Sunday, March 16, 2014
Embassy (Omni Shoreham)
European welfare states have changed significantly in the past two decades. These changes have been interpreted positively by some as a social investment turn, but others, being more pessimistic, have pointed at processes of dualisation or neoliberal retrenchment. We know from previous research that immigrants are in a disadvantaged position across Europe. They are more often unemployed and less likely to be lifted out of poverty by social transfers. Yet we know much less about how welfare state changes contribute to or thwart the social inclusion of immigrants. In this paper we investigate how welfare state reforms have affected immigrants. Have migrants been able to benefit from a social investment turn? Or have they become only more disadvantaged due to further dualisation?
The first aim of the paper is to fill a gap in the existing literature by offering a thorough theoretical discussion of the potential impact of various welfare reform trajectories on immigrants’ social inclusion. Second, the paper compares the welfare reform trajectories in five selected countries characterised historically by different types of welfare regimes: the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. These reform trajectories are matched with trends in the social inclusion of immigrants. We use indicators of social inclusion provided by EU SILC data and national sources. Through these comparative case studies, we provide a first assessment of the impact of welfare state change on immigrants.
