THE FUTURE OF THE WELFARE STATE by Francis G. Castles ( 9780199270170 )

Item Details

Title:

THE FUTURE OF THE WELFARE STATE
CRISIS MYTHS AND CRISIS REALITIES

By:

Format:

Hardback

List price:	£115.00
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ISBN 10:

0199270171

ISBN 13:

9780199270170

Publisher:

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

8 July, 2004

Pages:

220

Description:

Written by one of the world's leading policy researchers, this book seeks to assess the threat posed to modern welfare states by globalization and demographic change. Bringing together empirical methods, current information from 21 advanced countries, and insights from across the social sciences, Castles distinguishes welfare crisis myths from welfare crisis realities, and presents likely trajectories of welfare state development in coming decades. The book will beessential reading for scholars from a broad range of disciplines, as well as policy-makers in many areas of government.

Synopsis:

Written by one of the world's leading policy researchers, this book seeks to assess the threat posed to modern welfare states by globalization and demographic change. Using empirical methods, and bringing together insights from across the social sciences, Castles interrogates a range of theories suggesting that the welfare state is in crisis. Systematically using data for 21 advanced OECD nations, he distinguishes crisis myths from crisis realities, locating, in the process, likely trajectories of welfare state development in coming decades. The findings of this book confront many of the basic assumptions of contemporary scholarship. Economic globalization has not led to a 'race to the bottom'. Analogous processes within the European Community have not led to a 'downward harmonization' of social spending. There is no 'new politics of the welfare state', with the Left still outspending the Right. Over the past two decades, spending has been increasing and converging across the OECD. Rather than being in a state of crisis, western welfare states have achieved a steady state.The supposed impact of population ageing on social welfare budgets also turns out to be myth, with differences in spending actually being a function of the structure of welfare systems, not of any demographic imperative. The only potentially real threat is of rapidly declining fertility, but Castles argues that welfare state spending in the form of family-friendly public policy is, in fact, our best defence against this problem. This is a book with significant policy implications. It identifies the factors likely to mould welfare state growth and decline in future years, and the diverse problems and challenges confronting welfare state policy-makers in different families of nations. It is a book for those who like assessing evidence before jumping to unwarranted conclusions, and a book for those who wish to see 'the shape of things to come'.

Illustrations:

numerous tables

Publication:

Imprint:

Oxford University Press

Returns:

Non-returnable

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