Local Welfare Policy Making in European Cities

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Introduction

   • Marjo Kuronen, Dagmar Kutsar

   Pages 1-14

3. Women’s Local Labour Markets

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

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   2. Measuring Women’s Labour Market Integration: The Issue of Adequate Indicators

      • Birgit Pfau-Effinger, Nicola Schwindt

      Pages 17-33

   3. Urban Economic Specialization and Women’s Integration into the Labour Market in 11 European Cities

      • Roberta Cucca, Lara Maestripieri

      Pages 35-50

   4. Gendering Social Vulnerability. The Role of Labour Market De-standardisation and Local Welfare

      • Lara Maestripieri

      Pages 51-67

4. Local Welfare Policy Making

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 69-69

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   2. Vertical Governance, National Regulation and Autonomy of Local Policy Making

      • Marjo Kuronen, Pascal Caillaud

      Pages 71-85

   3. Local Policy Making: The Playground of Ideas, Mindsets, Strategies and Roles

      • Dagmar Kutsar, Kairi Kasearu, Avo Trumm

      Pages 87-100

   4. Local Welfare Policy in a Centralized Governance System: Childcare and Eldercare Services in a Period of Rapid Change in Leeds

      • Erika Kispéter, Sue Yeandle

      Pages 101-116

5. Local Childcare Policy Making and Service Provision

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 117-117

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   2. The Relationships Between Local and National Childcare Policies – A Comparison of Nordic and Southern European Cities

      • Marjo Kuronen, Teppo Kröger, Fernando Antón-Alonso, Roberta Cucca, Anna Escobedo, Per H. Jensen et al.

      Pages 119-134

   3. Childcare Systems in Post State-Socialist Countries: Comparative Cases from Brno, Szekesfehervar and Tartu

      • Martina Kampichler, Erika Kispéter, Dagmar Kutsar

      Pages 135-148

   4. The Incomplete Revolution: Development of Childcare Policies in Ireland

      • Evelyn Mahon, Jemimah Bailey

      Pages 149-160

6. Local Care Policies and Systems for Older People

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 161-161

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   2. Centralization and Decentralization of Eldercare Policies in Europe

      • Ralf Och

      Pages 163-178

   3. Female Labour Market Integration in the City of Nantes and Care Policies for Older People: The French Puzzle

      • Monique Bigoteau, Béatrice Chaudet, Annie Dussuet, Carine Péribois

      Pages 179-193

   4. The Impact of the Policy Framework on the Integration of Informal Carers into the Labour Market in Tartu, Estonia

      • Häli Tarum, Dagmar Kutsar

      Pages 195-208

   5. A Comparative Perspective of Voluntary Organizations and Their Role in Care for Older People: The Case of the Red Cross

      • Per H. Jensen

      Pages 209-221

This book focuses on how EU welfare policies are implemented at the local level in 11 European cities and how local policy making addresses women’s care responsibilities. The book studies the complex combination of and the relationships between local political processes, policies, institutions, structural conditions and outputs, as well as outcomes for the women’s labour market integration. It demonstrates how cultural settings and multi-level governance patterns form the “playground” for local policy makers to formulate their welfare policies concerning service provision. The book further demonstrates how local production systems and the situation of the local labour market influence the prospects that women have in working and caring.

EU welfare policy promotes the labour market integration of women as well as gender equality. The provision of adequate care services is vital in supporting women’s employment. Within comparative welfare research, the focus has been on the national welfare systems and policies even if care services are overwhelmingly provided by local authorities that in many EU member states enjoy considerable autonomy. This book fills the gap in understanding local welfare policy making from a comparative perspective.

• Local Child Care Policy
• Local care policies and systems for older people
• Local elderly care systems in Europe
• Women's Local Labour Markets
• care for older people
• comparative welfare research
• local welfare policies in the city of Leeds
• local welfare policy making
• role of families in providing care for children and old people.
• the national welfare systems and policies
• welfare policy research
• women’s labour market integration

“The book relies on a European comparative research project which adopted both quantitative and qualitative approaches. … There are various interesting and relevant findings in the book. … The issues covered by this conscientious research are indeed of much interest, and their importance is easy to appreciate.” (Matías Iglesias, Local Welfare Policy Making in European Cities, Vol. 12, 2017)

• Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

  Dagmar Kutsar

• Dept. of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyvaskyla, Finland

  Marjo Kuronen

Dagmar Kutsar, PhD., is an Associate Professor of Social Policy at the University of Tartu in Estonia. Her research interests are around family, childhood and welfare research and policies. She has been a partner in several international research projects such as EU 6FP PROFIT, IPROSEC, NoE EQUALSOC, EU FP7 FLOWS and others. She has been a member of a Standing Committee of Social Sciences of the European Science Foundation, member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the National Associations Council of the European Sociological Association and Expert of the EU 7FP Youth Social Inclusion Cluster at the European Commission. She has co-edited a book by Routledge ‘Internationalisation of Social Sciences in Central and Eastern Europe. The ‘Catching Up’ – A Myth or a Strategy?’ in 2010. Marjo Kuronen received her PhD at the University of Stirling, Scotland, UK in 1999. She is professor in social work at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, adjunct professor at the University of Tampere,Finland and visiting professor at the University of Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. Her research interests combine family research, feminist research and social work research. She has studied e.g. the relationships between women, family and the welfare state and gender division in parenting. She has recently been involved in two EC FP7 funded projects, FAMILYPLATFORM (2009–10) and FLOWS (2010–14) and a Finnish Academy funded project on Children’s Emotional Security in Multiple Family Relations (2011–14).

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