From Welfare to Workfare: The Implementation of Workfare Policies

•Mascini, P., Soentken, M. & Veen, R.J. van der (2012). From Welfare to Workfare. In R. van der Veen, M.A. Yerkes & P. Achterberg (Eds.), The Transformation of Solidarity. Changing Risks and the Future of the Welfare State (pp. 165-191). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

25 Pages Posted: 2 Feb 2015

See all articles by Peter Mascini

Peter Mascini

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Law; Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Faculty of Social Sciences

Menno Soentken

VU University Amsterdam

Romke Veen

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Faculty of Social Sciences

Date Written: January 31, 2012

Abstract

In this book we investigate the transformation of solidarity in modern welfare states. We have learned that welfare state solidarity is still high, but also that it is changing towards more obligatory reciprocity and that it is becoming increasingly dependent upon the deservingness of recipients. In this respect, developments in public opinion are in line with developments in public policies. However, the extent of risk protection is not only dependent upon the policies of the welfare state, it is also dependent upon the risk management strategies of workers, unions, employers’ associations and companies, which we have investigated in the preceding chapters. We have learned that the risk management strategies of these actors interact with the way social risks are protected in welfare state arrangements and with the institutions of the (welfare) state. Combined with welfare state arrangements, these strategies constitute social risk protection provided to citizens enjoy. However, the protection against social risks is also dependent upon the way in which social policies are implemented. There are two reasons for this. First there is always a discrepancy between the formal (legal) reality of arrangements and the daily practice of administration. Dahrendorf (1988) coined this as the distinction between entitlements and provisions. Entitlements alone do not tell us how well citizens are protected against social risks. The entitlements citizens enjoy have to be delivered too. This can be done in a restrictive manner, but also in a more generous manner. Social protection is thus the result of formal entitlements and of the way in which these entitlements are provided for. Second, and more importantly, we have to look at implementation because welfare state arrangements have become increasingly focused on investment and activation in the last ten to fifteen years. This implies that the implementation of arrangements is increasingly directed at preventing people from becoming dependent upon social security and on bringing people back into the labour market.

However, this also implies that the outcome of welfare state arrangements in terms of the protection they offer citizens is becoming increasingly dependent upon the activities deployed by administrative organisations in implementing activating social policies. Therefore, this chapter deals with the implementation of these activating social policies. What we learn in this chapter is that the provision of social services is indeed of more importance in a ‘workfare’ state. It often results in the unequal treatment of clients. Social investment will be concentrated on the most promising clients, and the disciplinary working of workfare policies – the conditionality of rights and associated obligations – will be concentrated on the least promising clients.

Keywords: Reintegration; Bureaucratization; Social Risk Protection; Labor Market

JEL Classification: J64, J68

Suggested Citation

Mascini, Peter and Soentken, Menno and Veen, Romke, From Welfare to Workfare: The Implementation of Workfare Policies (January 31, 2012). •Mascini, P., Soentken, M. & Veen, R.J. van der (2012). From Welfare to Workfare. In R. van der Veen, M.A. Yerkes & P. Achterberg (Eds.), The Transformation of Solidarity. Changing Risks and the Future of the Welfare State (pp. 165-191). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2558496

Peter Mascini (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Law ( email )

Office: Sanders building, L7-23
3000 DR Rotterdam, 3000 DR
Netherlands
0031 622498090 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.eur.nl/people/peter-mascini/

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Faculty of Social Sciences ( email )

Mandeville building, T7-18
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands
0031622498090 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.eur.nl/people/peter-mascini/

Menno Soentken

VU University Amsterdam ( email )

De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam, ND North Holland 1081 HV
Netherlands

Romke Veen

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Faculty of Social Sciences ( email )

Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062
Netherlands

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