The Southern European Welfare model in the post-industrial order

ABSTRACT

The discussion on the existence of a distinctive ‘Mediterranean’ welfare model has focused on the historical and politico-institutional dynamics, as well as on the policy traits of the welfare arrangements found in Southern European countries. Particular attention has been given to the external pressures and internal constraints faced by the welfare systems of these countries, as well as to what extent there is a common response to such challenges. In this article, we claim that while researchers were embarked in this scholarly effort, Southern European societies kept changing, transforming the nature of existing arrangements in not always forecasted directions, to the point of questioning the adequacy of clustering them under a common type. The current context of economic and financial crisis introduces additional factors in the process of transformation and reform of the welfare schemes of these countries, placed at the epicentre of the turmoil shattering European economies and societies.

Key words:

• Mediterranean Welfare regime
• new social risks
• economic crisis
• welfare reform

Notes

¹ This article was drafted within the SOLFCARE project (‘Solidaridad familiar, cambio actitudinal y reforma del Estado de bienestar en España: el familismo en transición’), under the ‘Plan Nacional de I+D+i, Spain’ (CSO2011-27494).

² This is partly due to a fall in fertility, but also to the growing residential autonomy of the elderly.

³ Along the same lines, the Socialist government of Socrates in Portugal introduced policies supporting the conciliation of family and work through generous parental leaves and a ‘daddy month’ that emulated the Scandinavian arrangements (Tavora 2012).

⁴ Zapatero first, and Rajoy's Conservative government later, concentrated many of their budget cuts on policies targeting NSR. In 2010, Zapatero eliminated the birth grant (2500€ for families of newborns and newly adopted children), and curtailed assistance to young people moving out of parental home. Rajoy's government drained resources devoted to the Law of Dependency and to childcare policies, seriously compromising their sustainability.

⁵ A stable financial environment (easier access to foreign creditors, historically low interest rates) facilitated the growth of their economies and their convergence with the more advanced European countries (increases in GDP per capita, activity rates, female participation in the labour market).

⁶ The ‘illusion of wealth’ resulted in uncompetitive costs structures due to structural inflation differentials, growing trade deficits, a substantial increase of debt (in different combinations of public and private), the development of real state bubbles, an acceleration of investment in infrastructures (sometimes without the adequate cost-benefit analysis), and the arrival of significant immigration flows to occupy the niches of the labour market not wanted by autochthonous workers.

⁷ The assumption that ‘the flying PIGS eventually had to land’ has predominated in the media and public opinions of Northern European countries, impregnating the political narrative on the crisis and its solution.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pau Marí-Klose

Pau Marí-Klose, Assitant Professor at the University of Zaragoza. His research interests lie in areas of childhood poverty, family relations, and social policies. He is currently the principal investigator of an R+D+I project financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness that studies the interface between transformations in families and social policies in Spain. He has published nine books and several articles. His books include: Childhood and the Future (2010) and Edad del Cambio (2006). E-mail: [email protected]

Francisco Javier Moreno-Fuentes

Francisco Javier Moreno Fuentes, Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Goods and Policies (IPP-CSIC). His main areas of interest are centred in the comparative analysis of public policies within the European region, with a special focus in the study of welfare regimes and their transformation, as well as in immigration and urban policies. He published several books, chapters in edited volumes, as well as articles in Spanish (REIS, Política y Sociedad) and international journals (Politics & Society, IMR, IJURR, JHPPL, Global Networks). Institute of Public Goods and Policies, Madrid, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]