Recent Developments of European Welfare Systems: Multiple Challenges and Diverse Reactions

Although all European Welfare Systems are confronted by very similar challenges (among which especially the demographic change and the financial crisis are important), we argue that European Welfare Systems are hit by these challenges in different ways and that also their policy reactions to these challenges differ broadly. Especially when focusing on the financial crisis, some authors state that the crisis will lead or has already led to retrenchment while others argue that both retrenchment and expansion can be observed. Still other authors argue that the crisis can be a window of opportunity for fundamental change, while others conclude that the welfare state in times of crisis is rather characterized by incremental policy-making or that welfare states in times of crisis tend to adopt policies that ‘fit’ the respective country’s welfare institutions. Indeed, peculiarity and plurality can be regarded as distinctive features of European Welfare Systems. The introductory chapter develops this argument as the central idea and also presents the structure of the edited volume.