Weathering the Storm: Social Policy and the Great Recession

Abstract

This review discusses recent challenges to the welfare state arising from the Great Recession (GR). The GR was a significant event for social policy analysts, as it tested the responsiveness of welfare systems in the midst of a recent trend toward austerity politics in advanced economies. Social policy changes were part of the toolkit advanced democracies used to respond to the GR, and the welfare state mitigated the consequences of the GR. However, a stark limitation of the social safety net in the United States was the failure to assist immigrant households. The nexus of immigration and social policy is likely to be a significant controversy as we consider the meaning of social citizenship.

The 2019 Public Policy Yearbook: Tracking a Decade of Trends in Public Policy Research

“…Our second social policy article, by Cory Maks‐Solomon and Dr. Robert Stoker (), discusses challenges to the welfare state arising from the recent economic crisis dubbed “the Great Recession.” The review takes the perspective that the Recession affords an opportunity to assess how well—or poorly—social welfare policies served to buffer the least well‐off from the effects of the economic hardships and improve macroeconomic trends. After a summary of the array of policy responses, the authors assess whether social programs worked.…”