The welfare state in the European Union : economic and social perspectives / Pierre Pestieau.

By:

Pestieau, Pierre, 1943-

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006.Description: viii, 169 p. : ill. ; 24 cmISBN:

0199261024 (pbk.)

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

361.65 PES

Online resources:

Table of contents

Contents:

Introduction -- Poverty and inequality -- Social spending -- Revenue sources -- Types of social protection -- Social insurance and globalization -- Welfare state and economic efficiency -- Efficiency of the welfare state -- Social versus private insurance -- Old age pensions -- Health care -- Unemployment and poverty -- Family allowances -- Conclusion.

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Standard Loan	Moylish Library Main Collection	361.65 PES (Browse shelf(Opens below))	1	Available		39002100320945

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This book offers an account of the performance of the welfare state in the European Union, and explores its future prospects in an ever evolving setting. The objectives of the welfare state are twofold: to relieve poverty and to provide a sense of security for everyone. It can be shown that over the last four decades the welfare state has been quite successful in achieving these objectives, more visibly in the Nordic countries than in the Southern or the Anglo-Saxon ones. But today the welfare state is at a crossroad. It is facing a variety of challenges that include demographic aging, the changing role of families, increased opportunism, economic integration and declining job security. All these challenges call for a drastic reform of the welfare state, one that requires more control of abuses and more accountability. The authors that it is crucial that all the components of the welfare state be made as efficient as possible, and that if a choice has to be made between alleviating poverty and protecting individuals against lifetime risks, priority should be given to the first objective. This book devotes a chapter to each of the main social protection programs: health care, unemployment insurance, pensions and child policies. In addition, special consideration is given throughout to the necessary interdependence among the State, the market and the family.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [151]-158) and index.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

1 Introduction
2 Poverty and inequality
3 Social spending
4 Revenue sources
5 Types of social protection
6 Social insurance and globalization
7 Welfare state and economic efficiency
8 Efficiency of the welfare state
9 Social versus private insurance
10 Old age pensions
11 Health care
12 Unemployment and poverty
13 Family allowances
14 Conclusion

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Since receiving his B.A and M.A degrees in economics from the University of Louvain and then his PhD from Yale, Pierre Pestieau has had over thirty years of experience teaching and conducting research in public economics and population economics. Besides being Professor of Economics at the University of Liege, he is a member of CORE, associate member of PSE, CEPR Fellow and CESIfo Fellow. He is currently coeditor of the Journal of Public Economics and associate editor of Economica, Finanzarchiv and the Journal of Public Economic Theory.