Full Description
This wide-ranging comparative analysis of contemporary and future changes in welfare states looks at the different trajectories of the welfare states of Europe, North America, the Antipodes, and the emerging scenarios in Latin America, East Asia and Central and Eastern Europe.
Leading experts on each of these regions examine the current structures of social protection, consider the causes of the current welfare state crisis and highlight evolving trends for welfare policy. Different welfare states are shown to manifest different forms of crisis. Among the symptoms of crisis, Welfare States in Transition suggests that the effect of popluation ageing is exaggerated, and an at least equally fundamental challenge lies in the revolution of the modern family and the changing economic role of women. The contributors are sceptical about the neo-liberal formula for reform, not only because it increases inequality but also because it does not address the growing need for an active social investment policy to ensure against entrapment in poverty or low-paid jobs.
Contents
Foreword - Dharam Ghai
After the Golden Age? Welfare State Dilemmas in a Global Economy - G[sl]osta Esping-Andersen
PART ONE: DECLINE OR RENEWAL IN THE ADVANCED WELFARE STATES?
The Scandinavian Welfare States - John D Stephens
Achievements, Crisis and Prospects
Welfare States without Work - G[sl]osta Esping-Andersen
The Impasse of Labour Shedding and Familialism in Continental European Social Policy
Needs-Based Strategies of Social Protection in Australia and New Zealand - Francis G Castles
When Markets Fail - John Myles
Social Welfare in Canada and the United States
PART TWO: EMERGING NEW WELFARE STATES?
Options for Social Policy in Latin America - Evelyne Huber
Neoliberal versus Social Democratic Models
The East Asian Welfare States - Roger Goodman and Ito Peng
Peripatetic Learning, Adaptive Change and Nation-Building
Social Protection in Central and Eastern Europe - Guy Standing
A Tale of Slipping Anchors and Torn Safety Nets
CONCLUSION
Positive-Sum Solutions in a World of Trade-Offs? - G[sl]osta Esping-Andersen
