Welfare state Flashcards
The rise in Socialist left politics
n the 1930s Social democratic parties came to power in Denmark, Sweden and Norway- they implemented important socia reforms. During the decades after the war they were able to effectively control the direction of welfare politics due to their strong established position. Iceland and Finland on the other hand were less so influenced by such parties and thus their welfare development can be less attributed to political development in the left.
the idea of public responsibility
there was an emphasis on the idea that people were the driving force behind the welfare state as this is who it was meant to work for.
Characteristics of the nordic Model include- form a women’s perspective
he dependence of women on their spouses dropped due to the citizenship approach where by women were entitled to participate in state and women have very much become part of the dual earner state that is contrasted with the rest of Europe where women play a much more secondary role on the household.
The quality of social welfare models is often based on…
the content of the schemes of development rather than the input per se. That said there is a certain minimum level of input required in order for them to be a success.
1990 study on GDP expenditure
Sweden and Denmark were dedicating 30% of their GDP to Public social expenditure
Taxation also ranked very highly in comparison to the rest of Europe.
Health expenditure separated the Scandinavian countries from the rest of the world
most enduring stereotypes
he Nordic Model that emerged post war is
towards en of the 19th century the social welfare someone received was based on
the ‘undeserving’ or ‘deserving’ of the group.
three social welfare models
He noted that the Australian and Canadian model provided for a minimum allowance/ safety net for the lower classes- this was a liberal approach he approach in many western societies depended much on the catholic church and was much more conservative. It tended to reinforce strong family and social structure. n the Scandinavian models even the middle class was incorporated into the welfare scheme- they focus on universal benefits. - social problems for the old-age, education and child care were not simply for the poor but instead for all of the classes.
Taxation levels in 1980
accounted for 50% og GDP in N,S,D
Pre socialist developments roots of welfare
he introduction a state pension scheme emerged in 1913 in Sweden whilst in Norway and Denmark there unemployment insurance policies introduced in Denmark and Norway by the Bourgeois. The emergence of a strong Nordic welfare model was down to the previous strength gained by a majorly agrarian middle class
Lutheranism
was also a key aspect of shaping the nordic social model- the ideal of being self dependent and willingness to work was a keystone in the success of the Social model.
Policy in Sweden to counter emigration
during the late 19th century there was an own-your-own-home movement that emerged in this bid to counter emigration and encourage self reliance.
Legal framework put in place at the end of the 19th century
was a key in the long lasting success and growth of the welfare model- for example the tax funded pension introduced in Denmark in 1891 was only reformed for the first time just under a century later.
Compromise of the Universalist label
The sickness insurance in Norway that was introduced was only obligatory was certain social groups
Importance of inter war period for social welfare
t created major economic difficulties and as a result this lead to a growth in the popularity of the social democratic wings of the governments. They aimed to target the economic inequality and general poor standards of social welfare that had emerged during the wars.
The wage earners model
The way in which these socialist parties implemented change was also to be questioned.
Some groups were excluded in the pension scheme- even in the Norwegian one were the exceptions with those living abroad and beggars excluded. In social insurance too there was the idea that only respectable workers could be given this
Fault in the Swedish universal approach
in the 60s 1.4 million wage earners were still being excluded from the insurance policy to protect them against unemployment
Instead of calling it a Universal model
It would be more apt to say that Universalism within the context of a welfare state could only be applied in part to the Nordic states during the 20th century. This said, the nordic state welfare model depended much more heavily on the universal aspects than other welfare models did.
Backwards Finland
the only insurance scheme that existed until the 60s was the workers accident scheme. This said due to demands from the trade union movements, Finland introduced strong labour protection laws much before the likes of Sweden and Denmark.
Social welfare closely linked to economic efficiency. Three examples.
pre war period where due to industrialisation there was more of a focus of the integration of the working classes who had a bigger say
hen the impact of the inter war period where leftist Governments looked to get the economy stronger
finally the period of retrenchment where governments aimed to counter the effects of the economic difficulties with reduced spending
Which period of reform attracted the most attention from abroad?
The period between the wars- influenced crucially Finland as a newly independent nation.
Poor population levels-
ack of faith in the ability to reproduce and maintain stable population levels lead to a focus on family life. - this came in the form of improved child care access and better awareness of birth control which saw giving birth transformed into a planned, controlled and reasoned decision.
Sterilisation
Eugenics also emerged as a way of eliminating mentally retarded form the Scandinavian population- in the 40s around 80% of sterilisation was concerned with this ambition. That said, sterilisation was never promoted in line with the Nazi model.
By the 70s what criticism emerged of the work of the Social democrats?
continued economic growth, inequality persisted.
Due to this there was an effort by new up and coming socialists to improve social inequality-
which group benefited from the drive by radical leftists in the 70s?
Women- they were able to take advantage of the growing public sector and by the 1990s Norway experienced the highest levels of employment for Women in the world.
Women were also permitted to combine child care with education and work.
Dual bread mentality
Not totally a result of the welfare system. The dual bread mentality had long been established- the idea of women and men working was common in agrarian societies so really this change was only effective in supporting the growth due to the rise in the urban population.
The image of the welfare state was attacked during the 70s from the right as well
they were seen to be encouraging conformity and decreasing productivity. The popular progress movements emerged in the right of Denmark and Norway. They criticised the expansive benefits system that broke up economic efficiency.
Problems facing the model today
The effect of European integration, globalisation and criticism from within have all been major talking points for the development and future of the Nordic model. Mass immigration is seen as unaffordable whilst there has also been an increase disillusionment due to the decreasing in influence of the Social democrats after the economic struggles of the 70s.
late 80s and 90s economic struggles
this period saw serious economic problems confronting Sweden, Denmark and Finland- Danish government launched a number of welfare restructuring policies
Globalisation caused change
The economic integration and international political cooperation hindered the freedom previously held to conduct a policy on its own free will
More critical trade off between economic performance and welfare
As a result taxes were cut as not harm labour costs and also much of the health service and insurance provided was moved in to the hands on the private sector
general political growth in Europe in the latter quarter of the 20th century
leaned towards the right- the labour movement under blair is an example of this- policies became more liberal and thus threatened the long standing social democratic reign over the welfare state in the Nordic countries
Danish conservatives in the 80s
were hesitant to criticise the welfare state for fear of being punished in the ballots- showing that perhaps the overall support for a welfare system was strong. That said Denmark on the whole was relatively flexible with their reforms and after 1973 their reforms came in line with much of the civil activism
effects of the oil crisis on Swedish views on welfare state
The Swedish conservatives did not look favourably on the Welfare state model during the 70s. They saw the crisis as a legitimate starting point for discussing the sustainability of the welfare model.
effect of women on welfare state
the introduction of women opened new sectors for childcare and care for elderly people
Middle class impact on the Welfare State
the middle class has a large impact in Scandinavian countries- win in this section and win overall- this is why the welfare state was allowed to grow even when the taxes were raised.
Problems with means testing
where means testing dominates there is evidence that shows people go on to see the poorer community as taking advantage of their hard earned money.
Paradoxical nature of Welfare system
the welfare system encourages the idea of expressionism- this in turn is more likely to lead to a more liberal way of thinking and thus a very anti establishment view of the state- hence why there may be a problem with the way the welfare supports the people as it may not be in the best interests after all.
Finnish parties on welfare development
the parties in Finland have increasingly place emphasis on the importance of the welfare state- in comparison to the likes of the social democrats who have not mentioned, to the same extent, the importance of the welfare state.
context of the recession
meant that in the 90s a lot of pressure was put on the welfare system to perform- came from the middle class parties like the conservatives and the swedish peoples party.
main period of pressure came during
the late 80s and early 90s
limitations with the idea of globalisation
it is a rather vague idea that in fact did cause create several obstacles for the welfare state- but
2007- opposition to the welfare state?
by this period there were in fact no parties who openly challenges the welfare system- many of the parties who had previously opposed the economic policy attached to the welfare state, had by this time moved closer towards the socialist economics associated with the welfare state.
criticism of the welfare state regarding labour movement
many have criticised the welfare state for its dependence of the labour movement- saying that in order for it to function there has to be a strong and large labour movement- when this declines, so does the integrity of the welfare state.
what is the Jante law?
is an unwritten law whereby Swedes do not boast nor seek to be the best- it ties in with the idea of the welfare state
