Comparing welfare systems

Week 18

Comparative Sociology

Notices

• Reading for next week is:

• Parkhurst J (2005) 'Health system factors influencing maternal health services: a four country comparison' Health Policy 73 (2) 127-138

• Key Reading for week 21 is only now available by hard copy. An alternative is:

• Joppke C (1999) ‘How immigration is changingcitizenship: a comparative view’ Ethnic and Racial Studies 22 (4) 629–652

Recap

• Looked at the different models of capitalism

• Considered theories that nation-states have particular cultures

• Look at the idea of culture-clash

Outline

• What are welfare systems?

• ‘Three worlds of welfare capitalism’• Liberal• Conservative • Social democratic

• The case of lone-motherhood

What are welfare systems

• The provision that nation-states make for those that are unable to care for themselves:

– Sickness– Old-age– Housing– Education– Unemployment

• A contract between governments and peoples- (citizenship)

Early welfare systems

• Prior to 19th century largely individual benefactors and religious organisations –local provision

• Rise of industrialization • Fears of social disorder led to new forms of

provision– 1834 Poor Law in the UK– Bismarck Social Insurance in Germany

• Fears of ‘race’ degeneration and rise of eugenics

1834 Poor Law

• Provision for paupers – ‘indoor relief’

• Setting up of Workhouses

• Stigma

• ‘Respectable poor’ could be entitled to outdoor relief

Bismarck Social Insurance

• Compulsory insurance for workers• Sickness• Accidents• Old age• Invalidity

• Contributory scheme– Initially contributions only form

workers– Later state contributions added

• Widely copied over Europe

Welfare Capitalism

• Following the second world war many western states expanded or developed their welfare systems

• UK Beveridge Report identified five giants to be eliminated

• Disease• Ignorance• Squalor• Idleness• Want

Welfare Questions

• To what extent are the ‘poor’ responsible for their poverty?

• Does welfare create dependency?

• Who should be entitled to welfare provision?

Welfare Questions

• Discuss with the person sitting next to you: the questions of welfare

• To what extent are the ‘poor’ responsible for their poverty?

• Does welfare provision create dependency?

• Who should be entitled to welfare provision?

‘Three worlds’

• Esping-Anderson identified three ideal types of welfare capitalism

– Liberal– Conservative– Social Democratic

• These relate to wider ideas in nation-states about the economy, equality and the family

Liberal

• Related to liberal ideas about the economy– Individualism – Modest social insurance– Means-tested benefits– Minimum entitlement– Stigma

• The US, Australia and UK

Liberal welfare reform

• Does reducing welfare end dependency or make poverty worse?

Corporatist

• Family-based entitlement– Less emphasis on the market – Rights are related to class and status

• Occupational benefits• Emphasis on breadwinners

– Basic provision – but no redistribution of income– Traditional family structures preserved

• France, Germany, Italy

Promoting Gender/Racial Inequality?

• Security of main breadwinner – Inadequate provision for women & minority-

ethnic groups who have a less secure relationship to labour market

• Minimum services for

children, elderly, less-abled– Assumption of women as carers

Social Democratic

• Aim to promote equality through social programmes– Universal benefits– Comprehensive benefits– High standards not minimum needs

• Sweden, Norway, Denmark

High Cost

• High taxation rates to pay for universal benefits

• Based on near full-employment

• Economic changes have forced cuts in benefits

• Discuss these three different models of welfare. Which system do you think is the best overall?

Support for Lone Mothers

• Liberal – Stigmatised as ‘welfare queens’ or

‘scroungers’– Drain on public funds– Benefits minimum

• To prevent lone motherhood • Emphasis on finding work• Making fathers pay

– Child Support Agency UK

Corporatist

• Breadwinner model of social insurance does not adapt easily to other family forms– Compulsory maintenance payments from fathers in

Germany• Lone mothers have to rely on lower paying

‘assistance’ benefits rather than ‘insurance’ benefits

• Minimum provision of childcare• Lone motherhood a ‘risk’ but not

deviant

Social Democratic

• Women as citizen-workers– Generous state support – Childcare easily available– Parental leave schemes

• Lone motherhood not stigmatized

• No obligation to ‘name’ father

Different models

• Discuss with the person sitting next to you the advantages and disadvantages of each welfare model in relation to lone motherhood.

Cultural Assumptions

• Liberal and Corporatists models see women primarily as mothers rather than workers– Dependency should be on men rather than the state

• Social Democratic models see women as workers– Lone parenthood per se not an issue, but family-

friendly models needed to ensure women can participate in the labour market

Summary

• Considered the development of welfare systems

• Looked at Esping-Anderson’s three different models

• Shown how capitalism and culture shape welfare provision.

Next week

• Looking at healthcare systems

• Relating this to the models of welfare outlined today

• Continuing to consider the role of capital and culture