Employment Welfare Reforms in SwedenWord格式文档下载.docx

Employment Welfare Reforms in SwedenWord格式文档下载.docx

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Inthispaper,IshalllookatSwedenasarepresentativesocialdemocraticcountryandmorespecificallyaboutchangesinmanagementofemploymentreform.Bylookingatchangingpoliciesconcerningunemploymentandemploymentreforms,IwillshowhowSwedenhasembracedamarketeconomyofwelfare.

2.ResearchQuestions

Q1:

HasSwedenexperiencedthechangeintothemixedeconomyofwelfareintermofemploymentpolicy?

Q2:

WhattypeofshiftofeconomicriskandresponsibilityistakingplaceinSweden?

3.MethodologicalConsiderations

Iwillemploythediscourseanalysisinthisstudy.Themainmaterialanalyzedisa128-pageofficialreport,'

TheSwedishReformProgrammeforGrowthandJobs2008to2010'

publishedongovernmentwebsite.Mostcitesregardingspecificpublicpoliciesarefromthereportasitismorereliableandclarified.Othersecond-handresourcesarefromresearchpaperspertainingtoSwedishemploymentpolicies.InHacker'

sbook,ittellsmanystoriesaboutdesperateAmericanfamiliesandindividualsshowingthegreatshiftofsocialrisk,whichgivesasplendidpictureofthenewsocietyofinsecurity.Itwouldbemorereliableiftheinterviewswereusedinthisstudy.However,thefirst-handresourcecannotbeobtainedforlackoftimeandpersonalabilitiesaswell.

Seeleibsuggestsathree-dimensionalaccountwhichisfinancing（spendingandtaxation）,provisionandregulation,toexamineshiftsbetweenthepublicandprivatedependingonthevariousmodesofsocialpolicyinterventions（Seeleib:

10）.IwilltrytoanalyzethechangesinemploymentpolicyinSwedeninthelightofthree-dimensionalframetoseeiftherearepolicyinterventionsfromprovision,regulationandfinancingresultinginthemixedeconomyofwelfarestate.

4.OverviewofPreviousResearch

TheCaseofLondon

Thereisasimilarcaseofanofficialplanforincreasingemploymentrateinaffluentcountry,whichisthePlanforGrowthofLondon（citedfromthecourseliteratures,August,2010）.IthasbeenachallengetoLondonthatalargequantityofpeopleisstillunemployedwhiletheeconomyofthecityisincreasinglyflourishing.Oneinthreeworking-ageLondonersisout-of-work.Morethan600,000Londonershavenoqualificationsandoneinfivelacksbasicskillsofliteracyandnumeracy.ThegovernmenthassetoutthejointactionsaimingtoimprovethelabormarketinLondonandtoensurethedisadvantagedLondonerstogainsupportfromthegovernment.Theambitionsfor2014istoclosethegapinemploymentbetweenLondonandUKto2percentpoint,toreducethegapinemploymentfordisadvantagedpeopleinLondon,andtoincreasethepopulationofLondonerswithqualificationto92.4percent.

Toachievethetargets,thewelfarereformisneeded,whichincludestheinnovativefundingmechanismusedtofundsupport.Itwillsavethemoneyoftaxpayersintheclimateofpublicspendingcuts.Aserioussingleprogramwhichledbygovernmentandcooperatedwithvariouspartnersprovidedtrainingsandapprenticeships.Itcanbeseentheincreaseofthemorecooperatesocialresponsibilities.

ThecaseofUKReforms

SeeleibanalysesthewelfarereforminUKassociatedwiththechangingpublicandprivatemix（Seeleib:

17）.ItisarticulatedthatrecentdecadesofreformsinUKhaswitnessedincreaseofregulationfromgovernmentinmanyareasincludingemploymentpolices（ibid:

28）.Therehasbeenagreatstresson'

activation'

whichcanbeseenintermsof'

re-commodification'

.Thegovernmentshaveemphasizedincreasingemploymentthroughthecarrotsandsticksof'

activelabormarketpolicy'

（ibid:

27）.Thereisagreateremphasisonpaidwork,activationandconditionalityandagreaterreadinesstoblurtheboundariesbetweenmarketandstate（ibid30）.

TheCaseofDenmark

NowthatthispaperwillbeontheemploymentpolicyreforminSweden,IshallreviewthecaseinDenmarktoseewhatthewelfarereformhastakenplaceindemocraticcountries.Denmarkisoftenlistedamongthecountrieswiththemostsevereretrenchmentinthediscussionaboutwelfarestatechange（KorpiandPalme,citedfromSeelaib:

33）.Inthefieldofunemploymentandlabormarketpolicy,however,thedirectionofchangescouldnotbedescribedas'

retrenchment'

.Thedurationandcompensationratehavebeencutandastrongemphasisonsecurityhasbeenreplacedbyanemphasisoninclusionthroughwork.Yet,thereplacementrateremainsgenerousforlowincomegroups（Seeleib:

41）.Althoughtherehasbeenasilentreforminthefinancingoftheunemploymentbenefitsystemwhichisonsomewhatmoreliberaldirection,mostinstitutionalchangeshavebeenaccordancewithsocialdemocratictraditionssuchastheactivationpolicywhichhasbroughtmorepeoplebacktowork.Therehavebeensubstantialmodificationsinthedivisionoflaborbetweenthestateandthesocialpartners,andbetweenthestateandthemarketinprovisionofwelfare.Theoverridingchangeistheeffortstobringthewelfarestatetoactmoreinconformitywiththemarket（Seeleib:

54）.

5.RiskandResponsibilityinLaborMarket

Themoreriskysociety

Thehighlevelofemploymentisthepreconditionsforwelfarebothforindividualsandforsocietyasawhole.ThelaborforceparticipationandemploymentratesinSwedenareonhighlevelscomparedtootherEuropeancountries（Lindquist,2007）.TheoverallobjectiveoflabormarketpolicyinSwedenistocontributetoawell-functioninglabormarket,toincreaseemploymentandtoreducesocialexclusion.The'

workprinciple'

hasinfluencedSwedishpolicyformanyyearsandthebasicelementinthelabormarketpolicyis'

（ibid）.TheSwedishlabormarketpolicieshaveaclearfocusonmatchingemployersandpotentialemployees,andofferingresourcesforthosewhoaremostdetachedfromthelabormarket（July,2009）.

Economicgrowth,dynamiclabormarketsandastablefinancialframeworkhavebeenSwedishfundamentaleconomicpillarssincethelate1990s（Sven,2010）.However,theoutlookfortheworldeconomyhasworsenedwiththegrowingunrestofinternationalfinancialmarketrecently.TheweakergrowthelsewhereintheworldhasaffectedSweden,whichisasmallcountrydependentontrade（October,2008）.TheSwedisheconomyishighlyintegratedintoEuropeanmarketsandhighlydependentonforeigndemandformanufacturesandcommodities.Consequently,theSwedishmanufacturingindustrywasaffectedmostsharply,whichimmediatelycausedincreasingnumbersoflayoffs.Thedeeprecessionhasledtounemploymentratedecreasefromitspeakof9.3percentin1994to6.1percentin2008（Sven,2010）.

Thegovernment,atthattime,hadtobeputinthestrongpositioninitsworktodevelopcrisismanagementpolicytoincreaseemploymentandatthesametimerespondtotheweakereconomicdevelopment.Lastdecadehaswitnessedaseriesofreformsandrestructuringofthelabormarketpolicyaimistomakeeffectivemeasurestoactivatepeoplewho,forvariousdifferentreasons,havebeenawayfromthelabormarketorhavelosttheirjobstogetbackintoworkquickly（July,2009）.TheGovernmenthastakenanumberofmeasurestoreduceincorrectpaymentsinthesocialinsurancesystem.In2007,thegovernmentreformedthenationalunemploymentinsurance.Asaresult,employees'

contributionsroseandunemploymentbenefitsdecreased（Sven,2010）.Inaddition,changeshavebeenimplementedintighterrulesandclearerregulatoryframeworksforwhenandhowcompensationistobegivenintheeventofunemployment（October,2008）.SwedenusestheGhentsystem,underwhichasignificantproportionofunemploymentbenefitsaredistributedbythestate.Thereductionoffinanceonunemployedleadstotheincreaseofindividualrisk.Peopledonotbenefitfromtheunemploymentinsuranceasmuchasbefore,whichmeansthelivingstandardwillgodownwhentheindividuallosesjob.Hence,Swedesarefacedwitheconomicriskthaneverbefore.

Individual'

sresponsibility

Individualsbearmoreresponsibilities,indeed,intheemploymentpolicyof'

.Accordingtothebasicofpolicy-making（July,2009）,thelabormarketpolicyismadetoensureeveryonewhowantstoandcanworkhaveanopportunitytodosobasedontheirownindividualcircumstances.On2July2007,thejobanddevelopmentguaranteewasintroduced.Theaimoftheguaranteeistoofferpeoplewhohavebeenunemployedforalongtimeindividuallydesignedmeasurestoenablethemtofindworkasquicklyaspossible.Activitiesinthejobanddevelopmentguaranteearedividedintothreephases（October,2008）.Theemployedmustbeengagedineachphraseactivelyandpositively.

Thereisalsoactivationprogramsdesignedforyoungpeople.TheprogramintroducedinDecember2007firstoffersyoungpeopleadetailedskillsassessment,studyandvocationalguidance,andjob-seekingactivitieswithcoaching.Afteranintroductoryperiod,matchingmeasurescanbereinforcedwithmeasuressuchaspracticalworkexperienceorshortertrainingprograms（ibid.）.Inaddition,thecentralgovern