Religion, Class, and the Postwar Development of the Dutch Welfare State / / Dennie Oude Nijhuis.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter AUP eBook Package 2016-2018
• VerfasserIn: Oude Nijhuis, Dennie,
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam : : Amsterdam University Press, , [2018]; ©2018
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (380 p.) :; 4 line drawings

This book examines how the Netherlands managed to create and maintain one of the world's most generous and inclusive welfare systems despite having been dominated by Christian-democratic or "conservative" rather than socialist-dominated governments for most of the post-war period. It emphasises that such systems have strong consequences for the distribution of income and risk among different segments of society and shows that they could consequently only emerge in countries where middle class groups were unable to utilise their key electoral and strong labour market position to mobilise against this. The book argues that this calls for a major reconsideration of the roles of Christian-democracy and the labour union movement in the development of modern welfare states. By highlighting how welfare reform contributed to the employment miracle of the 1990s, the book also sheds new light on how countries are able to combine high levels of welfare generosity and solidarity with successful macro-economic performance.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Abbreviations -- Preface -- Part I. History and Theory -- 1. The Dutch Welfare Puzzle -- 2. The Politics of Social Solidarity -- Part II. The Politics of Welfare State Expansion -- 3. Welfare Reform in the Age of Austerity -- 4. Welfare State Expansion and the Confessional Preoccupation with Personal Responsibility and Self-Help -- 5. Completing the Social Insurance System -- 6. Catering to the Low Paid -- Part III. The Politics of Retrenchment -- 7. The Emergence of Welfare Without Work -- 8. Tackling the Inactivity Crisis -- 9. Towards an Active Welfare State -- 10. Population Ageing and the Need for Further Reform -- Part IV. Conclusion -- 11. The Political Determinants of Solidaristic Reform -- Bibliography -- Index