THE STATE AND SOCIAL SERVICES IN BRITAIN, FRANCE AND GERMANY SINCE THE 1980s

ABSTRACT

The article studies the development of social services in Britain, France and Germany since the 1980s. In this period services grew strongly and were extended to large population groups, although the welfare state was in crisis. Moreover, the power of the state was enhanced. The share of public service provision declined somewhat, but this was more than balanced by increased public funding and intensified state control of delivery. The paper argues that the rise of social services does not signal a ‘new’ welfare state. Rather, the belated expansion of social services compared to other areas is explained by the fact that services have become crucial for the economy and the labour market only recently. Since this was the case, they have followed the classical path of welfare state expansion.

Keywords:

• Welfare state
• social services
• sociology of the state
• welfare mix
• comparative analysis
• European countries

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Jens Alber and the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) for the opportunity to work on this paper during my stay there. Also I should like to thank the anonymous referees for their comments.

Notes

¹‘Growth to Limits’ is the title of a major study on the development of European welfare states since World War II edited by Flora (1986–1990). In this study growth was still the central theme.

²For critical positions to this popular view see for example Castles (2004) and Kuhnle (2000).

³Most of the analysis in this paper refers to England and Wales only, because social service systems in Scotland and Northern Ireland are different. In some cases figures are presented for the whole United Kingdom.

⁴Comparative studies in these fields were undertaken for example by Anttonen and Sipilä (1996); Bahle and Pfenning (2001); Munday and Ely (1995); Rostgaard and Fridberg (1998). For social expenditure data on benefits in kind in Europe see Kautto (2002). For a general overview of studies in the field see Anheier (2000).