| 1. |
- Aidukaite, Jolanta
(author)
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The Formation of Social Insurance Institutions of the Baltic States in the Post-Socialist Era
- 2006
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In: Journal of European Social Policy. - : SAGE Publications. - 0958-9287 .- 1461-7269. ; 16:3, s. 259-270
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper provides an overview of the differences that have emerged in the social insurance systems of the three Baltic countries since they regained their independence. It assesses how closely the institutional structures of social insurance in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania approximate to various ideal types of social security institutions to be found in the research literature. The findings indicate that, in general terms, the social security system of Estonia and Latvia can be labelled as a mix of the basic security and corporatist model, even if there are also some weak elements of the targeted model. In contrast, it appears that the institutional changes developing in the social security system of Lithuania have led to a combination of the basic security and targeted models of welfare. Even if they started with identical social security institutions inherited from the Soviet period, there is not only similarity, but also diversity in how these countries are now addressing problems in the social policy field.
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| 2. |
- Cisneros Örnberg, Jenny
(author)
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The Europeanization of Swedish alcohol policy - the case of ECAS
- 2008
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In: Journal of European Social Policy. - : SAGE Publications. - 0958-9287 .- 1461-7269. ; 18:4, s. 380-392
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Whereas governments had previously designed early exit policies to unburden labour markets, they have come increasingly to regard them as problematic. We investigate the reasons for this policy reversal, focusing on two key actors: governments and trade unions. Our mixed-methods approach entails two major steps: first, we embed approaches to policy reform in a common framework to show the empirical relevance of the two major actors in most OECD countries. We find that both government ideology and union representativeness matter. In a second step, we investigate reform processes in two countries in more detail. Belgium and the Netherlands have much in common as regards government and interest groups but differ in terms of the reversal of early exit policies. We see that both the configuration of electoral and welfare state institutions have shaped the specific strategic environment of the two actors in both countries.
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| 3. |
- Green-Pedersen, Christoffer, et al.
(author)
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Politics within paths : trajectories of Danish and Swedish earnings-related pensions
- 2006
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In: Journal of European Social Policy. - : SAGE Publications. - 0958-9287 .- 1461-7269. ; 16:3, s. 245-258
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article investigates earnings-related pension schemes in Denmark and Sweden with a focus on the last two decades. It takes the path dependency idea as its starting point and develops it further with regard to pension politics. In the Danish case, the article shows that existing funded, occupational pension schemes precluded a pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) solution for workers not already covered due to a 'reverse double payment problem'. Political attention centred instead on broadening the coverage of occupational schemes. The article demonstrates that the development of funded pension systems also shows a great deal of path dependency. In the Swedish case, we provide a detailed empirical investigation which shows how the double payment problem affects the positions of political parties, rather than the entire reform process. The study thus argues that the political parties were the crucial actors in the Swedish pension reform and that the path dependency facilitated a consensual reform process because it made irrelevant a more fundamental party political disagreement over the pension system.
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| 4. |
- Halleröd, Björn, et al.
(author)
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Relative deprivation : a comparative analysis of Britain, Finland and Sweden
- 2006
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In: Journal of European Social Policy. - London : Sage Publications. - 0958-9287 .- 1461-7269. ; 16:4, s. 328-345
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Our aim is to analyse both the incidence and distribution of economic hardship in three countries - Finland, Britain and Sweden - using measures of relative deprivation. The study represents a unique endeavour as our comparisons are based not on income data but on direct observations of consumption of goods and services. The method applied has been developed from the consensual poverty approach pioneered by Mack and Lansley (1985). Hence, what we will observe is the inability to consume socially perceived necessities, both goods and activities, because of lack of income. The preliminary results contradict, to a large degree, findings derived from more traditional studies based solely on income data. They also reveal a detailed picture of the way relative deprivation is structured within countries and the differences that prevail between the three countries. The analysis represents a first step in an effort to develop alternative tools when comparing poverty and economic well-being between countries.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Motiejunaite, Akvile, et al.
(author)
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Family policy, employment and gender-role attitudes : a comparative analysis of Russia and Sweden
- 2008
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In: Journal of European Social Policy. - : SAGE Publications. - 0958-9287 .- 1461-7269. ; 18:1, s. 38-49
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this article, we explore the interaction between female and male employment, parenting responsibilities and family policy in Russia and Sweden. The study is based first on indicators of public social services, assistance for families and labour force data; and second, on the ISSP modules on Family and Changing Gender Roles ( years 1994, 2002). The results show that both Sweden and Russia facilitate the 'dual-earner' family model, but that Sweden places a greater emphasis on dual-caring and flexible work arrangements for women. The support for traditional gender roles was much higher and more uniform in Russia than in Sweden. The proportion of 'dual-earner' and female-led families was nevertheless higher in Russia than in Sweden, especially in 1994 when major restructuring in the social and economic sphere was occurring. The findings suggest that family policy is instrumental in facilitating female employment, but does not necessarily bring changes in gender-role attitudes.
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| 8. |
- Rostila, M
(author)
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Social capital and health in European welfare regimes: a multilevel approach
- 2007
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In: JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN SOCIAL POLICY. - : SAGE Publications. - 0958-9287 .- 1461-7269. ; 17:3, s. 223-239
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- It has been suggested that welfare state characteristics are important for the creation of social trust and moreover that trust is related to health. However, the relationship between social capital and health has not previously been analysed from a welfare state perspective. This article therefore examines how welfare regimes, trust and self-rated health are related, primarily with multilevel logistic regressions. The findings suggest large variations in trust between European welfare regimes and a strong association between trust and health at population level. An association was also found between the post-socialist regime and individual health. This association persisted after adjustment for several confounders/mediators but turned non-significant after adjustment for contextual trust. This suggests that social trust might account for the association. The results further indicate that contexts with low trust, such as the post-socialist context, are somewhat more detrimental for the health of distrustful individuals. In overall terms, these findings suggest that contextual social trust could explain health differences between European welfare regimes.
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| 9. |
- Sainsbury, Diane
(author)
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Immigrants’ social rights in comparative perspective : welfare regimes, forms in immigration and immigration policy regimes
- 2006
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In: Journal of European Social Policy. - : SAGE Publications. - 0958-9287 .- 1461-7269. ; 16:3, s. 229-244
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In analysing the social rights of immigrants, this paper draws on insights from comparative welfare state research and international migration studies. On the premise that the type of welfare regime has an impact on immigrants' social rights, it utilizes Esping-Andersen's welfare regime typology as a point of departure. However, this typology must be complemented by two analytical constructs borrowed from the international migration literature: the immigration policy regime and entry categories associated with the form of immigration. The paper examines the social rights of immigrants in three countries generally regarded as exemplars of the welfare regime types: the United States, representing the liberal regime; germany, the conservative corporatist regime; and Sweden, the social democratic regime. It maps out immigrants' formal incorporation into the welfare systems of the three countries and pays special attention to legislation from 1990 onwards in order to understand the interplay between welfare regimes, the forms of immigration, and the immigration policy regimes in shaping immigrants' social rights.
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| 10. |
- Woolfson, Charles, 1946-
(author)
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Social Dialogue and Life-long learning in the new EU member states : “reform fit” in Latvia
- 2008
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In: Journal of European Social Policy. - UK : Sage. - 0958-9287 .- 1461-7269. ; 18:1, s. 79-87
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Vocational education and training (VET) is regarded by EU policymakers as crucial to creating a high-skill workforce capable of adapting to European and global demands in an intensified competitive environment. It is part of the so-called Copenhagen Process, in which social dialogue between employers and employees is seen as an important means of realizing policy. However, many of the new member states from the Eastern European countries which joined the European Union in 2004 have only weak forms of social dialogue. Moreover, the prevailing neo-liberal environment in many post-communist new member states undermines ‘reform fit’ between broad European social policy goals and narrower domestic agendas. This article explores the resulting problems in social dialogue with regard to VET in the new member states, using Latvia as a case-study.
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