Social policy and health: transition countries in a comparative perspective

Abstract

T. Ferrarini, O. Sjöberg. Social policy and health: transition countries in a comparative perspective Int J Soc Welfare 2010: ••: ••–••© 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. This article analyses the development and design of unemployment insurance and family policy benefits and their links to health outcomes in Estonia, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary from the mid‐1990s. Comparing these six transition countries with long‐standing welfare democracies reveals important similarities and differences in policy and health. Unemployment benefit schemes resemble corporatist schemes in important respects, however, with lower coverage and average benefits. Subjective wellbeing is also comparatively low among both employed and unemployed in the transition countries. Several transition countries have mixed family policy strategies that simultaneously support dual‐earner families and traditional gender roles. One clear exception is Slovenia, which has a highly developed dual‐earner support. Family policy generosity is related to lower rates of poverty, infant mortality and child injuries. The article demonstrates the fruitfulness of institutional analyses of the link between social policy and population health in a broader welfare state context.

Understanding the role of welfare state characteristics for health and inequalities – an analytical review

“…This seems to apply to the whole population, not only to the health of the unemployed [58]. An Additional file shows further information on study characteristics and results [see Additional file 5: Economic assistance and unemployment benefits].…”

Cross-cultural work and family research: A review of the literature

“…Trefalt, Drnovsek, Svetina-Nabergoj, and Adlesic (2013) argue that these rapid changes have implications for an individual's WF management. Specifically, they argue that many Eastern European states, when under socialist regimes, experienced high support and as a result had high levels of female labor force participation (Brainerd, 2000), many dual-earner households (Pascal & Kwak, 2009), and state subsidies for children (Ferrarini & Sjoberg, 2010). During the transition to a market-based economy, the childcare center subsidies were reduced with no immediate replacement (Swain, 2011), creating new WF tensions, particularly for women.…”

Doing It for the Kids? The Determinants of Attitudes towards Public Childcare in Unified Germany

“…If at all, public opinion in this context is discussed with reference to women's employment and the question of who does what in the triangle of family−state−civil society (Bolzendahl and Olafsdottir, 2008;Crompton et al, 2005;Sunström, 1999). 3 Newer classifications giving a stronger emphasis on post-communist countries as a mixed bag of reformed liberal aspects and inherited comprehensive services from communist times (Boye, 2011;Cerami and Vanhuysse, 2009;Ferrarini and Sjöberg, 2010;Korpi, 2000;Starke et al, 2008). For a description of the slow changes in post-communist childcare policies in Bulgaria, see Sotiropoulo and Sotiropoulos (2007).…”