J 2014

Family Policies in ‘Hybrid’ Welfare States after the Crisis: Pathways between Policy Expansion and Retrenchment

FORMÁNKOVÁ, Lenka, Sonja BLUM and Ivana DOBROTIĆ

Basic information

Original name

Family Policies in ‘Hybrid’ Welfare States after the Crisis: Pathways between Policy Expansion and Retrenchment

Authors

FORMÁNKOVÁ, Lenka (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Sonja BLUM (276 Germany, guarantor) and Ivana DOBROTIĆ (191 Croatia)

Edition

Social Policy and Administration, Blackwell, 2014, 0144-5596

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

50601 Political science

Country of publisher

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

Impact factor

Impact factor: 0.854

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14230/14:00076775

Organization unit

Faculty of Social Studies

DOI

UT WoS

000339102000006

Keywords in English

Family policy; Crisis; Policy paradigms; Austria; Czech Republic; Slovenia

Tags

International impact, Reviewed
Změněno: 9/10/2014 15:21, Mgr. et Mgr. Lenka Formánková, Ph.D.

Abstract

V originále

The economic crisis has significantly challenged national welfare states and has often led to retrenchment. The question arises how countries have reacted to the crisis in the area of family policy – not directly connected to rising unemployment and also not as demanding for state spending as for example the pension system. This article analyzes family policy reforms during the crisis in three small European welfare states – Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Focusing on the ‘rationale’ behind the reforms, it aims to explore how family policy was affected by the crisis and whether the crisis gave rise to new policy pathways and ideas in the area. The exploratory case studies of reforms conducted in the three countries between 2009 and 2013 show that everywhere the pre-crisis policy pathways were also continued in the period of crisis. The reforms were framed by diverse paradigms related to national-specific contexts along with newly emerged austerity arguments. The Czech Republic shows a continued focus on a neo-liberal paradigm, utilizing the crisis to introduce further residual measures, i.e. mostly negative re-familializing reforms, mixed with de-familializing policies based on the workfare paradigm. Strong crisis-related discourse in Slovenia was accompanied by diverse austerity measures, which strengthened the social dimension of family policy and weakened a de-familialistic effect of the pre-crisis reforms. Austria, much less affected by the crisis, continues to combine social investment and ‘freedom of choice’ paradigms, introducing an ambivalent amalgam of positive familialistic and de-familialistic family policy reforms.