Disability-policy models in European welfare regimes: comparing the distribution of social protection, labour-market integration and civil rights

Abstract

This paper examines different models of disability policy in European welfare regimes on the basis of secondary data. OECD data measuring social protection and labour-market integration is complemented with an index which measures the outcomes of disability civil rights. Eurobarometer data is used to construct the index. The country modelling by cluster analysis indicates that an encompassing model of disability policy is mainly prevalent in Nordic countries. An activating and rehabilitating disability-policy model is predominant mainly in Central European countries, and there is evidence for a distinct Eastern European model characterized by relatively few guaranteed civil rights for disabled people. Furthermore, the Southern European model, which indicates a preference for social protection rather than activation and rehabilitation, includes countries which normally have diverse welfare traditions.

Keywords:

• disability policy
• welfare state regimes
• comparative analysis
• social policy
• equal rights

Notes

1. We do not want to imply that social protection and labour-market integration are deliberated denominations, having in mind that speaking about social rights or labour-market rights could have a more appropriate meaning. We chose these terms in order to have a denomination in line with Waldschmidt (2009, 20) and Maschke (2004). With our understanding of civil rights, we do not want to imply that we are following a certain liberal argument, such as that the provision of civil rights is the sufficient obligation a state has vis-à-vis its citizens.

2. The 19 EU countries in both primary data sources are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Denmark.

3. Cronbach’s alpha measures the internal consistency of the index. Because the index variables are aimed to measure the same overarching construct (disability civil rights), they should correlate with one another. A Cronbach’s alpha value above 0.7 is considered satisfactory (for example, Bland and Altman 1997), so this comparison’s Cronbach’s alpha of 0.72 is an indication that its internal consistency can be considered satisfactory even though the data come from two different Eurobarometer surveys.