Routledge Handbook of the Welfare State

Forty-five contributions from renowned international specialists in the field provide readers with expert analysis of the core issues related to the welfare state, including regional depictions of welfare states around the globe. The second edition of the Routledge Handbook of the Welfare State combines essays on methodologies, core concepts and central policy areas to produce a comprehensive understanding of what 'the welfare state' means around the world. In the aftermath of the credit crunch, the Handbook addresses some of the many questions about the welfare state. This second edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to include an in-depth analysis of societal changes in recent years. New articles can be found on topics such as: the impact of ideas, well-being, migration, globalisation, India, welfare typologies, homelessness and long-term care. This volume will be an invaluable reference book for students and scholars throughout the social sciences, particularly in sociology, social policy, public policy, international relations, politics and gender studies.

Bent Greve is Professor of Welfare State Analysis in the Department of Society and Business at Roskilde University, Denmark. He has published widely on different topics surrounding the welfare state, including technology and the labour market, happiness and social policy, and labour market policy. He is also a member of several boards and committees in Denmark and internationally.

Introduction; Part I: Key Concepts; What is welfare and public welfare; What is a welfare state?; Fiscal Welfare; Occupational Welfare; Prevention; Poverty; Benefits in Kind and in Cash; Gender Issues in Welfare States; Welfare States and the Life Course; Well-being and the Welfare State; Part II: Typologies and Methods; Welfare Typologies; Nordic Welfare States; Central European Welfare States; Central and Eastern Europe; Southern Europe; Liberal Welfare States; Third Way; Welfare States in North America: Social Citizenship in the United States, Canada and Mexico; Welfare State Changes in China since 1949; India as a Post-Colonial Welfare State; Inequality, Social Spending and the State in Latin America; The Middle-East; States of Health: Welfare Regimes, Health and Health Care; How to Analyze Welfare States and Their Development?; How Ideas Impact Social Policy; Drivers for Change; Different Worlds of Welfare Regimes: Applying the Ideal-Typical Method; Real-typical and Ideal-Typical Methods in Comparative Social Policy; Fiscal Crisis, Financial Crisis and the Fragile Welfare State; Globalisation and the Welfare States; Part III: Central Policy Areas; Social Security; Active Labour Market Policies; Housing Policy, the Welfare State and Social Inequality; Homelessness and Social Policy; Health Care; Old Age and Pension; Disability; Family Policies; Risk and the management of crime; Financing the Welfare State and The Politics of Taxation ; Social OMC; Evaluation, Evidence; Long-Term Care; The Welfare State and International Migration: The European Challenge; Part IV: Future; Future of the welfare state?