European Welfare Futures: Towards a Theory of RetrenchmentISBN: 978-0-7456-1811-1
Paperback
200 pages
May 2000, Polity
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European Welfare Futures presents a clear and up-to-date
analysis of developments in social policy in the main EU member
states. It provides a systematic account of welfare retrenchment
and assesses the competing explanations of this process. The
authors provide convincing evidence for the view that an 'ever
closer union' in social policy will require a much more difficult
process than that which led to monetary union.
The book makes a major contribution to understanding how welfare policy in Europe will develop over the next few years. It offers an original and wide-ranging account of the forces affecting the direction of policy, and stresses the role of social and political institutions in explaining why countries differ.
European Welfare Futures will be essential reading for undergraduates, graduate students and scholars in social policy, sociology, political science, area studies and international relations courses. It will also be of great interest to policy-makers in the EU, especially in the areas of pensions, health, social care and unemployment.