Social Welfare and Social Insurance

Three leading sociologists examine Italy’s regime of poverty and the frequently misunderstood context of familialism in this in-depth study. With analysis of poverty’s roots and development and modern trends including the migrant ‘new poor’, it adds European perspectives for a better understanding of a persistent crisis.

The impacts of austerity and welfare reform on work and employment relations are explored in this perceptive assessment. This book highlights the role of trade unions and social movements in challenging the insecurities and inequalities imposed by work-focused welfare policies such as Universal Credit and proposes progressive new paths for welfare.

Delivering a timely account of the misconceptions of policies, discourses and representations around austerity in the UK, Dabrowski illustrates the complex ways through which austerity is experienced by women in their everyday lives.

Rajiv Prabhakar brings together the typically exclusive views of supporters and critics to present a nuanced, critical analysis of ‘financial inclusion’. Addressing issues including the ‘poverty premium’, financial capability and housing, this dialogue advances crucial public, academic and policy debates and proposes alternative paths forward.

Identifying continuity and variety in crisis-driven austerity restructuring across Canada, Denmark, Ireland and Spain, this important book uncovers how austerity can be categorized into different dynamic types, and exposes the economic, social, and political implications of the varieties of austerity.

Addressing the rapidly shifting politics of the minimum wage in six English-speaking countries, Shaun Wilson analyses minimum wage policies within a political-economy narrative. Topical and poignant, this book identifies the success of living wage campaigns as central to both welfare state change and alternatives to the Basic Income.

This important text maps out ways in which the disadvantaged have been affected by legal responses to COVID-19. Contributors tackle issues including virtual trials, adult social care, racism, tax and spending, education and more. Offering an account of the damage, this book demonstrates positive and productive future responses.

Bryan Fanning traces the development of European welfare states in this accessible analysis of social change from the Industrial Revolution onwards. The book explores evolutions through the lens of three traditions, social democracy, Christian democracy and liberalism, with insights into the people and beliefs that influenced each.

During the consolidation of the Welfare State in the 1940s, and its reshaping in the 2010s, the boundaries between the state, voluntary action, the family and the market were called into question. This book explores the impact of these ‘transformational moments’ on the role, position and contribution of voluntary action to social welfare.

Experts from around the world review the complex and rapidly changing politics and policies of austerity in this comprehensive collection of essays. The book details the many different means and expressions of austerity since the financial crisis of 2008, as well as backlashes and emerging political alternatives.

In this book, Chris Pierson argues that we will need to think quite differently about the British welfare state after COVID-19. He looks back to the welfare state’s origins and development as well as forwards, unearthing some surprising solutions in unexpected places.

Paul Spicker offers an original take on the British welfare state. He outlines the structure of services, the impact of false narratives, the real problems that need to be addressed and how we can do things better.