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Towards Activation? Social Assistance Reforms and Discourses

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Ideas and Welfare State Reform in Western Europe

Abstract

Since the 1970s the traditional pillars of social inclusion policy have been undermined. Unemployment has risen virtually everywhere, the transition from an industrial to a service sector economy has led to more flexible employment patterns and the individualisation of life-courses led to more uncertain family lives, transforming the traditional reliance of women and children on a male breadwinner. These structural changes generated new social risks that traditional welfare states met partially or not at all (Esping-Andersen, 1999; Esping-Andersen et al, 2002; Taylor-Gooby 2004a). Accordingly, social assistance claims have risen, and in most West European countries the reform of social assistance schemes has become a key issue in policy discourse.

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Authors
  1. Andreas Aust
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  2. Ana Arriba
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kent, UK

    Peter Taylor-Gooby (Professor of Social Policy) (Professor of Social Policy)

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© 2005 Andreas Aust & Ana Arriba

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Aust, A., Arriba, A. (2005). Towards Activation? Social Assistance Reforms and Discourses. In: Taylor-Gooby, P. (eds) Ideas and Welfare State Reform in Western Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230286016_6

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