8th ESPAnet Conference 2010Social Policy and the Global Crisis:
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7.2. Economic Crisis and Social Policy Consequences
The crisis of 2008 was unusual. A variety of accounts have suggested that this was a recession on a scale and depth similar to the great depression of the 1930s, but from March 2009 it appears as if the global fire fighters of economic recession have managed to attain some degree of financial stabilisation.
A recession that had, until then, tracked the trajectory of decline in the 1930s, rebounded quicker than many imagined. Subsequently, however, it appears that great damage has been sustained by public finances in the course of the financial rescue. Most commentators now anticipate a prolonged period of austerity for welfare spending sufficient to raise in some quarters the prospects of 'a double-dip recession'.
At the end of 2009 the differential impact of the recession is evident. Unemployment has risen dramatically in some countries eg Spain and Ireland, whereas the labour market impact is much of lower order in the Netherlands. Some European countries appear in severe economic difficulties, namely Greece and Ireland and the stability of the Euro has been threatened. It is too early to generalise but spending across the range welfare services is threatened, although health spending has been protected in a few instances. Note in the United States that health service employment is the only sector to expand since the start of the crisis.
Any prioritising of welfare services will naturally mean a greater impact on non-protected expenditures, further emphasising the unevenness of the social policy impact of the crisis. It will be possible to identify in advance key the themes that should focus the minds of European policy analysts, such as housing policy, social security, employment, pension provision, and education. It will also be important to highlight those groups whose position will have been made more precarious by the combination of economic crisis and fiscal austerity. Youth unemployment will rise still further as older workers delay exit from the labour market, and the employment of migrants will suffer as the recession hits both country of origin and destination. This stream should seek to identify and explain the differential impact of the recession, mapping the range of international experiences, highlighting the services, the sectors and the people placed in greater risk by the economic crisis and the cost of financial stablisation.
Convenor:
Kevin Doogan
University of Bristol
E-mail: Kevin.Doogan@bristol.ac.uk
Friday, 9:00-11:00 Room 04, Session 7.2
Presentations:
1. Cristina Matos: Financial Crisis Poverty and the Welfare State The case of Hungary and Latvia [abstract] [paper]
2. Elaine Moriarty, James Wickham, Torben Krings, Alicja Bobek and Justyna Salamonska: Negotiating the Recession? Polish Migrants in Post-Celtic Tiger Ireland [abstract] [paper]
3. Seyma Kostekli: Shorter Working Time and its pay as an effective social policy measure against the economic crisis [abstract] [paper]
4. Noemi Lendvai: Economic crisis and welfare developments in the New EU Member States: back to the future? [abstract] [paper]
Contributed papers:
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Important dates
17 November 2009 = Call for stream convenors
18 December 2009 = Deadline for stream convenors
25 January 2010 = Call for abstracts
29 March 2010 = Deadline for abstract submission
3 May 2010 = Registration starts
6 June 2010 = Reduced fee application deadline
21 June 2010 24:00 (CET) = Early bird registration deadline
13 August 2010 24:00 (CET) - Deadline for submission of papers
16 August 2010 - Deadline for Registrations and payments
Registration fee is 160 Euros for early birds, 210 Euros for late birds. Central and Eastern European PhD students and professionals can apply for a reduced fee of 60 Euros at info@espanet2010.net until 6th June.
Registration opens on the 3rd May, early bird registration closes on the 21th June at 24:00 (CET).
Theme of the Conference
The theme of ESPAnet’s 2010 Annual Conference is the social consequences of the global financial crisis and its differential impact across Europe. The main questions for consideration include:
How is the crisis affecting already existing inequalities? How are different social classes and groups, especially those in poverty, affected by the crisis? What are the adaptable capacities of the different “worlds of welfare”? Does the intensifying social vulnerability lead to the re-structuring of the programs to provide more security? How far have new programs been developed, and how far have new questions of social policy and welfare been opened up by the crisis?
We would like to broaden the horizon of social policy analysis and see global environmental concerns taken into account: How far are responses to the crisis re-thinking the role of the national and international/global state and the role of the European Union in creating economically, socially and environmentally sustainable societies?