Lilia Yakova, Alexander Politov, Alexander Gerganov
This article looks into the Programme in Bulgaria through the prism of Sen's capability approach, and more particularly—the application of the approach to career guidance, employment programmes and youth labour market activation. It analyses the programme's effects on its beneficiaries in enhancing their capability for work and capability for knowledge. Through qualitative and quantitative data analysis, we examine: (1) how the programme affects the participants' meaningful choices to aspire for and get a desired job and to develop sustainable career paths, and (2) how the programme influences the participants' capability for learning and skill acquisition. We find that, as a whole, the programme has positive influences on the larger part of its beneficiaries, as it equips them with the necessary capabilities to develop their future careers. We, however, observe certain issues with the programme calling for adjustments, so that young participants are better empowered to participate in the design of youth initiatives and formulate NEET‐related and youth employment policies that will be more conducive to their career paths in the future and to their aspirations for jobs they value.
{"title":"A path to professional capability: The Career Start Programme in Bulgaria as a strategy to youth development","authors":"Lilia Yakova, Alexander Politov, Alexander Gerganov","doi":"10.1111/spol.13070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13070","url":null,"abstract":"This article looks into the Programme in Bulgaria through the prism of Sen's capability approach, and more particularly—the application of the approach to career guidance, employment programmes and youth labour market activation. It analyses the programme's effects on its beneficiaries in enhancing their capability for work and capability for knowledge. Through qualitative and quantitative data analysis, we examine: (1) how the programme affects the participants' meaningful choices to aspire for and get a desired job and to develop sustainable career paths, and (2) how the programme influences the participants' capability for learning and skill acquisition. We find that, as a whole, the programme has positive influences on the larger part of its beneficiaries, as it equips them with the necessary capabilities to develop their future careers. We, however, observe certain issues with the programme calling for adjustments, so that young participants are better empowered to participate in the design of youth initiatives and formulate NEET‐related and youth employment policies that will be more conducive to their career paths in the future and to their aspirations for jobs they value.","PeriodicalId":271904,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"4 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141921170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The study compares the conditions created by ageing processes. It recognises differences in the situation of people aged 65 and older from a macrolevel perspective in 34 OECD countries in 2020, that is, the first year of the Covid‐19 pandemic. The paper analyses the (dis)similarities of OECD economies with regard to a set of selected variables that represent different macrolevel dimensions. Cluster analysis and linear ordering were applied, which made it possible to group the countries into separate clusters. The most obvious difference was found for the cluster consisting of Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and Spain, relative to the group that includes Mexico and Türkiye and the cluster that comprises Korea, Latvia, Japan, and Lithuania. Influential variables for grouping countries were old‐age income poverty, public transfers in the form of pensions, effective labour market exit age, and differences between expected years in retirement for women and men. The cluster analysis for 2020 also revealed the general difference between European countries and the rest of the OECD economies, as well as the importance of regional differences. The results also indicate that the clusters partially correspond to the differentiation of OECD countries based on the typology of the pension regimes, as outlined in the literature. Finally, comparing the 2020 clusters with the pre‐Covid‐19 pandemic results (2018) indicates that countries in the top and bottom‐ranked groups were resistant to the pandemic shock.
{"title":"How do OECD countries differ in population ageing and the situation of people aged 65 and older? Evidence using cluster analysis","authors":"Agata Szymańska","doi":"10.1111/spol.13050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13050","url":null,"abstract":"The study compares the conditions created by ageing processes. It recognises differences in the situation of people aged 65 and older from a macrolevel perspective in 34 OECD countries in 2020, that is, the first year of the Covid‐19 pandemic. The paper analyses the (dis)similarities of OECD economies with regard to a set of selected variables that represent different macrolevel dimensions. Cluster analysis and linear ordering were applied, which made it possible to group the countries into separate clusters. The most obvious difference was found for the cluster consisting of Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and Spain, relative to the group that includes Mexico and Türkiye and the cluster that comprises Korea, Latvia, Japan, and Lithuania. Influential variables for grouping countries were old‐age income poverty, public transfers in the form of pensions, effective labour market exit age, and differences between expected years in retirement for women and men. The cluster analysis for 2020 also revealed the general difference between European countries and the rest of the OECD economies, as well as the importance of regional differences. The results also indicate that the clusters partially correspond to the differentiation of OECD countries based on the typology of the pension regimes, as outlined in the literature. Finally, comparing the 2020 clusters with the pre‐Covid‐19 pandemic results (2018) indicates that countries in the top and bottom‐ranked groups were resistant to the pandemic shock.","PeriodicalId":271904,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"18 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141336679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper develops a novel framework to measure inclusive policy based on capability approach and institutional analysis and development method. In the process, it records its distinction of inclusive growth from earlier growth theories, particularly highlighting its economic and non‐economic dimensions. The paper inculcates consequential ethics in discussing inclusive growth. The proposed framework is conceptualised on the theoretical foundation of Amartya Sen's capability approach and Elinor Ostrom's IAD method. The framework allows theorists to develop more precise theories and models and derive empirical analysis of existing and proposed policies. The paper identifies the major limitations of the existing inclusive policy analysis methods which include disregarding the ‘noneconomic dimensions of inclusive growth’ (benefit share, participation, equality of opportunity). The existing methods endorses equality of opportunity from an arbitrary point to wrongly fulfil the inclusiveness dimension. Such an approach fails in sustaining moral and ethical rightness of equity. Further, the excising methodologies do not disclose the precise time of change in opportunities among the target population resulting into waste of policy resources. The proposed framework's novel contribution is integrating CA and IAD method to reveal the precise time of change in opportunity that occurs over time due to policy implementation. The framework will help policy makers to measure policy outcome and reduce waste of resource. Analysts and researchers can apply framework for empirical analysis to identify the inclusive growth policy or compare inclusive policy between various countries, states, and regions.
本文以能力方法和机构分析与发展方法为基础，建立了衡量包容性政策的新框架。在此过程中，它记录了包容性增长与早期增长理论的区别，特别强调了其经济和非经济层面。本文在讨论包容性增长时灌输了相应的伦理观。所提议的框架是在阿马蒂亚-森的能力方法和埃莉诺-奥斯特罗姆的 IAD 方法的理论基础上构思的。该框架使理论家们能够建立更精确的理论和模型，并对现有政策和拟议政策进行实证分析。本文指出了现有包容性政策分析方法的主要局限性，其中包括忽视 "包容性增长的非经济层面"（利益共享、参与、机会平等）。现有方法武断地认可机会均等，从而错误地实现了包容性维度。这种方法无法维持公平在道德和伦理上的正确性。此外，切除法无法准确揭示目标人群机会变化的时间，造成政策资源的浪费。拟议框架的新贡献在于整合了 CA 和 IAD 方法，以揭示因政策实施而随时间推移发生的机会变化的精确时间。该框架将帮助决策者衡量政策成果，减少资源浪费。分析师和研究人员可应用该框架进行实证分析，以确定包容性增长政策或比较不同国家、州和地区之间的包容性政策。
{"title":"Developing a novel inclusive policy analysis framework based on capability approach and institutional analysis and development method","authors":"Arindam Biswas","doi":"10.1111/spol.13051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13051","url":null,"abstract":"This paper develops a novel framework to measure inclusive policy based on capability approach and institutional analysis and development method. In the process, it records its distinction of inclusive growth from earlier growth theories, particularly highlighting its economic and non‐economic dimensions. The paper inculcates consequential ethics in discussing inclusive growth. The proposed framework is conceptualised on the theoretical foundation of Amartya Sen's capability approach and Elinor Ostrom's IAD method. The framework allows theorists to develop more precise theories and models and derive empirical analysis of existing and proposed policies. The paper identifies the major limitations of the existing inclusive policy analysis methods which include disregarding the ‘noneconomic dimensions of inclusive growth’ (benefit share, participation, equality of opportunity). The existing methods endorses equality of opportunity from an arbitrary point to wrongly fulfil the inclusiveness dimension. Such an approach fails in sustaining moral and ethical rightness of equity. Further, the excising methodologies do not disclose the precise time of change in opportunities among the target population resulting into waste of policy resources. The proposed framework's novel contribution is integrating CA and IAD method to reveal the precise time of change in opportunity that occurs over time due to policy implementation. The framework will help policy makers to measure policy outcome and reduce waste of resource. Analysts and researchers can apply framework for empirical analysis to identify the inclusive growth policy or compare inclusive policy between various countries, states, and regions.","PeriodicalId":271904,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"5 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141337130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anders Bach‐Mortensen, B. Goodair, Christine Corlet Walker
The increased private provision of publicly funded health and social care over the last 75 years has been one of the most contentious topics in UK public policy. In the last decades, health and social care policies in England have consistently promoted the outsourcing of public services to private for‐profit and non‐profit companies with the assumption that private sector involvement will reduce costs and improve service quality and access. However, it is not clear why outsourcing often fails to improve quality of care, and which of the underlying assumptions behind marketising care are not supported by research. This article provides an analysis of key policy and regulatory documents preceding or accompanying outsourcing policies in England (e.g., policy document relating to the 2012 and 2022 Health and Social Care Acts and the 2014 Care Act), and peer‐reviewed research on the impact of outsourcing within the NHS, adult's social care, and children's social care. We find that more regulation and market oversight appear to be associated with less poor outcomes and slower growth of for‐profit provision. However, evidence on the NHS suggests that marketisation does not seem to achieve the intended objectives of outsourcing, even when accompanied with heavy regulation and oversight. Our analysis suggests that there is little evidence to show that the profit motive can be successfully tamed by public commissioners. This article concludes with how policymakers should address, or readdress, the underlying assumptions behind the outsourcing of care services.
{"title":"A decade of outsourcing in health and social care in England: What was it meant to achieve?","authors":"Anders Bach‐Mortensen, B. Goodair, Christine Corlet Walker","doi":"10.1111/spol.13036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13036","url":null,"abstract":"The increased private provision of publicly funded health and social care over the last 75 years has been one of the most contentious topics in UK public policy. In the last decades, health and social care policies in England have consistently promoted the outsourcing of public services to private for‐profit and non‐profit companies with the assumption that private sector involvement will reduce costs and improve service quality and access. However, it is not clear why outsourcing often fails to improve quality of care, and which of the underlying assumptions behind marketising care are not supported by research. This article provides an analysis of key policy and regulatory documents preceding or accompanying outsourcing policies in England (e.g., policy document relating to the 2012 and 2022 Health and Social Care Acts and the 2014 Care Act), and peer‐reviewed research on the impact of outsourcing within the NHS, adult's social care, and children's social care. We find that more regulation and market oversight appear to be associated with less poor outcomes and slower growth of for‐profit provision. However, evidence on the NHS suggests that marketisation does not seem to achieve the intended objectives of outsourcing, even when accompanied with heavy regulation and oversight. Our analysis suggests that there is little evidence to show that the profit motive can be successfully tamed by public commissioners. This article concludes with how policymakers should address, or readdress, the underlying assumptions behind the outsourcing of care services.","PeriodicalId":271904,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"16 25","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141118332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Education for all? Literature, culture and education development in Britain and Denmark. By Cathie JoMartin, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2024. pp. 286. £85 (hardback). ISBN: 9781009419659","authors":"Cecilia Ivardi","doi":"10.1111/spol.13047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13047","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":271904,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"26 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140968675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While prior research has demonstrated the poor and unpredictable working conditions and ambiguous working arrangements characteristic of platform‐based food delivery, we lack research on the question of how well these workers are informed about essential aspects of their work, including protection of their rights, working time and schedules, and earnings. Comprehensive and transparent information on working conditions at an early stage is indispensable if workers are to be able to make informed decisions on taking up work and, where relevant, investing in equipment and exercising rights linked to a specific job. Drawing on the multi‐dimensional job quality literature, this article focuses on digital labour platforms in the food delivery sector across four countries: Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. We exploit firm‐level variations, including with regard to the types of work arrangements used and the application—or not—of collective agreements. We draw on information provided to riders during the application process prior to the start of employment, including via websites and FAQs, as well as scrutiny of contracts, service agreements and collective bargaining agreements, where relevant. This information is complemented with interviews with trade union representatives. Our findings point to the relationship between a firm's choice of employment status and form of contract, on one hand, and the predictability and transparency of information provided to workers, on the other. Differences and similarities in such information seem to be more strongly bound to firm‐level decisions than to the welfare and industrial relations regimes in which the platform companies operate.
{"title":"Predictability and transparency of working conditions for food delivery platform workers across selected EU countries","authors":"Janine Leschke, Laura Scheele","doi":"10.1111/spol.13038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13038","url":null,"abstract":"While prior research has demonstrated the poor and unpredictable working conditions and ambiguous working arrangements characteristic of platform‐based food delivery, we lack research on the question of how well these workers are informed about essential aspects of their work, including protection of their rights, working time and schedules, and earnings. Comprehensive and transparent information on working conditions at an early stage is indispensable if workers are to be able to make informed decisions on taking up work and, where relevant, investing in equipment and exercising rights linked to a specific job. Drawing on the multi‐dimensional job quality literature, this article focuses on digital labour platforms in the food delivery sector across four countries: Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. We exploit firm‐level variations, including with regard to the types of work arrangements used and the application—or not—of collective agreements. We draw on information provided to riders during the application process prior to the start of employment, including via websites and FAQs, as well as scrutiny of contracts, service agreements and collective bargaining agreements, where relevant. This information is complemented with interviews with trade union representatives. Our findings point to the relationship between a firm's choice of employment status and form of contract, on one hand, and the predictability and transparency of information provided to workers, on the other. Differences and similarities in such information seem to be more strongly bound to firm‐level decisions than to the welfare and industrial relations regimes in which the platform companies operate.","PeriodicalId":271904,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140973063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The European Pillar of Social Rights sits at the fulcrum of EU social policymaking. This article aims to explore its legal and political character, how it was shaped in the adoption process and its place within Social Europe. The key argument is that the Social Pillar builds on but also critically modifies previous initiatives present within the broader EU governance framework, notably in the European Semester. Key political actors like Commission President Jean‐Claude Juncker and parliamentary rapporteur Maria João Rodrigues contributed to the adoption process not only through their long‐held political views but also by bringing to bear their own critical reflections on previous EU initiatives. Methodologically, the article relies on 15 interviews with policy experts and uses an interdisciplinary approach based on legal analysis, process tracing and actor‐centred constructivist theory. The contribution of the article is threefold: (1) it helps to better understand the EU's social flagship initiative and the modifications of its governance approach compared with previous initiatives, (2) it sheds new light on the tensions and opportunities of social policymaking within the EU and (3) it shows the added value of actor‐centred constructivist approaches on a theoretical level.
欧洲社会权利支柱是欧盟社会政策制定的支点。本文旨在探讨其法律和政治特征、通过过程中的形成过程及其在社会欧洲中的地位。文章的主要论点是，社会支柱建立在更广泛的欧盟治理框架（尤其是欧洲学期）内，但也对之前的倡议进行了批判性修改。欧盟委员会主席让-克洛德-容克（Jean-Claude Juncker）和议会报告员玛丽亚-若昂-罗德里格斯（Maria João Rodrigues）等主要政治人物不仅通过其长期坚持的政治观点，还通过对欧盟以前的倡议进行批判性反思，为采纳过程做出了贡献。在方法论上，文章依靠对政策专家的 15 次访谈，并采用基于法律分析、过程追踪和以行动者为中心的建构主义理论的跨学科方法。文章有三方面的贡献：(1) 有助于更好地理解欧盟的社会旗舰倡议及其治理方法与以往倡议相比所做的修改；(2) 为欧盟内部社会政策制定的紧张和机遇提供了新的视角；(3) 从理论层面展示了以行动者为中心的建构主义方法的附加价值。
{"title":"The European Pillar of Social Rights: How strategic agency shaped the European Union's flagship social initiative","authors":"Sophie Dura","doi":"10.1111/spol.13028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13028","url":null,"abstract":"The European Pillar of Social Rights sits at the fulcrum of EU social policymaking. This article aims to explore its legal and political character, how it was shaped in the adoption process and its place within Social Europe. The key argument is that the Social Pillar builds on but also critically modifies previous initiatives present within the broader EU governance framework, notably in the European Semester. Key political actors like Commission President Jean‐Claude Juncker and parliamentary rapporteur Maria João Rodrigues contributed to the adoption process not only through their long‐held political views but also by bringing to bear their own critical reflections on previous EU initiatives. Methodologically, the article relies on 15 interviews with policy experts and uses an interdisciplinary approach based on legal analysis, process tracing and actor‐centred constructivist theory. The contribution of the article is threefold: (1) it helps to better understand the EU's social flagship initiative and the modifications of its governance approach compared with previous initiatives, (2) it sheds new light on the tensions and opportunities of social policymaking within the EU and (3) it shows the added value of actor‐centred constructivist approaches on a theoretical level.","PeriodicalId":271904,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"59 28","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140656380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chiara De Poli, Raphael Wittenberg, A. Rehill, Madeleine Stevens, Nicola Brimblecombe
The projected increase in older dependent adults will continue straining formal care services whilst increasing the reliance on unpaid carers, in England and internationally. While motivations and willingness to care among unpaid carers have been explored, expectations around the caregiving role remain under‐researched. This article delves into expectations of middle‐aged individuals around providing care to an older parent in the future. Data collected through six focus groups with 35 mid‐life individuals, a mix of individuals with and without caring experience, were analysed thematically, cross‐sectionally, and with reference to different phases in the caregiving trajectory. Participants showed predicted, in some cases normative, expectations about taking on the role of carer for an older parent. Such expectations were rooted in emotional and socio‐cultural factors and influenced how people self‐identified as a carer. Expectations about what the role would entail were unformed: they were described as conditional on the uncertain and changing care needs of the older parents (‘caregiving creep’). Those with caring experience highlighted that, in hindsight, their prior expectations did not match their actual experience of the role, requiring greater time commitment and impacting their life in ways they had not anticipated. When thinking about the future, participants envisaged stepped changes in care arrangements to meet increasing, albeit uncertain, care needs, but acknowledged their lack of awareness around the care options available to them. Policies aiming to improve general awareness about caregiving, support early identification of carers, and address their information need throughout their caregiving journey should be a priority.
{"title":"“I never planned for it”—Exploration of expectations about caring for older parents","authors":"Chiara De Poli, Raphael Wittenberg, A. Rehill, Madeleine Stevens, Nicola Brimblecombe","doi":"10.1111/spol.13030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13030","url":null,"abstract":"The projected increase in older dependent adults will continue straining formal care services whilst increasing the reliance on unpaid carers, in England and internationally. While motivations and willingness to care among unpaid carers have been explored, expectations around the caregiving role remain under‐researched. This article delves into expectations of middle‐aged individuals around providing care to an older parent in the future. Data collected through six focus groups with 35 mid‐life individuals, a mix of individuals with and without caring experience, were analysed thematically, cross‐sectionally, and with reference to different phases in the caregiving trajectory. Participants showed predicted, in some cases normative, expectations about taking on the role of carer for an older parent. Such expectations were rooted in emotional and socio‐cultural factors and influenced how people self‐identified as a carer. Expectations about what the role would entail were unformed: they were described as conditional on the uncertain and changing care needs of the older parents (‘caregiving creep’). Those with caring experience highlighted that, in hindsight, their prior expectations did not match their actual experience of the role, requiring greater time commitment and impacting their life in ways they had not anticipated. When thinking about the future, participants envisaged stepped changes in care arrangements to meet increasing, albeit uncertain, care needs, but acknowledged their lack of awareness around the care options available to them. Policies aiming to improve general awareness about caregiving, support early identification of carers, and address their information need throughout their caregiving journey should be a priority.","PeriodicalId":271904,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"59 15","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140675709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lore Dewanckel, T. Schiettecat, Koen Hermans, R. Roose, W. Van Lancker, Fabian Kessl, G. Roets
Although diverse European welfare states have institutionalized an extensive infrastructure of public welfare services to redistribute resources, governments have been confronted with barriers in realizing the social rights of certain groups of citizens. Decentralization and increasingly local welfare provision has been promoted as a strategy to substantially realize social rights. In that sense, the vital role of frontline social work has been stressed in local welfare systems, being considered as dynamic arrangements in which local policymakers and professional social work actors are involved in the substantial realization of social rights. These trends have been frequently studied from a social policy perspective, but the role of professional social work on the frontline level has received much less attention. In this study, we accordingly rely on neo‐institutional theory to explore how frontline social workers employ their professional discretion during processes of local social policy implementation, related to the broader circumstances in which they operate. Our qualitative study aims to tease out whether their strategic actions might transform and/or change the rules of the local institutional game. The qualitative analysis is based on policy documents and qualitative interviews with key actors in two municipalities in Belgium. Our research findings reveal three central fields of tension: (1) Rescaling of responsibilities to the local welfare system and community level versus in‐built spatial concentrations of social problems and inequalities, (2) Efficient local welfare system organization versus wicked social problems, and (3) Fast local welfare system logics versus slow realities.
{"title":"Revisiting the role of social work in the substantial realization of social rights in local welfare systems: Transforming and changing the rules of the institutional game?","authors":"Lore Dewanckel, T. Schiettecat, Koen Hermans, R. Roose, W. Van Lancker, Fabian Kessl, G. Roets","doi":"10.1111/spol.13022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13022","url":null,"abstract":"Although diverse European welfare states have institutionalized an extensive infrastructure of public welfare services to redistribute resources, governments have been confronted with barriers in realizing the social rights of certain groups of citizens. Decentralization and increasingly local welfare provision has been promoted as a strategy to substantially realize social rights. In that sense, the vital role of frontline social work has been stressed in local welfare systems, being considered as dynamic arrangements in which local policymakers and professional social work actors are involved in the substantial realization of social rights. These trends have been frequently studied from a social policy perspective, but the role of professional social work on the frontline level has received much less attention. In this study, we accordingly rely on neo‐institutional theory to explore how frontline social workers employ their professional discretion during processes of local social policy implementation, related to the broader circumstances in which they operate. Our qualitative study aims to tease out whether their strategic actions might transform and/or change the rules of the local institutional game. The qualitative analysis is based on policy documents and qualitative interviews with key actors in two municipalities in Belgium. Our research findings reveal three central fields of tension: (1) Rescaling of responsibilities to the local welfare system and community level versus in‐built spatial concentrations of social problems and inequalities, (2) Efficient local welfare system organization versus wicked social problems, and (3) Fast local welfare system logics versus slow realities.","PeriodicalId":271904,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"18 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140364414","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Handbook of labour market policy in advanced democracies. By DanielClegg, NiccoloDurazzi (Eds.), Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. 2023. pp. 566. £230 (Hardback). ISBN: 9781800880870","authors":"Roberto Rizza","doi":"10.1111/spol.13026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.13026","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":271904,"journal":{"name":"Social Policy & Administration","volume":"18 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140374061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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