Age in the Welfare State: The Origins of Social Spending on Pensioners, Workers, and Children

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Dedication......Page 9
Contents......Page 11
Tables and Figures......Page 12
Abbreviations......Page 15
Acknowledgments......Page 19
1 Introduction......Page 21
Why Study the Age Orientation of Welfare States?......Page 22
Why Does Age Orientation Vary? Some Preliminary Evidence and Hypotheses......Page 24
Explaining Variation in Age Orientation: The Argument in Brief......Page 29
Two Watersheds of Welfare State Formation......Page 30
Italy and the Netherlands: Contrasting Case Studies......Page 32
2 Measuring the Age of Welfare......Page 35
The State of the Art: Work on the Generational Effects of Welfare
Policy to Date......Page 37
Measuring the Age Orientation of Social Policy......Page 39
The Age Orientation of Direct Social Expenditures......Page 41
Summarizing the Age Orientation of Direct Expenditures......Page 49
Refining the Measure: Taxes and the “Hidden Welfare State”......Page 53
Refining the Measure: Housing Policy Patterns and Outcomes......Page 56
Conclusion......Page 59
3 Age and the Welfare State......Page 61
Classical Explanations for Variation in Welfare State Outcomes......Page 62
Modernization......Page 63
Gray Power......Page 64
Familialism......Page 66
Power Resources......Page 69
Institutions......Page 73
A Path-Dependent Institutionalist Explanation......Page 75
Citizenship-Based versus Occupational Programs......Page 78
The First Critical Juncture......Page 79
The Second Critical Juncture......Page 82
Programmatic versus Particularistic Political Competition......Page 83
Conclusion......Page 87
4 Family Allowances......Page 90
Partisan Effects on Family Allowance Spending......Page 93
Demographic Constituency Arguments......Page 95
An Alternative View: Program Structure and Political Competition Determine Family Allowance Spending......Page 96
Family Allowances in the Netherlands......Page 98
From the Beginnings to Universalism......Page 99
From Universalism to Entitlement......Page 106
Family Allowances in Italy......Page 109
General Historical Overview......Page 110
The Fascist Period......Page 111
The Golden Age of Italian Family Allowances: Postwar through 1964......Page 112
1964–82: Inattention and the “Sacking” of the Family Allowance Funds......Page 116
Post-1983: Structural Reform, or Old Wine in New Bottles?......Page 119
Conclusion......Page 123
5 Benefits for the Unemployed......Page 128
Income Protection Programs for the Unemployed......Page 130
The Age Orientation of Unemployment Benefits......Page 142
Particularism, Universalism, and the Response to Partisan Competition......Page 147
Unemployment Insurance Benefits......Page 148
Coverage for Youth Unemployed......Page 151
Ideology, Strategy, and the Unemployed......Page 153
6 Old-Age Pensions......Page 159
Pension Spending in Italy and the Netherlands......Page 160
Benefit Levels......Page 165
Number of Pensions......Page 169
Divergent Pension System Development in Italy and the Netherlands......Page 170
Floors, Ceilings, and Pillars: Determining the Level of Benefits......Page 171
The Effective Retirement Age: Determining the Number of Pensions......Page 178
Explaining Differences in Pension Spending: Competing Hypotheses......Page 183
Political Competition and Program Structure......Page 191
Conclusion......Page 197
Age Orientation, Poverty, and Inequality......Page 200
Program Structure, Political Competition,
and the “Age” of Welfare......Page 204
Implications for the Study of Welfare State Politics......Page 210
Possibilities for Institutional Change......Page 214
Netherlands......Page 221
Other Sources......Page 222
Index......Page 239