The welfare state perspective Convergence and divergence across countries

6 The welfare state perspective Convergence and divergence across countries 

This policy shift can build upon new or already existing, but dormant provisions in unemployment and social assistance schemes and related objectives. Activation tips the balance in favour of a more active and inclusive rather than passive and exclusive approach. Hence, activation means stronger intervention in spells of unemployment or inactivity periods and fewer acceptances of long-term benefit dependency and associated public expenditure. Traditional social policies are seen as part of the problem, less as a solution. In particular, transfer payments are perceived as having detrimental side-effects on individual employability and the overall performance of the labour market (Van Berkel and Homemann Moller 2002). 

Welfare state change, however, is difficult particularly if it involves retrenchment of well-established policies and societal expectations and therefore depends on particular explanatory factors (Pierson 1994, 2001). Analysing welfare state change has therefore been a major topic of comparative studies. 

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