Challenges to the Welfare State

In this important book, the authors offer a rich and multifaceted comparative analysis of family policies and pension protection systems in the Baltic and Nordic countries. By exploring two rarely contrasted socioeconomic settings, the authors brilliantly uncover not only similarities and differences in welfare provision but also lay bare the changes and challenges now taking place in them. -- sa Lundqvist, Lund University, Sweden Baltic countries are underrepresented in comparative welfare state studies and this volume addresses this unfortunate situation by addressing contemporary social policy challenges facing both Baltic and Nordic countries in the areas of family policy and pension protection. Featuring an excellent line-up of scholars, this unique volume makes a distinguished contribution to the comparative social policy literature and it offers unique insights for scholars and practitioners alike. -- Daniel Bland, McGill University, Canada

Edited by Jolanta Aidukaite, Institute of Sociology at the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, Lithuania, Sven E.O. Hort, Formerly Professor of Sociology, Linnaeus University, Sweden and Professor of Social Welfare, Seoul National University, South Korea and Stein Kuhnle, Emeritus Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen, Norway and Emeritus Professor, the Hertie School, the University of Governance, Berlin, Germany

Contents: Preface xii 1 Introduction: Baltic and Nordic countries from a comparative perspective family policies and pensions in the era of ageing 1 Jolanta Aidukaite, Sven E. O. Hort and Stein Kuhnle PART I PERSPECTIVES ON FAMILY POLICY 2 Family support systems in the Baltic and Nordic countries: an explorative overview 11 Jolanta Aidukaite 3 Demographic challenges of Europe in the new millennium: Swedish family policies as an answer to them 33 Livia Sz. Olh and Gerda Neyer 4 Nordic family policy in the 2000s: from a transfer-based towards a service-based family policy? 52 Mia Hakovirta and Mikael Nygrd 5 Family policy support for the earner-carer and traditional-family models in Lithuania and Sweden1 72 Katharina Wesolowski, Sunnee Billingsley and Gerda Neyer 6 The sustainability of family support systems in the 21st century: comparing Sweden and Lithuania 94 Jolanta Aidukaite and Kristina Senkuviene 7 Cost of childcare: evolution of regional diversity in Estonia 119 Mare Ainsaar and Mona Sukand PART II PERSPECTIVES ON PENSION PROTECTION IN THE ERA OF AGEING 8 Ageing and the welfare state: welfare policies and attitudes in the Baltic and Nordic countries 137 Jolanta Aidukaite, Sven E. O. Hort and Mare Ainsaar 9 Gender inequalities in family leaves, employment and pensions in Finland 160 Kati Kuitto and Susan Kuivalainen 10 Approaches to minimum-income protection in old age: comparing the three Scandinavian countries 180 Axel West Pedersen 11 Pension systems as risk management: a case of the Baltic states 202 Olga Rajevska 12 Looking for an adequate and sustainable old-age pension system: comparing Sweden and Lithuania 224 Teodoras Medaiskis and arnas Eiroius 13 The inequality of public pension benefits for the elderly using Estonian data 248 Magnus Piirits 14 Stretching the canvas: beyond welfare state typologies to capability and agency 267 Barbara Hobson Index