Democracies, economies and social protection – understanding welfare state development in Asia and Europe

Scholars of the welfare state have long focused on a relatively small number of mature post-industrial political economies, above all the member states of the European Union, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.The aim of this policy paper is to explore what we can expect for welfare states in the developing Asian countries when we apply our knowledge of why, when and how Western welfare states expanded to their current size. After an overview of welfare spending in Asia and the EU today this paper will present two theories of comparative social policy analysis which argued that the shape of today’s western welfare states can be explained by economic development and political conflict<br/

Wie zukunftsfest ist das deutsche Alterversorgungssystem? Eine Diagnose aus vergleichender Perspektive

Die Frage nach der Architektur eines zukunftsfesten Rentensystem muss 15 Jahre nach den einschneidenden Rentenreformen von 2001 unbedingt gestellt werden, da das gegenwärtige System die Bevölkerung im Alter nicht ausreichend vor Armut schützt. Die Reformen haben die Kosten eingedämmt, und sie führten zu einer erneuten Expansion von Betriebsrenten und persönlichen Sparplänen, entscheidend ist aber, dass die durch die Kürzung der gesetzlichen Rente entstandenen Lücken gegenwärtig von den betrieblichen und privaten Sparleistungen nicht ausgeglichen werden. Dieses Problem geht die Sozialpolitiker der Regierung an, es ist aber auch eine Herausforderung für alle, die sich für Betriebsrenten engagieren. In meinem Beitrag werde ich aus vergleichender, europäischer Perspektive überlegen, wie eine bessere Architektur aussehen könnte und welche nächsten Schritte auf dem Weg dorthin getan werden müssten. Dafür werde ich zunächst das deutsche System und seine Reformen im europäischen Vergleich darstellen, um dann die durch obligatorische Versicherung erworbenen Rentenniveaus europäischer Länder zu vergleichen. Deutschland liegt hier weit unter dem Durchschnitt. Es hat Abschied vom Ein-Säulenmodell genommen, verlässt sich aber wesentlich stärker auf Eigenverantwortlichkeit als in etablierten Mehr-Säulensystemen üblich. Der Beitrag diskutiert das Spannungsverhältnis von Eigenverantwortung und sozialer Sicherheit und schließt mit einem Plädoyer für die entschlossene Weiterführung des begonnenen Umbaus hin zu einem robusteren Mehr-Säulensystem

Expense turns to investment: How the welfare state supports EU migrants’ economic achievements

Welfare support for European Union migrants to the UK has often been presented as a “burden”. However, evidence that migrants are strongly work-focussed suggests greater attention should be given to the welfare state’s social investment role. This briefing investigates the degree to which the UK’s welfare state helps EU migrants enhance their economic activity. How have policy changes post-2014 affected this situation? What would happen if the UK left the EU

Free movement? The impact of legislation, benefit generosity and wages on the pensions of European migrants

European economic integration has always involved a commitment to the free movement of labour, services and capital. However, the development by European institutions of specific rights with respect to labour mobility has been slow. This paper explores this issue from the perspective of pension rights, among the most long-lasting for citizens. It shows that the literature on this topic has focussed mainly on EU regulations; their scope and limitations. The paper argues that, while important, this work has led to the neglect of a more fundamental issue: the potential impact on mobility of the relative generosity of pension schemes and large national wealth variations, an increasingly salient issue since the expansion of the EU into Eastern and Central Europe. Thus, on the basis of a detailed review of dominant intra-EU migratory patterns, the paper investigates the impact on pension rights of movement between Beveridgean and Bismarckian pension systems and between countries of substantially different wealth. It shows that lower income workers who move from Beveridgean to Bismarckian countries would be most at risk of pension losses. However, such movement is unusual: instead the majority of intra-European migrants move from Bismarckian systems of low generosity in the poorer east to Beveridgean and more generous Bismarckian in the richer west. Workers who make this move are more likely to experience pension gains than losses. For them, free movement is achieved.<br/

Beveridge not Bismarck! European lessons for men’s and women’s pensions in Germany

Paid employment determines pension levels, for both women and men. In those European countries in which women have been integrated into the labour market at an early stage their protection in old age is higher today for that reason alone. Germany lags behind in this respect. Gender-specific differences in the employment participation of the low educated are greater than those between the educated, everywhere. The differences are more substantial in Germany than in many other European countries. A fair pension policy that can prevent poverty thus begins in the labour market. It has to improve employment opportunities for women and men of all social classes. The pension systems of countries in which gender relations were modernised early correspond to the »Beveridge model«: a universal basic pension, supplemented with mandatory occupational pensions, prevents old-age poverty more effectively and enables women to be more independent. The pension systems of countries in which gender relations were modernised later are income- and contribution-dependent. These "Bismarck countries" prevent poverty less effectively and maintain a legacy of dependence. Despite retrenchment, women in Beveridge countries are better protected against poverty. The statutory pension in Germany, however, has fallen to the lowest level among the countries investigated in this paper, affecting the low educated in particular. The Beveridge countries show that preventing poverty entails a statutory minimum pension and mandatory occupational pensions. German social policy should learn from this

Beveridge statt Bismarck! Europäische Lehren für die Alterssicherung von Frauen und Männern in Deutschland

- Erwerbsarbeit bestimmt die Rentenhöhe – für Frauen wie Männer. In den Ländern Europas, in denen sich Frauen früh in den Arbeitsmarkt integrierten, ist ihre Alterssicherheit allein deshalb bereits höher. Deutschland gehört zu den Nachzüglern.- Geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede in der Erwerbsbeteiligung zwischen gering Gebildeten sind überall größer als zwischen Gebildeten. Die Differenzen sind in Deutschland deutlicher als in manchen Ländern Europas.Armutsvermeidende, gerechte Rentenpolitik beginnt deshalb am Arbeitsmarkt. Sie muss Erwerbschancen für Frauen und Männer aller Schichten verbessern.- Die Rentensysteme der Länder, in denen sich die Geschlechterverhältnisse früher modernisierten, entsprechen dem »Beveridge-Modell«: Eine universale Grundrente, ergänzt von verpflichtenden Betriebsrenten, vermeidet Altersarmut effektiver und ermöglicht Frauen mehr Unabhängigkeit.- Die Rentensysteme der Länder, in denen sich die Geschlechterverhältnisse später modernisierten, sind einkommens- und beitragsabhängig. Diese »Bismarck-Länder« vermeiden Armut weniger effektiv und stützen tradierte Abhängigkeit.- Trotz Kürzungen sind Frauen in den Beveridge-Ländern besser vor Armut geschützt. Die deutsche gesetzliche Rente aber sinkt auf das niedrigste Niveau der untersuchten Länder, was besonders gering Gebildete trifft. Die Beveridge-Länder zeigen, dass zur Armutsvermeidung eine gesetzliche Mindestrente und verpflichtende Betriebsrenten gehören. Deutsche Sozialpolitik sollte daraus lernen

Towards a ‘balanced’ approach to pensions reform? Individuals, the state and employers in the restructuring of post-retirement income in the UK

This paper tests the feasibility of individual saving as a solution to the pensions crisis and, heeding the Pensions Commission’s call for a ‘balanced’ approach to the UK’s problems, investigates the effect on individual savings rates of changes in state and occupational provision: ie the re-introduction of the Basic State Pension earnings link and a return to an average pension contribution of 8% for those employers currently providing occupational pensions. The paper is based on a series of micro-simulations of the pension entitlements of a selection of illustrative ‘risk biographies’, which are founded upon a critique of similar calculations undertaken by the DWP and Pensions Commission.The paper shows that:1. The introduction of typical risks (eg care responsibilities, unemployment, early retirement) to individual life biographies, and the use of an adequacy standard based on relative poverty, significantly increases the rate of saving required to secure an adequate income in retirement in comparison with the savings rates outlined by the DWP and Pensions Commission.2. A relatively small change in the current policies of the state and some employers has the potential to make the prospect of an increased reliance on individual savings a more feasible prospect.3. Greater intervention by the state and/or employers would nevertheless be required to cater for those with greater periods out of the workforce and/or working in sectors uncovered by occupational provision

Manifesting future disadvantage: class, gender and pension accrual of the low-educated young in Europe

This study investigates the degree to which 25-29-year-old men and women with a basic education only were building poverty risks for retirement in 24 European countries in 2019 and how their situation has changed since 2002. It shows that the low-educated young have become a small but even poorer minority. Their economic activity rates have fallen, with very low female rates. Pension policies reinforce the poverty risks of this group, as employment-related pension rights and means-tested benefits have fallen, and carers' compensation are below those of workers. To reverse such disadvantage policymakers' priorities must be to focus on educational opportunities, access to substantial employment and protection for times of inactivity due to care responsibilities; in addition, the cuts in pension system generosity, which have affected those with basic education severely, need to be reversed