Decent Incomes for All Improving Policies in Europe

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.

Bea Cantillon, PhD, is Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy at the University of Antwerp in Antwerp, Belgium.

Tim Goedemé, PhD, MSc, is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Research Manager in the Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy at the University of Antwerp in Antwerp, Belgium.

John Hills, DLitt, MSocSc, is Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom.

Foreword: A Self-Critical Flashback on the European Union's Anti-Poverty Promise
Frank Vandenbroucke

Preface
Bea Cantillon, Tim Goedemé, and John Hills

Introduction
Bea Cantillon, Tim Goedemé, and John Hills


Part 1: Income Poverty in Europe: Setting the Scene

Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Live on the Poverty Threshold? Lessons From Reference Budgets
Tim Goedemé, Tess Penne, Tine Hufkens, Alexandros Karakitsios, Anikó Bernát, Anne Franziskus, Bori Simonovits, Elena Carillo Alvarez, Eleni Kanavitsa, Irene Cussó Parcerisas, Jordi Riera Romaní, Lauri Mäkinen, Manos Matsaganis, Marco Arlotti, Marianna Kopasz, Péter Szivós, Veli-Matti Ritakallio, Yuri Kazepov, Karel Van den Bosch, and Bérénice Storms

Chapter 2: Employment and Poverty Dynamics Before, During, and After the Crisis
András Gábos, Réka Branyiczki, Barbara Binder, and István György Tóth

Chapter 3: A Pan-European Perspective on Low-Income Dynamics in the European Union
Tim Goedemé, Lorena Zardo Trindade, and Frank Vandenbroucke


Part 2: The Role of Social Protection

Chapter 4: The Impact of Social Transfers on Income Poverty and Material Deprivation
Geranda Notten and Anne-Catherine Guio

Chapter 5: Policy and Poverty in Seven European Union Countries in the Lisbon Decade: The Contribution of Tax-Benefit Policy Changes
John Hills, Alari Paulus, Holly Sutherland, and Iva Tasseva

Chapter 6: Distributive Effects of the Crisis in the European Periphery
Manos Matsaganis and Chrysa Leventi

Chapter 7: Do Employment-Conditional Earnings Subsidies Work?
Lane Kenworthy


Part 3: New Policy Paradigms: What Can Be Expected?

Chapter 8: Improving Poverty Reduction: Lessons From the Social Innovation Perspective
Stijn Oosterlynck, Andreas Novy, Yuri Kazepov, Pieter Cools, Tatiana Saruis, Bernhard Leubolt, and Florian Wukovitsch

Chapter 9: Social Investment at Crossroads: "The Third Way" or "The Enlightened Path" Forward?
Axel Cronert and Joakim Palme


Part 4: Toward a Decent Social Floor for All Europeans

Chapter 10: The End of Cheap Talk About Poverty Reduction: The Cost of Closing the Poverty Gap While Maintaining Work Incentives
Diego Collado, Bea Cantillon, Karel Van den Bosch, Tim Goedemé, and Dieter Vandelannoote

Chapter 11: The Design of In-Work Benefits: How to Boost Employment and Combat Poverty in Belgium?
Dieter Vandelannoote and Gerlinde Verbist

Chapter 12: Toward Adequate Minimum Incomes: Which Role for Europe?
Bea Cantillon, Sarah Marchal, and Chris Luigjes

Chapter 13: Conclusion: How to Get There?
Bea Cantillon, Tim Goedemé, and John Hills