Abstract
This chapter discusses the position of children in the modern European welfare state and children’s legitimate access to cash and services made available by the welfare state. Whatever the welfare regime, following Esping-Andersen’s (1990) typology, however, its historical context in Europe is invariably that of a capitalist economy, which was eventually tempered by welfare measures to alleviate the crude effects of the unfettered market. The reality of such a capitalist economy-cum-welfare state does not, however, tell us much about the ways in which children and childhood are constructed. For this reason this chapter will address the following questions:
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What is children’s market status before state intervention?
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Are children, objectively speaking, in need of welfare state provisions?
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What is the place of children in welfare state theory and practice?
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Who, in terms of groups, institutions and agencies, is primarily responsible for children’s welfare?
This chapter is based on a previous publication: (2003) Kindheit im marktwirtschaftlich organisierten Wohlfahrtstaat. In Kränzl-Nagl, R., Mierendorf, J. and Olk, T. (eds.), Kindheit im Wohlfahrtstaat. Gesellschaftliche und politische Herausfbrderungen (pp. 95–120). Frankfurt a.M.: Campus Verlag.
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Qvortrup, J. (2008). Childhood in the Welfare State. In: James, A., James, A.L. (eds) European Childhoods. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230582095_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230582095_11
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