HLTC02H3 Women and Health: Past and Present
Winter 2012
LEC01, LEC02
Lecture 8:
Women and the Welfare State
I. Welfare State Regimes
Liberal welfare states
•Means-tested assistance, modest universal transfers, and modest social insurance plans
•Limits welfare benefits since it is believed generous benefits lead toa preference for welfare
dependency rather than gainful employment.
•commodification: people are more reliant on incomes to get what they need, state does not
provide
Anglo-saxon liberal regimes
•Lowest health care expenditures and the lowest coverage by public medical care
•Greater incidence of low wage earnings, higher bonus inequalities, and the highest povertry
rates
•Greatest proportion of income derived from capital investment rather than wages
•Lowest imrpovomeent rates in infrant mortality rates from 1960 – 1996
•Lots of people that have investments, invest on stocks and so on and earn interest, unearned
income. Also tend to have high infant mortality rates. Tends to affect the vulnerable
populations.
Social democratic regimes
•Higher levels of union density
•Higher levels of social secufrity and public empoylment expenditures > opublic health care
expenditures and > extensive health care coverage
•Cradle to grave support
•Full employment strategies, high rates of female employment, and lowest levels of income
inequality and poverty
•Lowest infant mortality rates from 1960 – 1996
•Other end of the specturrm compared to last one
•More women working ni mainstream workforce, lower mortalitly than the liberal welfare
states.
•Decommodifaciton: less reliant on imncome to get the goods they need, state provides
•Trust in te state to gie people wat tey need, not subsitie support. Loweset rate of infant
mortalities, fairly high life expectancy. Fairly comparable to Sweden surprinsgly. Men and
women live much longer, into their 80s
These are two extremes, social democratic is most generous, liberal is residual, ungenerous
Predictors of declines in fant mortality and increases in life esxpectancy in oecd nations
•Increasing support for social democratic parties
•Increase in the proportion of citizens voting
•Increases in public health care coverage
•Increases in the proportion of citizens emplyomed
•Increase in female labour force participation