In 2000, the first social agenda in the history of the European Union was launched, and the endeavor to combat poverty came increasingly to the forefront as a specific area for EU policy cooperation and coordination. Regrettably, however, little progress has been achieved so far, either at the national or European level. On the contrary, the EU's social fabric is under major stress: convergence in national living standards has halted or reversed while progress in terms of poverty reduction in the last decades has been disappointing in most EU Member States. In Europe, despite high social spending and work-related welfare reforms, poverty often remains a largely intractable problem for policymakers and a persistent reality for many European citizens. In Decent Incomes for All, the authors shed new light on recent poverty trends in the European Union and the corresponding responses by European welfare states. They analyze the effect of social and fiscal policies before, during, and after the recent economic crisis and study the impact of alternative policy packages on poverty and inequality. The volume also explores how social investment and local initiatives of social innovation can contribute to tackling poverty, while recognizing that there are indeed structural constraints on the increase of the social floor and difficult trade-offs involved in reconciling work and poverty reduction. Academics and graduate students in comparative social policy, inclusion and anti-poverty policy, sociology, and public economics will find the book to be a particularly helpful resource in their work.

About the Author
Bea Cantillon, PhD, is Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. Tim Goedeme, PhD, is a Research Coordinator at the Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy at the University of Antwerp in Belgium and Senior Research Officer at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School and the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. John Hills, DLitt, MSocSc, is Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom.

Reviews
Poverty might be even more widespread-and differently distributed across countries and household types within the EU-than what appears by the usual 'at risk of poverty' indicator. Exploring different methodological approaches, this book presents a complex view of what happened where before and during the Great Recession, as well as the differential ability of individual countries to protect the poor through their policy choices. The lessons these analyses teach at the substantive and methodological level offer crucial suggestions on how progress might be achieved at the national and EU level in granting a decent income to both workers' and jobless people's households. * Chiara Saraceno, PhD, Professor Emerita, WZB Berlin Social Science Center; honorary fellow, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin *
With European welfare states under economic pressure, policymakers have taken their eyes off the poverty reduction ball, with the inevitable result that poverty has worsened as social protection provisions have been allowed to erode. This book by some of Europe's leading social policy scholars vividly illustrates how top-quality research can highlight social issues, provide the evidence to better understand them, and point to appropriate policy responses. It is a timely reminder of the important role that a decent income safety net can play in promoting well-being and setting the social foundations for sustainable economic prosperity. * Peter Saunders, PhD, DipEcThy, Professor, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney; President, Foundation for International Studies on Social Security *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190849696
Author Bea Cantillon
Format Hardback
Page Count 344
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 590g
Dimensions(mm) 157mm * 236mm * 31mm