European social policies
Etablissement : ESPOL European School of Political and Social Sciences
Langue : Anglais
Formation(s) dans laquelle/lesquelles le cours apparait :
Période : S3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
European societies have gone through major economic and social transformations, with implications for people’s employment chances, income, and inequality. What is the role of European social policies in mitigating the economic and social challenges faced by our societies? Is there continuity or change in national welfare regimes? What role does the European Union (EU) play in shaping national social policies and social outcomes in Europe? This course covers social policy definitions, objectives and outcomes, recent trends in welfare state developments, and the interplay between national and EU social policy-making. It also offers hands-on exercises using micro- and macro-level data to assess trends in national tax-benefit systems, social protection expenditure, and calculate key socio-economic outcomes.
In the first part of the course, we define social policy, look at key objectives of social policies in Europe and how they are measured, focusing on poverty, inequality, skills, and employment. We then discuss the main micro and macro level determinants of poverty and inequality and how social policies in Europe mitigate (or reinforce) them. Two of the sessions will be devoted to in-class practical exercises to learn how to calculate key socio-economic outcomes using micro-level household survey data, aggregate macro data, and study social policy effects.
In the second part, we will discuss recent social policy developments paying particular attention to social cash transfers, social investment provisions (care services, active labour market policies, education and training), and taxes as policy responses. We will analyse trends in social policy design, spending and take-up, and their socio-economic consequences for different population sub-groups such as families with children, atypical workers, and the elderly. The aim of this part of the course is to understand recent recalibration processes of social policies in Europe and to assess welfare state capacity to ensure individual and societal wellbeing from a theoretical, comparative, and practical perspective. Two sessions will be devoted to in-class practical exercises to learn how to assess trends in national tax-benefit systems and public social protection expenditure using aggregate Eurostat and OECD data.
The third part of the course is devoted to understanding the role of national politics and the European Union in the domain of social policy and labour law. We will first look at the role of public attitudes and national political coalitions in determining social policy developments. We will then focus on the role of the European Union, covering EU’s key policies and instruments such as the European Pillar of Social Rights and the recent social legislation and EU directives.
COURSE CONTENTS
PART I. SOCIAL POLICY DEFINITIONS, CONCEPTS, AND TARGETS
1. Introduction: Definition of Social Policy and European social targets
2. Poverty: concepts, trends, determinants, and social policy responses
Note: this session incorporates in-class practical exercises to learn how to calculate poverty rates using micro-level household survey data, and how to perform descriptive assessments of change in aggregate poverty rates using Eurostat, OECD and World Bank data.
3. Inequality: concepts, trends, determinants, and social policy responses
Note: this session incorporates two in-class practical exercises. First, we will learn how to calculate inequality ratios using micro-level household survey data and perform microsimulation analyses of social cash transfer interventions to check how inequality levels change if we introduce a means tested cash transfer or a minimum basic income scheme. We will also discuss requirements for a tax-benefit microsimulation. Second, we will perform a descriptive trend analysis of change in aggregate inequality levels using Eurostat, OECD and World Bank data.
PART II. WELFARE STATE RECALIBRATION AND SOCIAL-POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES
4. Retrenchment, resilience, recalibration, or double movement? Welfare state change in a comparative perspective
Note: this session includes a practical exercise on how to perform descriptive assessments of social policy change using Eurostat data, analyzing tax-benefit systems and social protection spending by category.
5. Welfare state recalibration: merits and shortcomings of social investment and labour market flexibilization
6. Welfare state recalibration and socio-economic outcomes: research paper methodology and practical exercises
This session is devoted to further practical exercises: descriptive assessments of social policy change and effects on key socio-economic outcomes (employment, poverty, inequality) using micro-level household survey data and Eurostat data.
PART III. THE ROLE OF NATIONAL POLITICS AND THE EUROPEAN UNION IN SHAPING SOCIAL POLICY
7. National political drivers of change in social policy: public attitudes towards social policies and changing political coalitions in Europe
8. The role of the EU in social policy making: key instruments
9. The European Pillar of Social Rights and recent EU policies and directives directly impacting national social policies in Europe
