Characteristics of the Mediterranean Welfare State - Coursework Example

MEDITERRANEAN WELFARE By Location Introduction The European social model is a vision that European s have for the society. It involves the community, having an economic growth that enables high living standards and good working conditions. The areas to set boundaries for the model protection of the Southern Europe have always been a debate. The countries located in the west of the Mediterranean have an issue whether to be part of the Welfare. The French mentality and characteristics are similar to those of Mediterranean Welfare State although the debate to include them in the region is still an issue. The French, however, recognise themselves as part of the Welfare. The characteristics of the Mediterranean Welfare State include; social protection for all its citizens, full employment, social inclusion of the people and democracy. This paper discusses these characteristics and their challenges Discussion Characteristics of Mediterranean Welfare State The social structures in Southern Europe have traditionally favoured the intro-family relations in a family set up. Strong family ties characterise the Mediterranean. They have traditional roots that continue to this present day. Marriage is the preferred way of life for most men and women in the welfare states (Moreno 2001). 90% of the women in the countries have children. Having a child out of wedlock is rare in the welfare states. Only 5% of the women living in southern Europe have kids out of wedlock. The family and its role is one of the main providers in the welfare associations. It is also a source of socialisation among the people of the states. The family is the most important institution in many youngsters of the states. The rate of intermarriage between those living in Europe has increased due to the Mediterranean Welfare state (Bonoli 2005). The family set up in Southern Europe has, however, undergone significant changes over the decades. In the year 1986, most young people were living and marrying people from their origins. The situation has improved as the years go by, and an average of 60% of the people are intermarrying now. The welfare state has an aim of achieving gender equality among European households. The women in the early years had to be viewed as commodities to have a “de-familiarisation”. The processes should arguably be accomplished by having a state intervention. Let us take the case of Scandinavian women having lower changes in the occupational structure and labour markets. The state authorities have been trying to improve this situation (Becker 2005). The state intervention in family matters has not been taken well by some of the citizens of the States. Gender equality can be accomplished by externalisation of domestic duties. Most women are not paid for being caregivers in the households (Moreno 2001). There are arguments as to whether taking this direction would be of any help to the citizens and the economy. “De-familiarisation” is a process by the welfare to get women in the paid labour market. It also shows how family members share the domestic household work. To do an unpaid work or to do a paid employment service is still a debate and raises concern in the Welfare States. The Southern European welfare is characterised to be different from the American way. The role the family plays and how this penetrates into the organisations production and distribution, the income and service areas particularly (Fargion 2005). The way the family interacts with the public bodies and the state compels the function of the Welfare States. The institutions of the civil society also force the functions carried out by Mediterranean Welfare State in a distinctive way. The micro - solidarity of the stable households has enabled high-level well-being of its citizens. It also reflects the lower level of extreme child poverty. Traditionally, the self-reliance of most families has been taken for granted by government institutions in the past in matters concerning material support and social care. Households in the Welfare States have a moral responsibility that in other countries is social welfare functions. Superwomen are common in the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the situation where the growth of women in the labour market does not mean a decrease in the household work and duties (Moreno 2006). The increase of paid professional women in the Mediterranean has coincided with the rise of demand for women to provide for the family the unpaid work. The situation has led to the worsening for women to be in positions with the increasing burden of responsibilities both at home and the labour market. Analysts describe it as an impossible situation. Grandparents and other relatives are now the caregivers as the young parents are busy working away from home. It has traditionally reinforced the cultural ways of having family and kin solidarity in the Mediterranean part of Europe. The family and inter-generational micro solidarity situation is, however, unfriendly to working mothers and the state has minimum intervention in it and can only be passive about the matter. There is a vacuum being created in the welfare provision as the hyperactivity of superwomen decreases gradually, and the ambivalent “familial” transforms itself. It will lead to serious effects in the social policy making department. All the married couples under the age of 65 years living in Italy have their parents living less than a kilometre away from their homes. Seventy-five percent of working mothers in Spain have a close relative living near them. In the recent times, the Southern Welfare has been liberal in provision of welfare services. There has a noticeable in the extension of the free market morals, in the proliferation of the non-profit making organisations (Fargion 2005). Care services that have traditionally been provided by the family is now external. It means purchasing low-cost assistance that got supply from immigrants in the underground economy. The state and local authorities have welcomed the move that was recent and swift with relief as it saves public monies or use them in other policies. Despite the regime having low fertility rates, the increase in population continues to go up as the rate of immigrants in the countries increases. Many of the immigrants work in the informal sector. It leads to the evasion of taxes in the already big tax-free sectors of the economy. The underground economies also result in illegal acts in labour relations. The immigrants in many cases carry out domestic duties like caring for dependent people in middle and lower-class homes (Moreno 2006). The immigrants have been profitable for the households as they perform tasks the women were supposed to act. The women then join the formal job market. The postponement of marriages and having a household are the changing patterns witnessed in the family formations. The bond between the extended families increase as the number of people living with their parents increased in Greece, Spain and Italy. Because of youth emancipation, the gap between Central and Southern Europe has significantly increased. Challenges the Mediterranean Welfare State faces Poverty levels in the Mediterranean Welfare State have increased since the inception of the laws that govern the States. Italy and the United Kingdom hold the highest percentage of poverty levels. It shows that the income inequality is still present in the states despite having the welfare in place. The institutional reforms and the pension reform scenarios are what leads to increase in poverty levels. The greatest poverty level rise is in the Netherlands, Germany and France (Gosetti 2012). It is mainly because of the reduction of the pension benefit levels. The pensioners have a higher poverty rate than the general population as a whole. Workfare faces significant challenges in all the states. Developments of labour activation are close to those of Anglo-Saxon model. Private developers and non-profit organisations in the South are ready to fill the gap in the personal care area. It goes in hand with the disappearance of the superwomen in the South. Lack of the government to produce and commit to supporting publicly run social services has led to the development of nongovernmental organisations. There is a scenario of the fragmented system of income guarantees and intergenerational disparities in the welfare cash benefits because of the labour segmentation. The tax-free economies are frequent and plentiful in Southern Europe that leads to an uneven distribution of financial burdens across the occupational groups. Social protection favours the employed, whereas the unemployed and those that are likely to bring the labour force have access to less generous social programmes. The change experienced in the Mediterranean job market can be attributed to women joining the formal employment sector. It has implications for balancing work, and home responsibilities, and the care family members are supposed to give to each other. It mainly affects the help that is traditionally for family members who have inadequate skills to secure a well-paying job. Poor households fall into the category of the male breadwinner in the Mediterranean Welfare State system (Moreno 2006). The countries prefer employing females for the formal job market. The solution to this trend is to add further constraints to the traditionally non-paid activities carried out by women within their homes. “Atypical” type of employment is described because of the extension of new modes of production. It has affected and transformed the private and public labour market. It has also affected the regulation of the social environment. Workfare in Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain try like any other European countries to counteract the effect of increasing job insecurity in their countries. New Social Risks tend to affect various social groups at different stages in their lives along cross cut divisions. Families with small children, working youngsters and women are the ones hardest hit by NSR. These groups are the central focus of the Mediterranean Welfare States (Moreno 2006). Balancing paid labour jobs, and family responsibilities is one of the pressing issues in the region. The other pressing issues include having the skills and training the people for a job market and being called to take care of an elderly relative at home. In the Southern welfare, increase in life expectancy leads to decrease in fertility rates. The findings cannot be regarded as a decision of women in the Southern regime to not have children. The child gap is half the ideal figures by the government of offspring. The mismatch may result in far-reaching implications for the sustainability of the relationship between work and family if maintained in the future. Job insecurity among the young people combined with strong parental support and very expensive household prices acts as a setback to youth emancipation in the Southern Welfare regimes. Societies changes in Southern Europe have constraints that are challenging the assumption taken for granted that the families attend free of charge to family care activities. The countries devote lower social expenditure to families and infants. Things change when the beneficiaries of care work are the babies and not the elderly people. They offer free pre-school centres. The mother is given primary child care of the child in case the man and woman live separate lives (Stanzani 2012). The childcare offered by the countries is very expensive. The children have a great impact in determining how the families are going to use their incomes. The children have an effect on the economy also as the welfares have decided to invest in infants. The elderly people living in Italy are also very expensive. The biggest challenges in Southern Europe are the threat to social injustices. The frozen welfare state landscapes the resistance to change, which is encouraged by the institutions. The interest groups are the ones who determine and define how the welfare states operate. The strategy for shifting the passive income maintenance to family promotions and employment is an approach that has been appreciated and accepted by a large part of Europe. The lower income workers experience the income inequalities (Giuliano 2004). The increase of income inequality among self-employed and couples is dominant in these regions. The reduction of the pension levels leads to greater variations and the countries introduce bigger reductions of benefits. Conclusion The Mediterranean Welfare State has five distinct welfare regimes classifications. The establishment of a new model of policy arrangements in Europe has been induced by societal changes. The system is facing multiple constraints and challenges to be able to carry out reforms. The young generation will form major obstacles to the scheme as they prefer individualization and deregulation on the Anglo-Saxon model of social protection. 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