countries, The Hague: Social Cultural Plannig Office.Google Scholar
Taylor-Gooby, P. (2004) New Risks, New Welfare, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Vandenbroucke, F. and Diris, R. (2014) ‘Mapping at-risk-of-poverty rates, household employment, and social spending’, in Cantillon, B. and Vandenbroucke, F. (eds.), Reconciling Work and Poverty Reduction: How Successful Are European Welfare States?, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–59.Google Scholar
Vrooman, J. C. (2009) Rules of Relief: Institutions of Social Security, and Their Impact, The Hague: The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP).Google Scholar
Wildeboer Shut, J. M., Vrooman, C. and De Beer, P. T. (2001) On Worlds of Welfare: Institutions and Their Effects in Eleven Welfare States, The Hague: Social and Cultural Planning Office.Google Scholar