Although occupational welfare has been studied in the past decades, it has remained relatively neglected in both theoretical and empirical studies, despite its importance to overall levels of social provision and its relevance to understand the role and strategies of policymakers and stakeholders. The first reason for further analysing occupational welfare is its increased importance in terms of expenditure, the number of workers covered by these programmes and the financial resources managed by occupational funds. Secondly, occupational welfare is part of the broader set of welfare programmes that provide protection against social risks. Thirdly, occupational welfare is a manifestation of the role of social actors (trade unions and employers) as welfare regulators and providers.
The session focuses on the interplay between occupational welfare and the more general political economy of European countries and on the role of actors: social partners, the State and the market in this area. The papers look comparatively at the evolution of occupational welfare. The key questions to address are: what is the current shape of occupational welfare in different European countries? What are the key determinants of its evolution? Is there evidence of a ‘retreat’ of the State from welfare policies? Is occupational welfare related to the increased role of the Market in the welfare field?
