8th ESPAnet Conference 2010Social Policy and the Global Crisis:
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8.1. Minimum Incomes in the Enlarged Europe
Amidst the financial and economic crisis and the fear that it might fuel social dumping, 2010 has been designated the "EU year for combating poverty and social exclusion", reflecting a certain commitment to safeguard minimum standards. Indeed, guaranteeing minimum resources has been regarded as a key dimension of the "European Social Model" since at least Recommendation 441/1992, later incorporated into the Amsterdam Treaty as articles 136 and 137.
The 2004 EU expansion raised several questions. Would all new members be able to support minimum income schemes or their functional equivalents with the necessary financial and administrative resources? How would older members react to the pressures of immigration from within the EU and from outside of it? We now know that the picture is in fact more nuanced than the stereotypical view of new members struggling to catch up with older ones. The proposed stream is intended to throw light on the complex picture of minimum incomes in the enlarged Europe.
What is the effect of minimum income schemes on poverty and social exclusion? How do they respond to the pressures of the crisis? How do recently acceding countries cope with the challenge of guaranteeing minimum incomes in the presence of large agricultural sectors, widespread informal economies, and limited administrative capacities? What can they learn from the successes and the failures of fellow Europeans? What can they teach those "older" EU members, such as Italy and Greece, still struggling to strengthen their social safety nets in the absence of minimum income guarantees? These are some of the themes the papers under the proposed stream are hoped to address.
Convenors:
| Manos Matsaganis | Cristina Rat | |
| Dept. of International and European Economics Athens University of Economics and Business 76, Patission str. Athens 10434, GREECE tel. +30 210 8203 380 fax: +30 210 8214 122 E-mail: matsaganis@aueb.gr |
Sociology Department Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca B-dul 21 Decembrie 1989 No. 128 Cluj-Napoca 400604, ROMANIA tel/fax: +40 264 597 860 E-mail: crat@socasis.ubbcluj.ro |
Thursday, 16:30-18:30 Room 07, Session 8.1
Presentations:
1. Tim Goedeme, Natascha Van Mechelen, Ive Marx, Bea Cantillon, Jonas Vogels: Minimum Income Protection Across Europe. The Evolution of Benefit Levels Since the Early 1990s [abstract] [paper]
2. Tomas Sirovatka: From protection towards activation: reform of social assistance in the Czech Republic [abstract] [paper]
3. Bettina Leibetseder, Helga Kranewitter: Transformation of the social assistance scheme in Austria: towards a means-tested guaranteed minimum income comparing changes in Upper Austria and Styria [abstract] [paper]
4. Francesco Figari, Tina Haux, Manos Matsaganis and Holly Sutherland: The effects of Minimum Income schemes on the working-age population in the European Union [abstract] [paper]
Contributed papers:
1. Daniel R. Hammond: Limited by design? An early comparison of China and new members basic income policy response to the economic crisis 2007-2010 [abstract] [paper]
2. Stiv Stojmenov, Bojana Jovanovska: Social Policy Reforms in Macedonia: Implementing Conditional Social Assistance [abstract] [paper]
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?