Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T18:56:26.932Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Must We All Be Paradigmatic? Social Investment Policies and Liberal Welfare States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2012

Linda A. White
Linda A. White*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Linda A. White, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3G3, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Abstract. This article examines whether current shifts in government spending on early childhood education and care (ECEC) and maternal employment-promoting policies such as maternity and parental leave reveal a paradigm shift toward a social investment strategy in liberal welfare states. It finds that while governments in liberal welfare states increasingly adhere to the rhetoric of social investment focused on lifelong learning and labour activation, their policies and programs exhibit so much variation in goals, instruments and settings related to the family, maternal employment and the child that it is difficult to claim that any new policy approach has taken hold that is indicative of a social investment “paradigm.” Instead, liberal welfare states appear to be becoming even more liberal—in terms of reliance on markets for delivery of social investment goals—at the same time as spending is increasing.

Résumé. Cet article examine si les changements actuels des dépenses de gouvernement sur la première éducation d'enfance et le soin (ECEC) et les politiques promouvant emploi maternelles comme la maternité et le congé parental révèlent un changement de paradigme vers une stratégie sociale d'investissement dans les Etats-providences libéraux. Il constate que pendant que les gouvernements dans les Etats-providences libéraux adhèrent de plus en plus à la rhétorique d'investissement social s'est concentré sur l'apprentissage de toute une vie et l'activation de la main-d'œuvre, leurs politiques et programmes exposent tant de variation dans les buts, les instruments et les cadres rattachés à la famille, l'emploi maternel et l'enfant qu'il est difficile de réclamer que n'importe quelle nouvelle approche de politique a attrapé qui est indicatif “d'un paradigme” social d'investissement. Au lieu de cela les Etats-providences libéraux ont l'air de devenir encore plus libéraux – du point de vue de la dépendance aux marchés pour la livraison de buts sociaux d'investissement – en même temps comme les dépenses augmentent.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 45 , Issue 3 , September 2012 , pp. 657 - 683
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arts, Wil and Gelissen, John. 2002. “Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism or More? A State-of-the-Art Report.” Journal of European Social Policy 12 (2): 137–58.Google Scholar
Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Office of Early Childhood, Education and Child Care. 2010. State of Child Care in Australia (April 2010). Canberra: The Department. http://www.mychild.gov.au/documents/docs/statechildcareaus.pdf (August 16, 2012).Google Scholar
Australian Labor Party. 2007. Labor's Plan for Early Childhood. Election 2007 Policy Document. http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlinfo/download/library/partpol/U6YO6/upload_binary/u6yo63.pdf;fileType=applicabion%25pdf (August 16, 2012).Google Scholar
Baker, Michael, Gruber, Jonathan and Milligan, Kevin. 2008. “Universal Childcare, Maternal Labor Supply, and Family Well-being.” Journal of Political Economy 116 (4): 709–45.Google Scholar
Ball, Stephen J. and Vincent, Carol. 2005. “The ‘Childcare Champion’? New Labour, Social Justics and the Childcare Market.” British Educational Research Journal 31 (5): 557–70.Google Scholar
Beatty, Barbara. 1995. Preschool Education in America: The Culture of Young Children from the Colonial Era to the Present. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Blau, David and Currie, Janet. 2006. “Pre-school, Day Care, and After-School Care: Who's Minding the Kids?” In Handbook of the Economics of Education, ed. Eric Hanushek and Finish Welch. Vol 2. Amsterdam: Elsevier: 1163–1278.Google Scholar
Brennan, Deborah. 1998. The Politics of Australian Child Care: Philanthropy to Feminism and Beyond. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brennan, Deborah. 2004. “Child Care and Australian Social Policy.” In Children, Families and Communities: Contexts and Consequences, ed. Jennifer M. Bowes. 2nd ed. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press: 210–27.Google Scholar
Bronfenbrenner, Urie. 1992. “Child Care in the Anglo-Saxon Mode.” In Child Care in Context, ed. Michael E. Lamb, Kathleen J. Sternberg, Carl-Philip Hwang and Anders Broberg. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: 281–91.Google Scholar
Bushouse, Brenda K. 2009. Universal Preschool: Policy Change, Stability, and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Albany NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, John L. and Pedersen, Ove, eds. 2001. The Rise of Neoliberalism and Institutional Analysis. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Castles, Francis, ed. 1993. Families of Nations: Patterns of Public Policy in Western Democracies. Aldershot UK: Dartmouth.Google Scholar
Cohen, Bronwen, Moss, Peter, Petrie, Pat and Wallace, Jennifer. 2004. A New Deal for Children? Re-forming Education and Care in England, Scotland and Sweden. Bristol UK: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Commonwealth of Australia. 2009. Australia's Paid Parental Leave Scheme: Supporting Working Australian Families. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
Cooke, Graeme and Lawton, Kayte. 2008. For Love or Money: Pay, Progression and Professionalisation in the “Early Years” Workforce. London: Institute for Public Policy Research.Google Scholar
Currie, Janet M. 2006. The Invisible Safety Net: Protecting the Nation's Poor Children and Families. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
DfEE (Department of Education and Employment). 1998. Meeting the Childcare Challenge. London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Dobrowolsky, Alexandra, ed. 2009. Women and Public Policy in Canada: Neo-liberalism and After? Toronto: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dobrowolsky, Alexandra and Jenson, Jane. 2005. “Social Investment Perspectives and Practices: A Decade in British Politics.” In Social Policy Review #17, ed. Martin Powell, Linda Bauld, and Karen Clark. Bristol UK: Policy Press: 203–30.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, Gosta. 1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, Gosta. 2007. “Childhood Investments and Skill Formation.” International Tax and Public Finance 15: 14–49.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, Gosta, Gaillie, Duncan, Hemerijck, Anton and Myles, John. 2002. Why We Need a New Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Estevez-Abe, Margarita. 2006. “Gendering the Varieties of Capitalism: A Study of Occupational Segregation by Sex in Advanced Industrial Societies.” World Politics 59: 142–75.Google Scholar
Friendly, Martha, Beach, Jane, Ferns, Carolyn and Turiano, Michelle. 2007. Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada 2006. Toronto: Childcare Resource and Research Unit.Google Scholar
Garzon, Isabelle. 2006. Reforming the Common Agricultural Policy: History of a Paradigm Change. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Giddens, Anthony. 1998a. “Equality and Social Investment State.” In Tomorrow's Politics: The Third Way and Beyond, ed. Christie, Ian and Hargreaves, Ian. London: Demos.Google Scholar
Giddens, Anthony. 1998b. The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy. Cambridge UK: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Goelman, Hillel. 2004. “We Can Learn Much From Down Under: Nine Lessons on Early Child Care We Can Learn From New Zealand.” Monitor (November 1). Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.Google Scholar
Hall, Peter A., ed. 1989. The Political Power of Economic Ideas. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hall, Peter A. 1992. “The Movement from Keynesianism to Monetarism: Institutional Analysis and British Economic Policy in the 1970s.” In Structuring Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis, ed. Steinmo, Seven, Thelen, Kathleen and Longstreth, Frank. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hall, Peter A. 1993. “Policy Paradigms, Social Learning, and the State: The Case of Economic Policymaking in Britain.” Comparative Politics 25 (3): 275–96.Google Scholar
Harvey, David. 2005. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Heckman, James J. 2006. “Skill Formation and the Economics of Investing in Disadvantaged Children.” Science 312: 1900–02.Google Scholar
Heckman, James J. and Masterov, Dimitriy V.. 2007. “The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children.” Review of Agricultural Economics 29 (3): 446–93.Google Scholar
Hicks, Alexander and Kenworthy, Lane. 2003. “Varieties of Welfare Capitalism.” Socio-Economic Review 1: 27–61.Google Scholar
HM Treasury, UK. 2004. Choice for Parents, the Best Start for Children: A Ten-Year Strategy for Childcare. London: Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Howlett, Michael. 1994. “Policy Paradigms and Policy Change: Lessons from the Old and New Canadian Policies towards Aboriginal Peoples.” Policy Studies Journal 22 (4): 631–49.Google Scholar
HRDC (Human Resources Development Canada). 1997. Status of Day Care in Canada 1995 and 1996. Ottawa: Supply and Services.Google Scholar
Hudson, John and Kühner, Stefan. 2009. “Towards Productive Welfare? A Comparative Analysis of 23 OECD Countries.” Journal of European Social Policy 19 (1): 34–46.Google Scholar
Hulbert, Ann. 2003. Raising America: Experts, Parents, and a Century of Advice about Children. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Japel, Christa, Tremblay, Richard E. and Côté, Sylvain. 2005. “Quality Counts!: Assessing the Quality of Daycare Services Based on the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development.” IRPP Choices 11 (5).Google Scholar
Jenson, Jane. 2006. “The LEGO Paradigm and New Social Risks: Consequences for Children.” In Children, Changing Families and Welfare States, ed. Lewis, Jane. Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Jenson, Jane. 2009. “Lost in Translation: The Social Investment Perspective and Gender Equality.” Social Politics 16 (4): 446–83.Google Scholar
Jenson, Jane. 2010. “Diffusing Ideas for After Neoliberalism: The Social Investment Perspective in Europe and Latin America.” Global Social Policy 10 (1): 59–84.Google Scholar
Jenson, Jane and Saint-Martin, Denis. 2003. “New Routes to Social Cohesion? Citizenship and the Social Investment State.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 28 (1): 77–99.Google Scholar
Jenson, Jane and Saint-Martin, Denis. 2006. “Building Blocks for a New Social Architecture: The LEGO Paradigm of an Active Society.” Policy and Politics 34 (3): 429–51.Google Scholar
Jessop, Bob. 2003. “From Thatcherism to New Labour: Neo-liberalism, Workfarism and Labour-Market Regulation.” In The Political Economy of European Employment: European Integration and the Transnationalization of the (Un)employment Question, ed. Hank Overbeek. London: Routledge: 137–53.Google Scholar
Kamerman, Sheila B. 2000. “Early Childhood Education and Care: An Overview of Developments in OECD Countries.” International Journal of Educational Research 33: 7–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kamerman, Sheila and Waldfogel, Jane. 2005. “Early Childhood Education and Care.” In The Limits of Market Organization, ed. Nelson, Richard. New York: Russell Sage.Google Scholar
Keating, Daniel P. and Hertzman, Clyde, eds. 1999. Developmental Health and the Wealth of Nations: Social, Biological, and Educational Dynamics. New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Kinnaird, Robert, Nicholson, Susan, and Jordan, Emma. 2007. 2006 Childcare and Early Years Providers Surveys Overview Report. No. DCSF-RR009. London: BMRB Social Research.Google Scholar
Koven, Seth and Michel, Sonya, eds. 1993. Mothers of a New World: Maternalist Politics and the Origins of Welfare States. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Lee, Simon and McBride, Stephen, eds. 2007. Neo-Liberalism, State Power, and Global Governance. Dordrecht NLD: Springer.Google Scholar
Lefebvre, Pierre and Merrigan, Philip. 2008. “Child-Care Policy and the Labor Supply of Mothers with Young Children: A Natural Experiment from Canada.” Journal of Labor Economics 26 (3): 519–48.Google Scholar
Levy, Denise Urias and Michel, Sonya. 2002. “More Can Be Less: Child Care and Welfare Reform in the United States.” In Child Care Policy at the Crossroads: Gender and Welfare State Restructuring, ed. Michel, Sonya and Mahon, Rianne. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Lewis, Jane. 1992. “Gender and the Development of Welfare Regimes.” Journal of European Social Policy 2 (3): 159–73.Google Scholar
Lewis, Jane. 2001. “The Decline of the Male Breadwinner Model: Implications for Work and Care.” Social Politics 8 (2): 152–69.Google Scholar
Lewis, Jane. 2003. “Developing Early Years Childcare in England, 1997–2002: The Choices for (Working) Mothers.” Social Policy and Administration 37 (3): 219–38.Google Scholar
Lister, Ruth. 2003. “Investing in the Citizen-Workers of the Future: Transformations in Citizenship and the State under New Labour.” Social Policy and Administration 37 (5): 427–43.Google Scholar
Lynch, Robert. 2004. Exceptional Returns: Economic, Fiscal and Social Benefits of Investment in Early Childhood Development. Washington D.C.: Economic Policy Institute.Google Scholar
Mahon, Rianne. 2006. “The OECD and the Work/Family Reconciliation Agenda: Competing Frames.” In Children, Changing Families and Welfare States, ed. Lewis, Jane. Chelteham UK: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
May, Helen. 1997. The Discovery of Early Childhood: The Development of Services for the Care and Education of Very Young Children, Mid-Eighteenth Century Europe to Mid-Twentieth Century New Zealand. Wellington: Auckland University Press/Bridget Williams Books.Google Scholar
McBride, Stephen and Williams, Russell A.. 2001. “Globalization, the Restructuring of Labour Markets and Policy Convergence: The OECD ‘Jobs Strategy.’” Global Social Policy 1 (3): 281–309.Google Scholar
McNamara, Kathleen. 1998. The Currency of Ideas. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Meade, Anne. 2000. “The Early Childhood Landscape in New Zealand.” In Landscapes in Early Childhood Education: Cross-National Perspectives on Empowerment—A Guide for the New Millenium, ed. Hayden, Jacqueline. New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Melhuish, Edward and Moss, Peter. 1992. “Day Care in the United Kingdom in Historical Perspective.” In Child Care in Context, ed. Lamb, Michael E., Sternberg, Kathleen J., Hwang, Carl-Philip and Broberg, Anders. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates.Google Scholar
Midgley, James. 1999. “Growth, Redistribution, and Welfare: Toward Social Investment.” Social Service Review 73 (1): 3–21.Google Scholar
Midgley, James. 2006. “Developmental Social Policy: Theory and Practice.” Asian Journal of Social Policy 2 (1): 1–22.Google Scholar
Midgley, James and Tang, Kwong-leung. 2001. “Social Policy, Economic Growth and Developmental Welfare.” International Journal of Social Welfare 10: 244–52.Google Scholar
Mink, Gwendolyn. 1995. The Wages of Motherhood: Inequality in the Welfare State, 1917–1942. Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Mink, Gwendolyn. 1998. Welfare's End. Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Linda. 2002. “Differences Between Community Owned and Privately Owned Early Childhood Education and Care Centres: A Review of Evidence.” NZCER Occasional Paper 2002/2. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.Google Scholar
Myles, John and Pierson, Paul. 1997. “Friedman's Revenge: The Reform of ‘Liberal’ Welfare States in Canada and the United States.” Politics and Society 25 (4): 443–72.Google Scholar
New Zealand Ministry of Education. 2007. Free ECE: Information for Parents. Wellington: Ministry of Education.Google Scholar
O'Connor, Julia S., Orloff, Ann Shola and Shaver, Sheila. 1999. States, Markets, Families: Gender, Liberalism and Social Policy in Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). 1990. Employment Outlook July 1990. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
OECD. 1994. The OECD Jobs Study: Facts, Analysis, Strategies. Paris: OECD, 1994.Google Scholar
OECD. 2001a. Employment Outlook June 2001. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
OECD. 2001b. Starting Strong: Early Childhood Education and Care. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
OECD. 2006. Starting Strong II: Early Childhood Education and Care. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
OECD. 2007. “Can Parents Afford to Work? Childcare Costs, Tax-Benefit Policies and Work Incentives.” Benefits and Wages: OECD Indicators. 2007 ed. Paris: OECD: 119–66.Google Scholar
OECD. 2010. Labour Force Statistics 1989–2009. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
OECD. 2011. Family Database. www.oecd.org/els/social/family/database (August 16, 2012).Google Scholar
Orloff, Ann Shola. 1993. “Gender and the Social Rights of Citizenship: A Comparative Analysis of Gender Relations and Welfare States.” American Sociological Review 58 (3): 303–28.Google Scholar
Orloff, Ann Shola and Palier, Bruno. 2009. “The Power of Gender Perspectives: Feminist Influence on Policy Paradigms, Social Science, and Social Politics.” Social Politics 16 (4): 405–12.Google Scholar
Palier, Bruno. 2006. “The Re-orientation of European Social Policies toward Social Investment.” Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft 1: 105–16.Google Scholar
Parsons, Craig. 2003. A Certain Idea of Europe. Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Plantenga, Janneke and Siegel, Melissa. 2004. Position Paper—Childcare in a Changing World. Prepared for Child Care in a Changing World conference sponsored by the Dutch Presidency, Groningen, the Netherlands, 21–23 October. www.childcareinachangingworld.nl. (Copy of report on file with author.).Google Scholar
Prasad, Monica. 2006. The Politics of Free Markets: The Rise of Neoliberal Economic Policies in Britain, France, Germany, and the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Prochner, Larry. 2009. A History of Early Childhood Education in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Riddell, W. Craig. 2007. “Investing in Human Capital: Policy Priorities for Canada.” In A Canadian Priorities Agenda: Policy Choices to Improve Economic and Social Well-Being, ed. Leonard, Jeremy, Ragan, Christopher and St-Hilaire, France. Montreal: The Institute for Research on Public Policy.Google Scholar
Sainsbury, Diane. 1996. Gender, Equality and Welfare States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Scruggs, Lyle A. and Allan, James P.. 2008. “Social Stratification and Welfare Regimes for the Twenty-First Century: Revisiting the Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism.” World Politics 60: 642–64.Google Scholar
Shonkoff, Jack P. and Phillips, Deborah A., eds. 2000. From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development. Washington DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Simmons, Beth A., Dobbin, Frank, and Garrett, Geoffrey. 2008. “Introduction: The Diffusion of Liberalization.” In The Global Diffusion of Markets and Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press: 1–63.Google Scholar
Skocpol, Theda. 1992. Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Skogstad, Grace. 2008. Internationalization and Canadian Agriculture: Policy and Governing Paradigms. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Sosinsky, Laura Stout, Lloyd, Heather and Zigler, Edward. 2007. “For-profit/nonprofit Differences in Center-based Child Care Quality.” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 28: 390–410.Google Scholar
Steger, Manfred B. and Roy, Ravi K.. 2010. Neoliberalism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 2002. Globalization and its Discontents. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Sumsion, Jennifer. 2006. “The Corporatization of Australian Childcare.” Journal of Early Childhood Research 4: 99–120.Google Scholar
Temple, Judy A. and Reynolds, Arthur J.. 2007. “Benefits and Costs of Investment in Preschool Education: Evidence from the Child-Parent Centers and Related Programs.” Economics of Education Review 26: 126–44.Google Scholar
Thelen, Kathleen. 2004. How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tougas, Jocelyne. 2002. Reforming Québec's Early Childhood Care and Education: The First Five Years. Occasional Paper 17. Toronto: Childcare Resource and Research Unit.Google Scholar
UNICEF, Innocenti Research Center. 2008. The Child Care Transition: A League Table of Early Childhood Education and Care in Economically Advanced Countries. Report Card 8. Florence: The Center.Google Scholar
White, Linda A. 2009. “The United States in Comparative Perspective: Maternity and Parental Leave and Child Care Benefits Trends in Liberal Welfare Regimes.” Yale Journal of Law and Feminism 21 (1): 185–232.Google Scholar
White, Linda A. 2011. “The Internationalization of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Issues: Framing Gender Justice and Child Well-being.” Governance 24 (2): 285–309Google Scholar
Whitebook, Marcy and Sakai, Laura. 2004. By a Thread: How Child Care Centers Hold Onto Teachers, How Teachers Build Lasting Careers. Kalamazoo MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.Google Scholar
Williamson, John. 2002. “Did the Washington Consensus Fail?” Outline of speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC. http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/paper.cfm?ResearchID=488 (15 June 2010).Google Scholar
Wincott, Daniel. 2006. “Paradoxes of New Labour Social Policy: Toward Universal Child Care in Europe's ‘Most Liberal’ Welfare Regime?” Social Politics 13 (2): 286–312.Google Scholar
Wincott, Daniel. 2011. “Ideas, Policy Change, and the Welfare State.” In Ideas and Politics in Social Science Research, ed. Daniel Béland and Robert Henry Cox. New York: Oxford University Press: 143–66.Google Scholar