Welfare mix
The term welfare mix refers to an analytical concept of social science welfare state research that deals with the provision, organization and regulation of welfare goods and services. It has been used in international comparative research on the welfare state and welfare state since the 1980s and found its way into specialist discussions, for example on civic engagement and care policy.
The basis is the approach of a mixed welfare production, which arose from a criticism of the one-sided view of state welfare policy. In addition to the government and market sectors , family / community and civil society are viewed as welfare-generating sectors. The focus is on the specific contributions of the individual social sectors, institutions and groups of actors, as well as their interaction and governance .
Similar terms
In addition to "welfare mix", various other terms are used:
- “Mixed economy of welfare” and “mixed welfare production” refer to the economic connections in provision and financing.
- The term “welfare pluralism” refers more to aspects of democracy and participation theory. The focus here is on the pluralism of organizational forms, especially their social embedding. Are considered z. B. Topics such as civic engagement and participation , the importance of co-production and the role of charities .
Origin context
Mixed welfare production concepts have been used in the social sciences since the 1970s. You are locates in scientific discussions about welfare, welfare state , social policy and welfare . These are often characterized by dualisms such as "state-market" or "public-private" (cf. state failure and market failure ).
The perspective of the “welfare mix” explicitly includes informal areas - such as households, families, neighborhoods, volunteering.
With the inclusion of the family / community as an independent sector of welfare production, this dichotomy is resolved. In the further development, the model was supplemented by a further sector: With the consideration of formal / organized civil society and non-profit organizations , the special importance of voluntary, non-market or state-related organizations in the provision and design of welfare services is taken into account.
Basics
Concepts of mixed welfare production do not denote historically new phenomena, but a new perspective on societies and states, their welfare organization and control. The focus is on the specific contributions of the individual social sectors, institutions and groups of actors, as well as their interaction and governance. The role of the third sector, i.e. organized civil society / the nonprofit sector , is of central importance.
The concept offers an analytical framework that enables a differentiated perspective beyond the dichotomies “state-market” or “public-private”. Economic, political and social functions and perspectives are taken into account.
Concepts of mixed welfare production can be applied in an analytical-descriptive as well as a normative-political dimension:
- analytical and descriptive: e.g. B. in the description of national, regional or local welfare mixes, their resources, structures and outputs / effects; in the representation and analysis of the interaction of different logics of action, negotiation processes and their control or governance
- normative-political: normative statements about the control and design of the welfare mix, the respective contributions of the individual sectors and their concrete interaction, as well as desired forms of cooperation and negotiation processes.
Sectors of Welfare Production
The focus of the concept is the differentiation of different social sectors and their specific contributions to welfare production. A simple illustration shows the so-called "welfare triangle"
Staat
/ \
Markt – Gemeinschaft
An extended four-sector model is often used: In addition to the state and the market, a distinction is made between an informal sector (family, neighborhoods) and the formally organized sector of civil society when considering welfare production. In 1996, Evers / Olk worked out various key features of the individual sectors on the basis of earlier approaches:
| institution | market | Country | Community | Civil society |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welfare Production Sector | Market sector | State Sector | informal sector / household production sector | Nonprofit / intermediate sector |
| Principle of action coordination | competition | hierarchy | Personal commitment | Voluntariness |
| Central collective actor (supply side) | Companies | Public administrations | Families (neighborhoods, extended family networks, company colleges, friendship relationships) | Associations |
| Complementary role on the demand side | Consumer, customer | Social citizen | Member of the community (e.g. family, nation) | Member of the association / fellow citizen |
| Access rule | Solvency | Legally guaranteed entitlement rights | Ascription / co-option | Neediness |
| Exchange medium | money | Law | Appreciation / respect | Arguments / communication |
| Central reference value | (Choice) freedom | equality | Reciprocity / Altruism | solidarity |
| Quality criterion | prosperity | safety | Personal participation | Social and Political Activation |
| Central deficit | Inequality, negation of consequential charges that cannot be monetized | Neglect of minority needs, restriction of freedom of disposition, discouragement of self-help motives | Restriction of freedom of choice through moral obligation, exclusion of non-members | Unequal distribution of services and goods, deficits in professionalization, reduced effectiveness of management and organizational structures |
On the basis of this ideal-typical distinction, the main focus in research is on the interaction between these institutions and the logic of action. It is about the description and explanation of the interdependencies and "mixes" of welfare production. These can be examined on different scales:
- national welfare state arrangements
- regional / local design processes
- individual organizations, e.g. B. Social service organizations as "hybrid organizations"
- at the level of individual / personal arrangements, e.g. B. the "care mix" in the combined care through professional and unpaid care work.
Research fields and areas of application
- Welfare State and Social Policy
- Participation and engagement, civil society, third sector
- maintenance
- Geography: In the English-language geography, various authors refer to approaches of the welfare mix. Most of them work on socio-geographic topics in the area of geography of care / health and the voluntary sectors.
literature
- Ingo Bode: The infrastructure of the post-industrial welfare state. Organization - change - social background. Springer, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-531-19427-1 .
- Adalbert Evers, Rolf Heinze, Thomas Olk (eds.): Handbook of social services. Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-531-15504-3 .
- Adalbert Evers, Thomas Olk (ed.): Welfare pluralism. From welfare state to welfare society. Opladen 1996, ISBN 3-531-12741-1 .
- Adalbert Evers, Helmut Wintersberger (eds.): Shifts in the welfare mix. Their Impact on Work, Social Services and Welfare Policies. contributions from nine European countries in a comparative perspective. European Center for Social Welfare Policy and Research. Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-900376-30-1 .
- Kerstin Hämel: Openness and commitment. Elderly care homes between state regulation, competition and civil society integration. Wiesbaden 2012, ISBN 978-3-531-19511-7 .
- Christine Milligan, David Conradson (Eds.): Landscapes of voluntarism. New spaces of health, welfare and governance. Bristol 2006, ISBN 1-86134-632-8 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Adalbert Evers, Helmut Wintersberger (ed.): Shifts in the welfare mix. Their Impact on Work, Social Services and Welfare Policies. contributions from nine European countries in a comparative perspective. European Center for Social Welfare Policy and Research. Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-900376-30-1 .
- ↑ Richard Rose, Rei Shiratori (Ed.): The Welfare State East and West. Oxford University Press. New York 1986, ISBN 0-19-503956-4 .
- ^ German Bundestag (ed.): Briefing by the Federal Government. Sixth report on the situation of the older generation in the Federal Republic of Germany Images of old age in society and statement by the Federal Government. Berlin 2010 (BT-Drs. 17/3815)
- ↑ Adalbert Evers, Thomas Olk (ed.): Welfare pluralism. From welfare state to welfare society. Opladen 1996, p. 23.