Care, activation, investment On some connections between employment policy and the transformation of the welfare model

Abstract

Abstract In this paper the changing model of social security will be investigated. The analysis focuses on the changes of employment policies in European countries. Through the critical review of scientific literature of welfare changes we try to answer the question of what circumstances led to the shift from the welfare state focusing on welfare benefits and services to the generally accepted model of the activating state by the first decade of the millennium, and through what steps the latter has evolved. The central question of this study is how and along what stages the earlier integration efforts directed at citizens at the margin of the labour market focusing on entitlements have been replaced by a market-based approach meeting the needs of these groups as a form of social investment. The first part of the study presents the theoretical framework for the transformation of the employment policies, the key pillars of the welfare state and the term ‟activation state” and ‟investor state”. The second part examines the key features of the five stages of the model change. Key words: activating state, employment policy, social investment, ‟Third Way”