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The fragmentation of social security systems has emerged as a policy problem in Western Europe, resulting in the emergence of integrated service models, for example so‐called one‐stop shops. Bridging several policy domains, integrated services can be assumed to affect the institutional structure of benefits and services, such as entitlement criteria, target groups or governance processes. This article focuses on integrated service models that provide benefits and services to unemployed people who are receiving either social assistance or unemployment compensation. Recent reforms in Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK are analysed from both an organisational and a labour market perspective. The analysis shows that integrated service provision entails the risk of introducing stricter work conditionality for broad and vulnerable groups without fulfilling the promises of seamless services.

Minas R. Social expenditures and public administration: are local social assistance costs in Sweden a matter of organisation?
Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 215–224 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare.This study examines the connection between organisational factors and local social assistance expenditures in Swedish municipalities. The organisation of social assistance units, particularly those for the intake of social assistance inquirers, and the possible implications for local social assistance costs are highlighted. The study is based on interview data from medium‐sized Swedish municipalities combined with register data covering the years from 1997 to 2001. The results show that socioeconomic factors have an overall dominant effect, but also that organisational factors co‐vary with local social assistance expenditures. The results show a cost‐reducing effect for special intake units: firstly, when these units are analysed together with other forms of specialisation and secondly, when staff resources are taken into account. Thus, specialised intake organisation by itself does not play a cost‐reducing role, but does so in combination with certain other factors that characterise the internal organisation of the social welfare office.

This article looks at how the intake of new social assistance clients is organised in Sweden and which factors affect the existence of special intake units, using interview and register data from 100 Swedish municipalities. The discussion is organised along two distributional principles: that of general access for all citizens and that of social assistance only to those who are in need. The results show that different intake types can be distinguished: to promote or limit both access to the social assistance units and the possibility for selection among the callers. Examining factors that affect the organisation of intake in special intake units, the results show that factors related to the economic and demographic structure of the municipalities have no, or only in indirect, effect on the organisation of intake. Intake is instead mainly related to the structure of the whole social assistance unit. In addition, some factors related to professional norms have an impact.

AbstractYouth unemployment is a global issue, with supranational actors calling for policy responses, including early interventions such as outreach. This article examines how EU member states have translated the EU youth guarantee (YG) recommendation, focusing on early interventions in the form of outreach. Combining quantitative content analysis with corpus linguistics, we examined the YG implementation plans of 19 EU member states having differing institutional conditions, comparing if and how they have incorporated outreach in their policy agenda. Overall we found very little outreach in the YG‐plans. In the outreach described, guidance and information on education and labour market efforts dominate, whereas social work and local level community work is largely absent. We found type of outreach to be related to institutional conditions. Our results also imply that getting member states to commit to early interventions such as outreach requires that the EU stress this issue with greater emphasis.

Intro -- Innehåll -- Sammanfattning -- Förord -- 1. I globaliseringens tid -- 2. Nordisk globaliseringspolitik och dess konsekvenser -- 2.1 Handelspolitik -- 2.2 Finansmarknadspolitik -- 2.3 Migrationspolitik -- 2.4 Ekonomisk globalisering och nordisk arbetsmarknad -- 3. Att möta globaliseringen -- 3.1 Utbildning som globaliseringspolitik -- 3.2 Globaliseringen och arbetsmarknadspolitiska reformer -- 4. Slutord -- Referenser -- Summary in English -- Bilagor -- Bilaga 1. Presentation av datamaterialen -- Bilaga 2. SELMA: En nordisk modell för att mäta anknytningsgrad till arbetsmarknaden -- Bilaga 3. Fullständiga resultat för inkomstdekomponering -- Bilaga 4. Särdrag i det svenska gymnasiesystemet - åldersgränsen och det individuella programmet.

De nordiska ländernas ekonomiska utbyte med omvärlden har ökat dramatiskt. I debatten har globaliseringens förespråkare sett internationellt utbyte som en förutsättning för fortsatt välstånd, medan kritikerna varnat för arbetslöshet och ojämlikhet. Utvecklingen av inkomstfluktuationer och -skillnader kan emellertid inte förklaras av globaliseringen. Internationell handel, kapitalrörlighet och migration har således inte lett till ökad osäkerhet och ojämlikhet så som befarats - alternativt så har länderna varit framgångsrika i försöken att möta globaliseringen. De nordiska länderna har alla sökt bemöta utmaningarna genom reformer av utbildnings- och aktiveringspolitiken. Medan reformerna av yrkesutbildningen och arbetsmarknadspolitiken generellt inte har motverkat risken för social exkludering har däremot expansionen av utbildningssystemen tenderat att minska inkomstskillnaderna i Norden

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to examine the governance of activation in relation to the decentralization and centralization of activation for social assistance recipients in Sweden, The Netherlands and the UK.Design/methodology/approachThis paper outlines broad trends in the governance of activation policies in Europe, focusing on processes of decentralization and centralization in Sweden (characterized by a context of shifting national and local level governance of policies, cultivated within a strong tradition of active labour market policies); The Netherlands (where there has been a deliberate shift in governance towards the local level); and the UK (typified by highly centralized decision making in policy design but local variation in delivery).FindingsThe comparison identified different paths of decentralization and examines how these processes interact and overlap with modes of centralization/coordination of policies. Finally, the paper demonstrates the interface between the modes of decentralization and centralization.Originality/valueThe investigation of vertical changes in the governance of activation in three country case studies provides an original in‐depth analysis of types and paths of decentralization and centralization.

AbstractYouth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) have been analyzed from either individual or macro‐structural perspectives, while policy discussions have emphasized national policy. This disregards (i) the substantial variation in NEET rates within countries, and (ii) the importance of local governance for this variation. We examine these issues in Sweden through the lens of interactive governance. Theoretically, four aspects of collective action are highlighted: identification of local NEET subgroups, perceptions of problems and of solutions, and stakeholder relationships. Empirically, an initial multi‐level regression analysis of all 290 Swedish municipalities provided the basis for semi‐structured interviews regarding local work with NEETs in 20 strategically selected municipalities. The qualitative data are here analyzed using fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis. The results suggest that municipalities where local governance combines three of the four aspects, namely identifying NEET subgroups and sharing perceptions of problems and of solutions, have lower NEET shares than predicted.

Social assistance benefits are the last resort in national social protection systems, and decentralizing reforms leading to increasing local discretion over implementation of national legislation was an international trend frequently referred to as devolution. More recent reforms have instead often implied recentralization and/or involved mandatory institutional cooperation between welfare agencies located at different hierarchical levels. In contrast to North America, there is little European evidence on the extent to which shifting responsibilities influence benefit levels and benefit receipt. Using individual level register data from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and applying a difference-in-difference approach, we link changes in legislation to changes in municipal benefits as well as caseloads during the period 1990–2010. We only find indications of reform effects linked to distinct benefit centralization, concluding that other reforms were too insubstantial to have an impact. Combined with earlier evidence, this suggests that in order to have an impact, welfare reform requires marked changes in authority.

Since the 2008 economic crisis, each year has brought new challenges to welfare states. This important annual volume with contributions from an exciting mix of internationally renowned experts within the social policy community examines the economic and political challenges that have confronted governments, and highlights the diverse ways in which nations have responded. Part One explores the most pressing questions confronting British social policy, from the school-leaving age, employment, in-work benefits to taxation. Part Two examines the political and professional dilemmas involved in the delivery and financing of social policy. Part Three identifies the challenges in integrating social policy with other areas of the welfare state, including social care, health policy and labour market policy. This comprehensive discussion of the most challenging issues arising during the past year provides academics and students with an invaluable up-to-date analysis of the current state of social policy