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Social Policy in Harsh Times. Social Security Development in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during the 1980s and 1990s
Author(s) -
Nordlund Anders
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
international journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 1369-6866
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2397.00106
Subject(s) - social security , social policy , welfare state , psychological resilience , period (music) , social welfare , political science , development economics , economic growth , economics , politics , psychology , physics , acoustics , law , psychotherapist
For the past two decades, Nordic social policy has been subject to a range of serious challenges, among which economic problems and critiques by neo‐classical economists have been most prominent. This article raises the question whether Nordic social policy has significantly changed during this period of challenges. Based on an empirical analysis of social expenditure data and three central social security programs, this article provides evidence that changes in Nordic social policy over this period have, in fact, been relatively minor. Indeed, the four welfare states of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have shown remarkable resilience considering the harsh challenges that they have been exposed to since the early 1980s.