The ‘New’ Social Investment in Context: The Human Capital Stock in Five Countries

The ‘social investment turn’ in social policy comes on top of a long-established social investment focus in social services, especially in health and education, and a long history of human capital develop­ment. In order to assess where the ‘new’ social investment might fit into that history, a useful first step is to look at the stock of human capital and seek to identify human capital deficiencies and targets that new social spending might be designed to tackle.  To that end, this paper examines trends and differences between five countries (Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden) in the accumulation of human capital over recent decades, distinguishing between the quantity and quality dimensions (population size versus the health and educational profiles of the population). In light of the trends it identifies, the paper suggests that the new social investment might best be thought of as a marginal addition to existing large volumes of social investment (both public and private) in human capital rather than a substantial new departure. It also points to issues such as immigrant integration and disability among older workers which loom large as influences on the human capital stock in developed countries and warrant greater attention from new social investment strategies.