European welfare states and globalization : strategies in an era of economic restructuring / Ali Hajighasemi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hajighasemi, Ali.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Welfare state--Europe.

Welfare state.

Globalization--Europe.

Globalization.

Financial crises--Europe.

Financial crises.

European Union countries--Social policy.

European Union countries.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 312 p.) : ill.

Place of Publication:

Cheltenham : Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019.

Summary:

This timely book assesses how Europe’s welfare states have dealt with the challenges of globalization and the financial crisis. It asks whether the European Union has adopted a general strategy for dealing with four major threats to the sustainable development of European societies: the employability of a growing number of redundant workers, an ageing population, low birth rates and the persistent problem of gender inequality. The book will be an important read for social policy scholars, particularly those focusing on European welfare states, how they differ and lessons to be learnt from them. It also highlights key lessons from a broad range of case studies to help policymakers in understanding how and where improvements may be made in the future.

Contents:

Introduction

1: 'Social investment policy' challenged in 'The age of austerity'

2: The impacts of the welfare system on a competitive market economy

3: The social dimension of the European Union: steady march forward

4: The five different types of European welfare model

5: The effects of different welfare models

6: Poland: integration into the market economy and dismantling of social protections

7: Germany: how the 'sick man of Europe' became an 'economic superstar'?

8: Italy: a welfare state for the established, and the constant exclusion of outsiders

9: Denmark: Danish flexicurity to combat chronic unemployment

10. Trends in fertility and EU initiatives

11: The gender equality strategies of the social models

12: Gender policy in the largest economy and in the most gender-equal

13: Conclusions: towards greater coordination of European welfare states

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781789905564 (e-book)

9781789905557 (hbk.)