Policy reforms in the domain of long-term eldercare (LTC) and early child education and care (ECEC) have been comparatively limited in Southern European countries in the last two decades. Public intervention in these countries has been lacking, or limited in scope (temporary, incremental and/or local programs), or has undergone severe difficulties in the implementation phase. A limited increase in public coverage has not given rise to new social rights and has been increasingly matching with the growth of loosely regulated and little supported care markets on one side and with traditional informal care resources based on family solidarity on the other.
This system has come more and more under strain, because of the growth in female activity and employment rates, the reduction of intergenerational informal care resources and, lastly, the recession and austerity programs.
In the same period, though, continental-conservative countries that also used to be latecomers in care policies have reformed their care systems and expanded public support to care needs, either through direct provision and/or through cash benefits or voucher systems.
The panel aims at discussing the reasons and factors at the basis of the lack or failure of care policy reforms in Southern European countries. We invite papers that comparatively analyze the influence of different factors (cultural, political, financial, features of the State and multi-level governance structures, socio-economic regulation) on the policy inertia and on the development of care markets in ECEC and/or LTC fields, as well as papers that tackle the impact of such trends on the care arrangements, the quality of care provision or the conditions of care work.
Papers will be particularly welcome if based on empirical analysis, either quantitative or qualitative, and on a comparative approach (between Southern European countries, between Southern and continental countries; between policy areas).
Stream convenors
Barbara Da Roit, Dipartimento di Filosofia e Beni Culturali, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, barbara.daroit@unive.it
Stefania Sabatinelli, Laboratorio di Politica Sociale, Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani, Politecnico di Milano, stefania.sabatinelli@polimi.it