European Social Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

European Social Policy - Essay Example Ebing-Andersen understands the â€Å"role in society† of social assistance programs as complicit with the principal of â€Å"not to spend or tax†. It is also self-avowedly distancing itself from anything that resembles an institution in the aid of â€Å"creating equality†. These are some of the important dimensions of their position as stated in the conclusion from â€Å"The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. While it should be argued that essential attributes include subsistence, this would entail creating equality and that is unquestionably not one of the concluding marks made by Ebing-Andersen. It remains to be asked, to what extent does the exclusion effect or mediate the interpretation? What is 'neglected' can often and at least, sometimes, be victim of abuse. By systemically neglecting the creation of equality, Ebing-Andersen is a-priori creating a condition under which gender equality becomes likewise an issue that is challenged. Ebing-Andersen: An Overv iew. Within the domain of the published literature about contemporary, social policy theory, many references can be found to Ebing-Andersen's Welfare Reform Theory. Before getting to the kernel of this idea, some remarks will be made on the broader context or background of the seminal 1990 publication. There is a gravitas about welfare that carries with it a weight that is only comparable to health-care. In an age or era when Western governments routinely preside over conditions of a â€Å"welfare deficit†, a consideration of one over-lap with health care is the quantifiable amount of neglect involved that can be attributed to, or said to be caused by poverty? Ebing-Andersen define a welfare-deficit as a system under which: â€Å"the essential welfare contribution to the household is no longer available" [Ebing-Andersen, 1990, p. 49]. Written in 1990, the context or background environment was marked by government cutbacks to social assistance in the United States in particul ar. The rising cost of childcare which by then was 23 percent of the total income for poor people [Ebing-Andersen, 1990, p. 59]. What was then an â€Å"emerging deficit† [Ebing-Andersen, 1990, p. 49] was compounded further by the fact that in the majority of the states at the time, the majority of children from identifiably economically deficient backgrounds, had no access to any type or form of childcare [Ebing-Anderse, 1990, p. 64]. As a preliminary consideration, the impact of the cutbacks with respect to who it effected, has to bear in mind that childcare is unquestionably a burden that is being quantifiably shouldered by women. Ebing-Andersen on Decommodification. Ebing-Andersen goes far in explaining who is burdened under these circumstances with his notion of â€Å"decommodification† or the â€Å"the degree to which individuals, or families, can uphold a socially acceptable standard of living independently of market participation† [Ebing-Andersen, 1990, p . 37]. A commodity in the sense used by Ebing-Andersen is the participation of labor, and thus to decommodify this means to stand outside of the boundaries of â€Å"market participation†. Women who stay at home raising children are unfortunately a good proportion of the individuals accepting social assistance, and being beyond market participat