This article argues that the socio-ecological transformation does not only require to restructure the traditional welfare state architecture but also to renew welfare state objectives and institutions. While compensatory and preventive functions have long been in the foreground, it is now time...

This paper examines how the necessary socio-ecological transformation can be shaped through welfare state institutions and measures in such a way that it does not cause social tensions and avoids any new environmentally harmful maladjustments, but rather is as socially just and ecologically...

The implementation of social policies is often hampered by the fact that local decision-makers may be unwilling or unable to implement the policy as intended by the central government. In contrast to research that focuses on incentivizing and holding local decision makers accountable, we examine...

This article investigates how mothers’ and fathers’ daily time use changed across social classes from 1990 to 2013 in Germany. In the 2000s, Germany’s adherence to the male breadwinner model was eroded by labor and family policy reforms typical of the adult worker model, which assumes...

This paper studies the long-term impact of a paid parental leave reform in former East Germany in 1986 on maternal physical and mental health and subjective well-being. The reform extended paid leave for first-time mothers by six months to a maximum of twelve months. I use representative survey...

This paper is part of a comparative project on the Varieties of Covid-19 Reactions and Changing Modes of Globalization in the Global South. The project employs a comparative analysis of two industries-automobiles and clothing/textiles-across four countries in order to analyze the impacts of the...

Activation is an efficacious policy paradigm in modern welfare states. Taking the case of Germany, we study the relationship between the embeddedness of benefit recipients in activating labor market institutions and individual labor supply. Using panel data, we estimate the effects of...

In order to achieve universal health coverage, the full involvement of informal-sector workers in healthinsurance schemes is necessary. In Tanzania, measures targeting informal-sector workers have been evolving over time. Earlier researchers reported low participation of such workers in the...

We study how fathers' time impacts children's human capital using the introduction of earmarked paternity leave in Sweden. We use administrative data on parents' leave uptake and children's educational outcomes in a difference-in-discontinuities design, exploiting the plausibly random timing of...

Children of single mothers face higher rates of poverty than children in two-parent households in practically every affluent democracy. While this difference is widely acknowledged, there is little consensus regarding the causes of their poverty and, as a result, little consensus on the best way...

Housing prices are rising faster than incomes in many areas of the world, reducing wellbeing and engendering social discontent. Passivity by municipal and national governments is no longer an option. In this essay, I will describe the tradeoffs between different housing policy objectives of...

Migrants’ perceptions of belonging are shaped by the social policies with which they are received by the state. In Germany, policies grant refugees different levels of labor market access according to legal status, a hierarchical system also referred to as differential inclusion. This study...

The launch of this new multiannual programming document for 2025-2028, Supporting better policies for a strong social Europe, follows closely upon the 2024 election of a new European Parliament and the appointment of a new European Commission with a new set of strategic goals guided by three key...

The world is facing unprecedented and often prolonged and complex crises, ranging from conflicts and natural disasters to epidemics and economic shocks. These crises have far-reaching consequences for individuals, communities, and entire societies. The humanitarian needs resulting from these...

The Joint Employment Report (JER) by the European Commission and the Council monitors the employment situation in the Union and the implementation of the Employment Guidelines, in line with Article 148 of the TFEU. The report provides an annual overview of key employment and social developments...

At the fourteenth session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, just weeks before the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the region’s governments undertook to “implement gender-sensitive countercyclical policies, in order to mitigate the...