1. Liberalisation, dualization or integration?
RECONCILING WORK AND WELFARE IN EUROPE
Panel session 3:
Liberalisation, dualization or integration?
Activation and Labour Market Reforms in Europe – Challenges to Social Citizenship Sigrid Betzelt, Silke Bothfeld

2. What is meant by activation?
Activation strategies include reforms in at least 3 policy fields:
Unemployment protection systems: new conditionality, lower benefits (shorter durations)
Labour law: flexibilisation, deregulation
Active labour market policies: targeting measures, work test or tailor-made support?

3. What is social citizenship (or better: a social citizenship regime)?
A bundle of normative ideas about the citizens’ (social) rights & obligations and the State’s responsibility
Normative and institutional constructions of membership (in individual, social and political terms)
(Institutional) modes which govern the substance of State’s social security provision and membership

4. Why focusing on social citizenship? Our hypotheses
Ongoing change is more fundamental than pure institutional analyses suggest
B. We assume that basic notions of the “European” Social Citizenship regime change:
the degree of the citizens’ individual autonomy which is (or shall be) protected by labour law & social rights
the relative position of citizens, i.e. social status order (membership)
governance modes and power relations on the micro & macro level

5. The Social Citizenship Regime: Substance & Governance

6. Analytical framework (& examples)
Policy Fields/ CRITERIA
Labour market regulation
Active labour market policies
Unemployment protection system
QUALITY
Growth of atypical work (-)
ALMP measures as work tests (-)
Cuts in benefits (-)
Minimum standards (+)
Tailor-made programmes (+)
Provision of adequate benefits (+)
ACCESS / STATUS
Atypical work as a trap (-)
Enforced participation (-)
Constrained access (-)
… as a stepping stone (+)
Universalised access to almp measures (+)
Universalisation of benefit scheme (+)
PARTICI-PATION & COMMIT-MENT
Direct & indirect deregulation (-)
Client segmentation (-)
Uncontrollable discretion (-)
„Negotiated“ flexibility (+)
One-stop-agencies (+)
Reliability and transparency of conditions (+)

7. An explorative approach
What is the impact of activation strategies in terms of quality, access/ status and participation and commitment?
Case studies identify and analyse instruments and policies which represent typical features of the respective countries’ activation strategy.
They illustrate institutional change (output) as well as impact on the citizens’ life situation (outcome).
e.g. UK lone parents, DK immigrants, D: all employees and unemployed, NL: social assistance recipients etc.

8. Results negative positive Labour market regulation
Active labour market policies
Unemployment protection system
QUALITY
D, ES, F, IT
D, DK
D, DK, ES, IT
ES, F, UK
ACCESS / STATUS
D, ES, IT
D, DK, UK D?
D?, DK?, UK? F
PARTICI-PATION
D, ES, F
D, DK, F, NL, N
D, NL N?

9. Observations for Germany
negative
positive
Labour market regulation
Active labour market policies
Unemployment protection system
QUALITY
Rise of atypical and precarious employment
Cuts of ALMP
Increased use of work tests
Cuts in benefits
ACCESS / STATUS
Low wage employment and mini-jobs as a trap
Enforced participation
Status segmentation (UB I & II)
Stricter family
subsidiarity
Targeting (young, elderly)
Universal UB II benefit
PARTICI-PATION
Redefinition of acceptable jobs
Client segmentation
Lack of transparency and reliability

10. Liberalisation, dualisation or integration
Liberalisation, dualisation or integration? How to interpret changes in labour market and social policies over the last decades?
no liberalisation, but deregulation of LM, combined with stronger role of the state in controlling & standardising individual behaviour
dualisation on the one hand, but simultaneously erosion of core employment status – changes do not only affect periphery!
integration: employment as major integration mechanism, but without granted level of social rights (segmentation)
 rising tensions in several dimensions of employment societies: Erosion of social status order

11. Outcome: Rising Tensions
1. Equality – Diversity: Universal Adult Worker Norm affects individual self-determination & respect migrants in DK, lone mothers in UK, women generally
2. Core – Periphery: Erosion of employment status
blurring boundaries (D, F) or re-enforced ‘old’ dividing lines (IT, ES)
3. Standardisation – Individualisation: new instruments & governance of social citizenship
decentralisation, contractualisation affect citizen’s participation, choice & voice