Welfare Regimes And The Experience Of Unemployment In Europe

Manufacturer

USA Oxford University Press

The study found that different welfare regimes have different effects on the experience of unemployment. In countries with a social welfare system, such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, unemployment is less likely to lead to poverty and financial hardship. In countries with a market-based system, such as the UK and France, unemployment is more likely to lead to poverty and financial hardship. The study also found that different welfare regimes affect the social integration of unemployed people. In countries with a social welfare system, such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden, unemployed people are more likely to have social networks and psychological well-being. In countries with a market-based system, such as the UK and France, unemployed people are less likely to have social networks and psychological well-being.

The is the first major study to examine the implications of different welfare regimes for the experience of unemployment in Europe. It addresses three central questions. How far do such regimes protect unemployed people from poverty and financial hardship? Do they reduce or accentuate the tendencies for progressive marginalization from employment that may arise from motivational change, skill loss or the growth of discriminatory barriers? Finally, to what extent do they affect the social integration of unemployed people, in particular with respect to their social networks and psychological well-being? The book is based on a major cross-cultural research programme funded by the European Union. In addition to systematic comparison of national data, it uses a new important data source - the European Community Household Panel - which provides directly comparable information for most of the EU countries. The study shows that institutional and cultural differences have vital implications for the experience of unemployment. While welfare policies affect in an important way the pervasiveness of poverty, it is above all the patterns of family structure and the culture of sociability in a society that affect vulnerability to social isolation. The book concludes by developing a new perspective for understanding the risk of social exclusion.