Search results for "Welfare State"
showing 10 items of 110 documents
Lutheranism and the Nordic Welfare States in Comparison
2014
The Nordic difference: Job quality in Europe 1995–2010
2012
Previous empirical research has pointed out that Nordic countries are distinguished from the rest of Europe in terms of job quality. On the other hand, it has been debated whether, in the longer run, the Nordic welfare state is able to insulate workers from globalization effects. This article investigates whether Nordic countries have retained their advantageous position concerning job quality compared with other EU countries. Empirical analyses are based on the European Working Conditions Survey collected in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010. We use data on employees in the 15 member states of the EU prior to enlargement in 2004 (n = 61,457). The results partly confirm previous findings of high j…
Pros and cons of family policies for mothers' labour market participation
2012
PurposeThe purpose of this editorial is to examine sociological research on the possibilities and pitfalls of social policies for mothers' employment participation, and identify research gaps in the existing literature. The paper aims to focus mainly on the implications of parental leave schemes on mothers' employment participation.Design/methodology/approachThe editorial discusses the inconsistencies in the current sociological debate on the impact of social policies on mothers' employment.FindingsThe relationship between parental leave policies and women's participation in the work force is complex. The literature shows a disagreement about whether such policies mitigate family‐related ca…
Guarding the borders of the Norwegian welfare state. How NAV employees decide on social assistance for unemployed Polish migrants
2021
In this article, I focus on social relations and institutional logics to explore how street-level bureaucrats in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) assess unemployed Polish migra...
Users of home-care services in a Nordic welfare state under marketisation: the rich, the poor and the sick
2017
Stricter access to public services, outsourcing of municipal services and increasing allocation of public funding for the purchase of private services have resulted in a marketisation wave in Finland. In this context of a Nordic welfare state undergoing marketisation, this paper aims to examine the use of Finnish care services among older people and find out who are using these new kinds of private services. How wide is their use and do the users of private care services differ from those who are using public services? How usual is it to mix both public and private care services? The questionnaire survey data set used here was gathered in 2010 among the population aged 75 and over in the ci…
Minding the Gaps : The Role of Finnish Civil Society Organizations in the Labour Market Integration of Migrants
2021
AbstractThe growing role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in welfare service provision is sometimes portrayed as a threat to welfare state universalism in Nordic societies. In Finland, CSOs co-produce integration services alongside comprehensive official integration programmes, compensating for gaps and shortcomings in those services. We identify three “gaps”, which are (1) limited availability of services in terms of time and target group, (2) lack of direct labour market contacts and (3) limited flexibility to serve individual needs. We assess how CSOs target these gaps with their service offerings through qualitative interviews with policy implementers, CSO workers and migrants. How…
Impact of care responsibilities on women’s employment: a comparison between European and East Asian welfare states
2017
ABSTRACTWomen with care responsibilities tend to reduce their labour market activity and to work part time, even if there are cross-national differences. Empirical research often analyses this separately for childcare and elderly care, and studies are usually limited to Western societies. This article aims to explore to what extent women’s care responsibilities for children and older people impact on women’s labour market integration and how this impact differs in the context of different welfare states in Europe and Asia. The analysis is based on data from a new comparative survey for four cities (Jyvaskyla, Hamburg, Bologna and Hsinchu) in four countries (Finland, Germany, Italy and Taiwa…
Legal Issues Affecting Labour Market Integration of Migrants in Finland
2021
AbstractFinland has only relatively recently become a country of immigration, and as a result most immigration and integration policy legislation is also relatively recent. Since the 1990s, the number of migrants to Finland has increased steadily, motivating the adoption of various policy measures to regulate migration and support integration. From the perspective of migrant labour market integration, the two most important legislative acts are the Aliens Act (FINLEX 301/2004) and the Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration (FINLEX 1386/2010), which lay out basic labour market integration supports for migrants, and determine who can work in Finland and on which grounds. Finland’s comp…
Crisis del Estado Social en Europa: efectos en la generación del constitucionalismo social en América Latina
2018
Crisis del Estado Social en Europa: efectos en la generación del constitucionalismo social en América Latina
 
 Resumen: En Europa el Estado social se está erosionando frente a una sociedad que por un lado está perdiendo la motivación, mientras que por otro intenta resistir. Fruto de la debilidad de las disposiciones del constitucionalismo social, el modelo europeo de Estado social experimenta un proceso de transformación del que puede salir absolutamente erosionado, o puede superarse a sí mismo a través de más democracia, una Constitución más normativa y la plena exigibilidad de los derechos sociales. En América Latina, la falta histórica de experimentación plena del Estado socia…
Religion and the Scandinavian Welfare State: Public Support for Socio-economic Rights in Times of Migration
2020
The theme of this article is the legitimisation of social and economic rights within the context of the Scandinavian welfare state. This problem has become more prominent in the light of the recent influx of immigrants from countries in the Middle East and Africa dominated by other religious and cultural traditions than Lutheran Protestantism. Two questions are discussed in the article. First, what role has religion played vis-a-vis the development of the welfare states in Scandinavia? Second, in what ways have recent immigration trends influenced popular support for welfare provision and social rights?