Description
Book SynopsisThis book explores developments in the social legitimacy of present-day European welfare states since the banking crisis of 2008. It analyses how the welfare attitudes of Europeans have been influenced by economic recession and consequent welfare reforms, as well as reactions to on-going debates around welfare.
Utilising cross-national perspectives, the book analyses the differences and similarities in welfare attitudes of Europeans between 2008 and 2016. It highlights popular welfare attitudes towards different groups of society, including migrants, the elderly and unemployed, exploring if and why specific practices and policies would meet popular resistance or approval.
Social policy and sociology scholars will find this book helpful, as the cross-national analysis provides new insights into the contextual drivers of welfare attitudes. It will also be useful to policy-makers and practitioners working in Europe offering analysis of welfare preferences, evaluations and perceptions.
Contributors include: H. Chung, L. de Blok, S. Delespaul, B. Ebbinghaus, M.A. Eger, H. Ervasti, J. Gale, D. Gugushvili, A. Haugsgjerd, S. Kumlin, T. Laenen, C.A. Larsen, B. Meuleman, J. Mewes, E. Naumann, E. Politi, F. Roosma, C. Staerklé, W. van Oorschot
Trade Review'The three editors unite the finest state-of-the-art research about public attitudes towards the welfare state in Europe. Drawing on the 2008 and 2016 waves of the high-quality European Social Survey, the contributors analyse how and why the diversity of relationships between citizens and the welfare state manifests itself in the individual mind in the first two decades of the 21st century.' --Achim Goerres, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Table of ContentsContents: Foreword xiv PART I INTRODUCTION 1. Welfare Attitudes in Times of Crisis and Austerity 3 Bart Meuleman, Wim van Oorschot and Tijs Laenen PART II WELFARE STATE CRITICISM AND WELFARE STATE SUPPORT 2. Welfare Criticism in Times of Economic Crisis. Perceptions of Moral, Economic and Social Consequences of the Welfare State, 2008–2016 25 Bart Meuleman and Sam Delespaul 3. The Perceived Abuse of Welfare Benefits in Times of Crisis: Change or Stability in the Achilles’ Heel of Welfare State Legitimacy? 46 Femke Roosma 4. The Ambivalence of Material Vulnerability as a Foundation for Welfare Dependency Attitudes: Social Distrust or Dissatisfaction with the System? 68 Christian Staerklé, Jessica Gale and Emanuele Politi 5. Changes in Russians’ Attitudes: What Accounts for Reduced Preferences Regarding Public Welfare Provision? 91 Dimitri Gugushvili and Wim van Oorschot 6. Religiosity and Support for the Welfare State 111 Heikki Ervasti PART III TARGET-SPECIFIC WELFARE ATTITUDES 7. How Popular Deservingness Perceptions Mediate the Link between Unemployment Policies and Their Public Support 139 Tijs Laenen 8. The Legitimacy of Public Pensions in an Ageing Europe: Changes in Subjective Evaluations and Policy Preferences, 2008–2016 159 Bernhard Ebbinghaus and Elias Naumann 9. Welfare Nationalism Before and After the ‘Migration Crisis’ 176 Maureen A. Eger, Christian Albrekt Larsen and Jan Mewes PART IV (PERCEIVED) OUTCOMES OF THE WELFARE STATE 10. Increasingly Connected? Political Distrust and Dissatisfaction with Public Services in Europe, 2008–2016 199 Lisanne de Blok, Atle Haugsgjerd and Staffan Kumlin 11. Institutions versus Market Forces: Explaining the Employment Insecurity of European Individuals Eight Years after the 2008 Financial Crisis 220 Heejung Chung PART V CONCLUSIONS 12. Change or Continuity in Europeans’ Welfare Attitudes? 247 Tijs Laenen and Wim van Oorschot Index
