All societies need some type of social policies. The form and extent of interventions vary across time and space. Historically, industrialization and the rise of capitalism undercut the traditional forms of social protection given by family, kin, tribe, guilds, and church. In the Western hemisphere, these societal transformations are linked to the development of the welfare state. In modern economies, market failures make welfare states necessary. Welfare states ensure social security in situations, where other forms of economic and social support fail to guarantee basic livelihood and decent life.
Yet welfare states have taken different forms and use different institutional solutions against social risks, such as old-age, sickness, unemployment, disability, and childbirth. Differences in institutional solutions, in turn, have implications for poverty, wealth distribution, pensions, gender inequality, as well as health and well-being.
After the course, the student has a basic understanding of how welfare states operate. The student is familiar with country differences in institutional solutions, knows how countries cluster in terms of the welfare institutions, and can relate different institutional solutions to outcomes, such as poverty or gender inequality. The student can explain central concepts in comparative welfare state literature and draw information from relevant comparative data sources. The student can also display, interpret, and critically discuss comparative findings.
- Opettaja
Eija Lindroos