Welfare State Transformations and Inequality in OECD Countries

This book analyzes how recent welfare state transformations across advanced democracies have shaped social and economic disparities. The authors observe a trend from a compensatory paradigm towards supply oriented social policy, and investigate how this phenomenon is linked to distributional outcomes. How ¿ and how much ¿ have changes in core social policy fields alleviated or strengthened different dimensions of inequality? The authors argue that while the market has been the major cause of increasing net inequalities, the trend towards supply orientation in most social policy fields has further contributed to social inequality. The authors work from sociological and political science perspectives, examining all of the main branches of the welfare state, from health, education and tax policy, to labour market, pension and migration policy.

Provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the welfare state and social inequality

Chapter 1. Welfare State Transformation and Inequality in OECD Countries; Melike Wulfgramm, Tonia Bieber and Stephan Leibfried.-Part I. Welfare State Transformations and Inequality: Concepts and Trends.- Chapter 2. Welfare State Transformation across OECD Countries: Supply Side Orientation, Individualized Outcome Risks and Dualization; Peter Starke, Melike Wulfgramm & Herbert Obinger.- Chapter 3. Persistent Social and Rising Economic Inequalities: Evidence and Challenges; Olaf Groh-Samberg.- Chapter 4. Philosophical Perspectives on Different Kinds of Inequalities; Stefan Gosepath.- Part II. Policy Fields.- Chapter 5. Taxation and Inequality: How Tax Competition has Changed the Redistributive Capacity of Nation States in the OECD; Laura Seelkopf & Hanna Lierse.- Chapter 6. Keeping an Eye on IRIS: Risk and Income Solidarity in OECD Healthcare Systems; Achim Schmid, Pascal Siemsen and Ralf Götze.- Chapter 7. Retirement Income Provision and Household Income: Between- and Within-Cohort Inequalities in Germany and the US since the 1980s; Jan Paul Heisig.- Chapter 8. The Trilemma of Higher Education and Equality of Opportunity: Social Background, Access to Higher Education, and the Moderating Impact of Enrolment and Public Subsidization; Timm Fulge.- Chapter 9. Labour Market Risks in Times of Welfare State Changes; Hanna Schwander.- Chapter 10. Change of Labour Market Policies, the Gender Model and Social Inequality: Institutional Dualization revisited; Irene Dingeldey.- Part III. National versus Global Inequalities.- Chapter 11. Global Social Policy in the Context of Global Inequality; Alexandra Kaasch.- Chapter 12. Freedom of Movement in the EU and Welfare State Closure: Welfare Regime Type, Benefit Restrictions and their Implications for Social Mobility; Christof Roos.- Part IV. Conclusion.- Chapter 13. The New Welfare State Constellation and Inequality: Findings and Perspectives; Tonia Bieber and Melike Wulfgramm.