Welfare deservingness opinions help explain welfare attitudes and hence are crucial for understanding the social legitimacy of the welfare state. However, even when considering deservingness ...alongside other explanatory frameworks, many open questions remain in the welfare attitude framework. This article argues that a novel research agenda focusing on welfare-state related knowledge and young people could considerably enrich current debates in deservingness and welfare attitude research. Deservingness assessments are made heuristically and could greatly depend on what people know (especially when they are misinformed). Studying this with young people is highly relevant, as the formative years are crucial for welfare attitude formation and change, even later in life. Research with young people provides unique opportunities for disentangling causal mechanisms between welfare-state related knowledge, deservingness and welfare attitudes. Moreover, it could help challenge welfare-state related misinformation and build resilience against disinformation. This thematic review outlines benefits, blind spots, and research trajectories when focusing on knowledge and young people in deservingness and welfare attitude research.
Abstract This article demonstrates the value of including youth in deservingness and welfare attitude research by investigating Swiss adolescents' deservingness opinions and welfare attitudes (N = ...1601, mean age = 14.6). Through a survey experiment focusing on different unemployed groups and unemployment‐related policies, the study revisits prominent research results like the immigrant deservingness gap from a novel perspective, generating insights relevant within and beyond the Swiss context. First, deservingness is a vital predictor of attitudes towards social rights and obligations already in younger years. Moreover, while some patterns of adult‐centred studies are replicated (older unemployed are seen as more deserving than younger unemployed), there are also stark deviations: EU unemployed living in Switzerland are not seen as less deserving than Swiss unemployed. More research focusing on youth can enhance the social legitimacy of policies, clarify the relationship between deservingness and welfare attitudes, and potentially indicate what to expect from the future of the welfare state.
Résumé Cet article démontre qu'il est pertinent d'inclure les jeunes dans la recherche sur le mérite (deservingness) et les attitudes envers l'État‐providence, via une enquête expérimentale réalisée en Suisse (N = 1601, âge moyen = 14,6). L'enquête, axée sur les politiques liées au chômage, permet de réexaminer des résultats établis, tels que l'écart de mérite des immigré.e.s. Premièrement, le mérite est un prédicteur clé des attitudes envers les droits et devoirs sociaux, dès le plus jeune âge. Si certains résultats des études centrées sur les adultes sont reproduits (les personnes âgées au chômage sont considérées comme plus méritantes que les jeunes au chômage), cette étude révèle des écarts importants: les personnes européennes (UE) au chômage vivant en Suisse sont considérées comme aussi méritantes que leurs homologues suisses. Des recherches plus approfondies axées sur la jeunesse offriraient des perspectives nouvelles sur la légitimité sociale des politiques publiques, la relation entre le mérite et les attitudes envers l'aide sociale, et l'avenir de l'État‐providence.
Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel verdeutlicht den Mehrwert des Einbezugs von Jugendlichen in die Forschung zu Deservingness und wohlfahrtsstaatlichen Einstellungen mittels einer Befragung von Jugendlichen in der Schweiz (N = 1601, Durchschnittsalter = 14,6). Mithilfe eines Umfrageexperiments zu unterschiedlichen arbeitslosen Gruppen werden bekannte Forschungsergebnisse (wie z.B. die tiefere Deservingness von MigrantInnen), aus einer neuen Perspektive beleuchtet. Die Ergebnisse sind relevant für den Schweizer Kontext und darüber hinaus. Deservingness ist bereits in jungen Jahren ein wesentlicher Prädiktor für Einstellungen zu sozialen Rechten und Pflichten. Während einige Muster erwachsenenzentrierter Studien repliziert werden (ältere Arbeitslose werden als verdienstvoller angesehen als jüngere Arbeitslose), gibt es jedoch auch starke Abweichungen: Arbeitslose mit EU‐Pass, die in der Schweiz leben, werden nicht als weniger verdienstvoll angesehen als Schweizer Arbeitslose. Mehr Forschung mit Jugendlichen kann die soziale Legitimität von Politiken erhöhen, die Beziehung zwischen Deservingness und wohlfahrtsstaatlichen Einstellungen schärfen und womöglich Einsicht über die Zukunft des Wohlfahrtsstaates geben.
Riassunto Questo articolo evidenzia il valore del coinvolgimento dei giovani nella ricerca sulla deservingness e sugli atteggiamenti verso lo stato sociale mediante un'indagine su giovani in Svizzera (N = 1601, età media: 14,6). Utilizzando un sondaggio su diversi gruppi di disoccupati vengono esaminati risultati noti, come il divario di deservingness tra migranti, da una nuova prospettiva, generando risultati rilevanti nel contesto svizzero. La deservingness è già in giovane età un predittore degli atteggiamenti verso i diritti e i doveri sociali. Vengono replicati alcuni schemi di studi sugli adulti (i disoccupati anziani sono considerati più deserving dei giovani), ma ci sono anche deviazioni: i disoccupati con passaporto UE in Svizzera non sono considerati meno deserving dei disoccupati svizzeri. Ulteriori ricerche con i giovani possono aumentare la legittimità sociale delle politiche, affinare la relazione tra deservingness e atteggiamenti verso lo stato sociale e fornire una visione sul futuro dello stato sociale.
Abstract
This article highlights the limitations of unidimensional analyses in the comparative welfare state literature and emphasises the need for a more holistic, multidimensional approach ...incorporating social spending, welfare state outputs and outcomes. To illustrate the utility of a multidimensional approach, we examine the long‐term welfare state trajectories of Sweden and Germany, prototypical social‐democratic and conservative welfare states, respectively, and compare them against the baseline of Europe's prototypical liberal welfare state, the United Kingdom. The social spending (expenditure) and output (generosity) allowed us to identify significant changes in the Swedish welfare state (i.e., retrenchment). The outcome dimension alerts us to a policy drift in the German Welfare State, as relatively stable public spending and welfare generosity until the first half of the 2000s were nonetheless associated with sharply increased inequality and poverty. Overall, our findings suggest that a holistic, multidimensional approach is necessary to fully understand the complexities of welfare state change and continuity, as focusing solely on one dimension can lead to analytical misjudgments. The sharp rise in inequality and poverty across countries raises doubts about whether policymakers and researchers rely too much on outdated assumptions of normality that fail to meet the welfare state realities of today.
Abstract
Globalisierung und Neoliberalismus werden häufig als Gründe für wohlfahrtsstaatlichen Wandel identifiziert. Wir analysieren wohlfahrtsstaatliche Entwicklungen in OECD-Ländern seit 1980 ...mittels einer deskriptiv-quantitativen Analyse von Generosität sowie Sozialstaatsausgaben und qualitativ anhand von vier crucial cases (Deutschland, Italien, Schweden und USA). Grosso modo diagnostizieren wir eine stabile Entwicklung, die als growth to limits" verstanden werden kann. Die mediterranen Staaten waren bis in die 2010er Jahre sogar von einem signifikanten Wohlfahrtsstaatsausbau gekennzeichnet. Entsprechend scheint das Konzept der permanenten Austerität' eher ein Mythos zu sein. Leistungen zur Absicherung der sozialen Risiken von Arbeitnehmer*innen mit einem Normalarbeitsverhältnis unterlagen nicht einem allgemeinen Rückbau oder einer allgemeinen Re-Kommodifizierung. Die qualitativen Analysen zeigen jedoch auch, dass Prozesse der Dualisierung und wohlfahrtsstaatlichen Transformation in einigen Staaten zum Teil zu identifizieren sind. Für die Wohlfahrtsstaatsforschung stellt sich allerdings die Frage, ob die in der vergleichenden Sozialpolitikforschung über viele Jahre verwendeten Annahmen, Variablen und Indikatoren noch hinreichend sind, um die wohlfahrtsstaatliche Gestalt im 21. Jahrhundert abzubilden.
Myths of Comparative Social Policy? Permanent Austerity and Welfare State Retrenchment
Globalization and neoliberalism have frequently been identified as causal for welfare state change. We analyze welfare state development in OECD countries since 1980, employing a descriptive-quantitative analysis of social expenditure and welfare state generosity data and a qualitative analysis of four crucial cases (Germany, Italy, Sweden, and USA). Grosso modo we diagnose a stable development, which can be characterized as "growth to limits". The Mediterranean welfare states were even characterized by a significant welfare state expansion until the 2010s. Based on our analysis the concept of "permanent austerity" would rather seem to be a myth. Pension and unemployment programs for workers with a 'standard employment relationship' did not witness a general process of retrenchment or recommodification. Nevertheless, our qualitative analyses show that processes of dualization and transformation could be identified in some countries. For future welfare state research, we must, however, ask, whether the assumptions, variables, and indicators that have guided much of the comparative social policy research are still sufficient to capture the Gestalt of welfare states in the 21st century.
JEL-Klassifizierung: H55, I380
