In the country reports (published separately), we described the structure of the overall welfare state and the degree of centralisation within the structure of the welfare state and the position of ‘the local’ in shaping welfare. We also made an inventory of key regulations, financial provisions, contractual arrangements and entitlements. These were focused on the three policy fields of child care, employment and housing. The comparative report sums up the findings of the country reports, noting significant similarities and differences, as well as recent trends that are likely to be relevant in the local research in the later stages of the project.
This report has joined the EMES Working Papers series and can be downloaded by clicking here.
Since much is already known from past research, we have focused our work on developments in the last five years, and specifically on the policy fields we have selected. This has laid the groundwork for the comparison of developments in local welfare systems. The research made an inventory of the key conditions that influence local welfare in the twenty cities to be studied at a later stage of our project.
The comparative summary presented here is based on national reports produced by the WILCO partners, published as the National reports on local welfare systems focussing on housing, employment and child care. The national reports provide descriptions of general backgrounds of administrative structures and social policies in the ten participating European countries, as well as more detailed descriptions of the three fields of interest for WILCO: housing, employment and child care.
