Integrated Approaches to Active Welfare and Employment Policies
Integrated Approaches to Active Welfare and Employment Policies

Author: John Ditch

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13:

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Over the past decade, European social policy has been oriented towards ways of integrating people into the labour market, moving citizens from welfare dependency to work. Recipients of social benefits are now generally required to participate in employment activation shemes. Many are also likely to need support from health, education, housing or other services. It is widely acknowledged that there is a great need for better coordination of welfare and employment policies at all levels: local, regional and national. This report presents an analysis of initiatives in all 15 EU Member States that aim to achieve better coordination of employment activation measures. It describes the role of the different agencies and actors involved in the planning, implementation and delivery of services. It shows the approach taken in some countries and localities towards better coordination through a range of new institutions and mechanisms. The report identifies measures in both policy and practice for improving coordination, including strategic as well as operational measures, and underlines the effectiveness of a comprehensive evaluation strategy.

The activation dilemma
The activation dilemma

Author: Moreira, Amilcar

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2008-06-20

Total Pages: 169

ISBN-13: 184742354X

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The activation of social welfare recipients has been, and still is, a central issue in the development of social and employment policies in Europe. This ambitious book explores the employment effectiveness of minimum income schemes, and provides the first comprehensive examination of its dependency on how the rights and obligations of the recipients are defined. The book argues that the right to a minimum income can only be adequately justified with reference to the individual's right to personal development. Combining political theory and policy analysis, the author draws on evidence from eight different European countries to illustrate how it is possible to combine higher levels of employment effectiveness with the respect for recipients' right to personal development. Exploring the balance between fairness and effectiveness in the activation of minimum income recipients and acknowledging that individuals have both rights and obligations, this book will provide a useful reference tool to students, researchers and policy-makers with an interest in the work versus welfare nexus.

Integrating Social and Employment Policies in Europe
Integrating Social and Employment Policies in Europe

Author: Martin Heidenreich

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2016-01-29

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1783474920

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A central goal of European activation policies is to provide coherent and actively inclusive employment and social services. This book offers new insights on the effective governance and implementation of such policies. Utilizing empirical studies from six European welfare states, expert contributors explore how different institutional contexts influence localized service delivery and how local authorities deal with the associated coordination challenges. Acknowledging that neither decentralization nor provider networks necessarily prevent fragmented service provision, Martin Heidenreich and Deborah Rice illustrate that an understanding of the European budgetary context, as well as individual network brokerage, is vital for a successful integration of employment and social policies at the local level. Timely and engaging, this innovative book will provide new theoretical perspectives and invaluable empirical materials for academics and students in the field of comparative social policy. Policy makers and officials will also appreciate the editors’ practical approach.

Participation Income
Participation Income

Author: Hiilamo, Heikki

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2022-08-12

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 1800880804

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This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. This innovative book provides the first in-depth analysis of participatory income and its potential role in countering endemic poverty and unemployment in high-income countries. Heikki Hiilamo reviews the concept of basic income and specific basic income experiments before presenting participatory income as a viable alternative in the fight against poverty.

From the Manpower Revolution to the Activation Paradigm
From the Manpower Revolution to the Activation Paradigm

Author: J. Timo Weishaupt

Publisher: Amsterdam University Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 9089642528

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This illuminating book examines the origins and evolution of labor market policy in Western Europe in three phases: a manpower revolution during the 1960s and 1970s; a phase of international disagreement about the causes of and remedies for unemployment, which triggered a variety of policy responses in the late 1970s and 1980s; and, finally, the emergence of an activation paradigm in the late 1990s, the influence of which continues to reverberate today. J. Timo Weishaupt contends that the evolution of labor market policy is determined not only by historical trajectories or coalitional struggles, but also by policy makers' changing normative and cognitive beliefs. Including case studies of Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, this study will be of value to anyone interested in labor market policy and its governance.

Making it personal
Making it personal

Author: van Berkel, Rik

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2007-02-28

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1847422314

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Public social services are increasingly being individualised in order to better meet the differentiated needs of competent and independent citizens and to promote the effectiveness of social interventions. This book addresses this development, focusing on a new type of social services that has become crucial in the 'modernisation' of welfare states: activation services. The book discusses and analyses the individualisation of activation services against the background of social policy reforms on the one hand, and the introduction of new forms of public governance on the other. Critically discussing the rise of individualised social services in the light of various theoretical points of view, it analyses the way in which activation and the 'active subject' are presented in EU discourse. It compares the introduction of individualised activation services in five EU welfare states: the UK, Germany, Italy, Finland and the Czech Republic, focusing on official policies as well as policy practices. The book provides original insights into the phenomenon of the individualised provision of activation services. It is useful reading for policy makers as well as for students and researchers of welfare states, social policies and public governance.

Rescaling Social Policies towards Multilevel Governance in Europe
Rescaling Social Policies towards Multilevel Governance in Europe

Author: Yuri Kazepov

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-10-24

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1351904035

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The workings of multi-level governance -- institutional choices concerning centralisation, decentralisation and subsidiarity -- are widely debated within European public policy, but few systematic studies assessing the effects of changing divisions of power for policy-making have been carried out. This volume offers an assessment of the workings of multi-level governance in terms of social welfare policy across different clusters of European states -- Nordic, Southern European, Central and East European. This book reports on a major comparative study at the European Centre for Social Welfare policy and Research, which included partners from univerisities in Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Spain and Switzerland. It reports on three particular policy areas: social assistance and local policies against poverty; activation and labour market policies; and care for the elderly. The authors describe different starting points, strategies and solutions in European countries which are facing similar challenges and could thus learn from each other. They explore the differences between European welfare regimes in terms of territorial responsibilities, the changes that have taken place over the past few years and their effects. The book is distinctive in highlighting comparative transversal and transnational issues of multi-level governance in social welfare policies, rather than presenting country reports.

Social Policy Developments in Greece
Social Policy Developments in Greece

Author: Elias Mossialos

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-05-15

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 1351899368

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In recent years there has been much debate surrounding the future of the welfare state in Europe, the complex factors influencing reform, and the extent to which responses to pressures on welfare could lead to irreversible systemic changes in social policy. By providing an in-depth analysis of social policy developments in Greece, this work furthers understanding of welfare reform trajectories in Europe. The authors thoroughly examine aspects of structural change, challenges and responses in major policy areas of employment, social security, family and gender, health and social care, and migration. Research issues central to the debate on 'recasting European welfare states', such as structural adjustments with regard to the production, organization and delivery of welfare, significant changes in the financial side of social protection, the role of political parties, the social partners and other major social actors in influencing (or resisting) policy reform, are at the forefront of the contributions to this volume. The scope and intensity of pressures on the Greek welfare state emanating from the supranational level and the challenges linked to European integration and economic and monetary union are also of crucial importance in the analyses undertaken.

Frontline Delivery of Welfare-to-Work Policies in Europe
Frontline Delivery of Welfare-to-Work Policies in Europe

Author: Rik van Berkel

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-06-27

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1317439686

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Welfare-to-work or activation policies refer to programmes aimed at promoting the employability, labour-market and social participation of benefit recipients of working age. Frontline workers delivering these policies are conceived of as policy implementers, as policy makers, and as actors mediating politics in an arena where conflicting interests are at stake. Frontline work plays a crucial role in determining what welfare-to-work practically means and how it affects the lives of the people it targets. Yet few books have deliberatively focused on comparing what happens when frontline workers, some of whom are professional social workers, meet clients. Pioneering the provision of scholarly reflections on both theoretical and policy relevance of studying frontline practices of delivering activation, internationally renowned researchers present the first comparative analysis of how activation policies are actually delivered by frontline staff in selected EU countries and in the United States. In trying to understand and interpret frontline practices in activation, each contribution provides insights into what ‘activation in practice’ looks like, what services are provided and how they are enacted. This involves examining processes of client selection, monitoring, sanctioning and motivating, as well as the role of external service providers. This book is an important acquisition for scholars and researchers of social policy, public administration, public management, social work and policy implementation.