Convergences and dissonances within the Bismarckian welfare paradigm: a critical assessment of the impacts of Hartz-IV on the German unemployment insurance system
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36311/2237-7743.2018.v7n1.01.p113Palavras-chave:
German Welfare SystemResumo
The paper deals with the repercussions of Hartz-IV on the German welfare system, implemented in 2005 in order to stimulate the labour market structure and to meet contemporary socio-economic and demographic challenges. Focussing on the convergences and dissonances between the historically contingent Bismarckian welfare paradigm and the Hartz-IV reform on the basis of Esping-Andersen’s typology of welfare regimes, it critically examines the modifications introduced into the system of unemployment insurance. Despite the overall reduction of the unemployment rate, the dualization between either the income-based unemployment benefit I (ALG-1), which guarantees the protection of the socio-occupational status, or the means-tested unemployment benefit II (ALG-2), providing for the strict minimum assistance to the jobless, has widened socio-economic inequalities. Evidence can be found for the introduction of recommodifying mechanisms, with regards to the tightening of eligibility criteria affecting the access to the ALG-1 and with regards to the implementation of the ALG-2 with a strong responsabilization of the recipients. Furthermore, an erosion of the principle of subsidiarity can be noticed, coupled with a formalweakening of the male breadwinner’s responsibility as the main income provider. Finally, the reforms have reaffirmed the rigidity of the social classes in Germany, thus creating structural obstacles to the economic upward mobility of the working poor. While the flexibility and greater absorbability of the employment market considerably increased German’s economic competitivity, the future yet has to prove whether the growing segment of working poor will be able to upgrade to full employment and social security coverage.
Keywords: German Welfare System; Unemployment Insurance; Hartz-IV; Labour Market.
Recebido em: março/2017
Aprovado: maio/2018.
Downloads
Referências
integrativ – investiv – innovativ. Gutachten für das Thüringer Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Technologie. Duisburg: Universität Duisburg-Essen, 2011.
BOSCHETTI, I. A Insidiosa Corrosão dos Sistemas de Proteção Social Europeus. Serviço
Social e Sociedade, São Paulo, n. 112, p. 754-803, 2012.
BRUCKMEIER, K.; WIEMERS, J. Begrenzte Reichweite. Die meisten Aufstocker bleiben
trotz Mindestlohn bedürftig. IAB Kurzbericht. Nürnberg: Nürnberg: Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, 2014.
BRUSSIG, M.; KNUTH, M. Die Zukunft der Grundsicherung – individualisieren, konzentrieren, intensivieren. Bonn: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2011.
BUNDESAGENTUR FÜR ARBEIT. Retrieved from: <https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/privatpersonen>. Last access: 05.02.2018.
CASTLES, F. The Future of the Welfare States – Crisis Myths and Crisis Realities. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
ESPING-ANDERSEN, G. As três economias politicas do Welfare State. Lua Nova, n. 24, p. 85-116, 1991.
ESPING-ANDERSEN, G. O Futuro do Welfare State Na Nova Ordem Mundial. Lua Nova, n. 35, p. 73-111, 1995.
ESPING-ANDERSEN, G.; MYLES, J. Economic inequality and the welfare state. In
SALVERDA, W.; NOLAN, B.; SMEEDING, T. M. (Org.). The Oxford
Handbook of Economic Inequality. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. p. 639-664.
FREDRIKSEN, K. B. Income Inequality in the European Union Economics Department
Working Papers No. 952. OECD, 2012.
HASSEL, A.; SCHILLER, C. Die politische Dynamik von Arbeitsmarktreformen in
Deutschland am Beispiel der Hartz-IV-Reform. Abschlussbericht. Düsseldorf: Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, 2010.
KERSTENETZKY, C. L. Sobre a Crise do Estado de Bem-Estar: Retração, Transformação
Faústica ou o Que? Dados, Rio de Janeiro, n. 55, p. 447-485, 2012.
KETTNER, A.; REBIEN, M. Job Safety first? Zur Veränderung der
Konzessionsbereitschaft von arbeitslosen Bewerbern und Beschäftigten aus betrieblicher Perspektive. Ordnungspolitische Diskurse 2009-7. Nürnberg: Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, 2009.
KLINGER, S.; ROTHE, T. The impact of labour market reforms and economic
performance on the matching of short-term and long-term unemployed. IAB-Discussion Paper, 13/2010. Nürnberg: Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, 2010.
KNUTH, M. Rosige Zeiten am Arbeitsmarkt? Strukturreformen und„Beschäftigungswunder“. Bonn: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2014.
KNUTH, M.; BRUSSIG, M. Der Wandel der Arbeitslosigkeit am Ende des Erwerbslebens
vom privilegierten zum prekären Übergangspfad. In: BISPINCK, R.; BOSCH, K.; HOFEMANN, K.; NAEGELE, G. (Org.). Sozialpolitik und Sozialstaat. Festschrift für Gerhard Bäcker. Wiesbaden: Springer Verlag, 2012, p. 239-256.
KOPF, E.; ZABEL, C. Activation programmes for women with a partner in Germany: Challenge or replication of traditional gender roles. International Journal of Social Welfare, Hoboken, v. 26, p. 239-253, 2017.
KUMMERLING, A.; BRUTTEL, O. New Politics in German Labour Market Policy? The
Implications of the Recent Hartz Reforms for the German Welfare State. Berlin: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, 2005.
KÖRNER, T.; MEINKEN, H.; PUCH, K. Wer sind die ausschließlich geringfügig
Beschäftigten? Eine Analyse nach sozialer Lebenslage. Wirtschaft und Statistik, Wiesbaden, January, p. 42-61, 2013.
LIPPL, B. Klare Mehrheit für den Wohlfahrtsstaat. Gesellschaftliche
Wertorientierungen im internationalen Vergleich. Bonn: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2008.
LÖSCHAU, M. Die neue Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende nach dem SGB II – ‘Hartz IV’. Die Angestelltenversicherung, Köln, vol. 52, n. 1, p. 20-30, 2005.
MANOW, P.; SEILS, E. Adjusting Badly: The German Welfare State, Structural
Change, and the Open Economy. In: FRITZ, W.; SCHARPF, V.; SCHMIDT, A. (Org.). Welfare and Work in the Open Economy. Vol. II: Diverse Responses to Common Challenges. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. p. 264-307.
NULLMEIER, F.; KAUFMANN, F.-X. Post-Welfare State Development – The Temporal
Perspective. In: CASTLES, F. G.; LEIBFRIED, S.; LEWIS, J.; OBINGER, H.; PIERSON, C. (Org.). The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. p. 61-81.
OECD. The OECD Jobs Strategy: Progress Report on Implementation of Country-specific recommendations. Economic department working papers No. 196. Paris: OECD, 1998.
OECD. Pratical Handbook on Developing Local Employment Strategies in New
Member States and Candidate Countries of the European Union. Bruxelles: European Commission, 2004.
OECD. OECD Social Expenditure Database. Retrieved from: <http://www.oecd.org/social/expenditure.htm>. Last access: 05.02.2018.
PALIER, B.; MARTIN, C. (Org.). Reforming Bismarckian Welfare Systems. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008.
PIERSON, C. Beyond the Welfare State: The New Political Economy of Welfare. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1998.
RHEIN, T. Deutsche Geringverdiener im europäischen Vergleich. Bonn: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2013.
SEELEIB-KAISER, M. (Org.). Welfare State Transformations — Comparative Perspectives.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
STREEK, W.; MERTENS, D. Fiscal Austerity and Public Investment: Is the Possible the
Enemy of the Necessary? MPIfG Discussion Paper 11/12. Köln: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, 2011.
WALWEI, U. Finanzkrise und Arbeitslosenversicherung: Wie weit soll und darf sozialer
Schutz gehen? Bonn: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2009.
WALWEI, U. Curing the Sick Man: The German Labour Market on the Way to Good
Health? Nürnberg: Nürnberg: Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, 2014.
