Heikki Ervasti

Unemployment and Subjective Well-being An Empirical Test of Deprivation Theory, Incentive Paradigm and Financial Strain Approach

In this article we focus on the level of subjective well-being and its determinants among the unemployed as compared to those currently in paid labour. We subject three strongly contradictory theoretical approaches to an empirical test. The first is the traditional deprivation theory, which maintains that unemployment is a major psychological stressor. The second is the incentive theory, which claims that the level of well-being among the unemployed may be sufficiently high to discourage them from actively and effectively searching for a new job and re-entering the labour market. The third approach emphasizes the adverse effects of financial stress for subjective well-being during unemployment. We use the European Social Survey (ESS) data from 21 countries in our empirical analysis. We find no support for the incentive theory. The deprivation theory points in the right direction by stressing the psychological factors associated with unemployment but makes a notable omission by disregarding the financial strain which, according to our analysis, proves to be crucial for the well-being of the unemployed.

Nordic Social Attitudes in a European Perspective

Contents:1. Introduction2. Welfare State, Poverty and Social Exclusion3. Health and Happiness4. Social Capital5. Who Should Decide? A Comparative Analysis of Multi-level Governance in Europe6. Political Activism7. Trust in Political Institutions8. Disagreement About the Division of Work Among Couples in Europe: The Role of Gender Ideology and Labour Involvement9. Non-standard Employment and Job Quality10. Attitudes Towards Immigrants11. Economic Morality12. The Meaning and Implications of Religiosity 13. Conclusion

Class, individualism and the Finnish welfare state

What happens to the legitimacy of the Scandinavian model of the welfare state within the context of post-industrial development and the growth of the middle classes? Theoretically, two rival hypotheses can be posed. According to the saturation approach, the legitimation of the welfare state collapses. As general welfare increases, people adopt more individualistic stances toward the welfare state. By contrast, the irreversibility theory of the welfare state suggests that the legitimacy of the welfare state even improves as more people are employed by the welfare state and as all citizens are covered by its services. These hypotheses are tested empirically by using recent Finnish opinion survey data and by employing structural equation methods. At least in Finland, the irreversibility approach clearly gets more support than the rival saturation hypothesis. The results show that the middle classes are neither overly individualist nor critical of the Finnish welfare state.

Book Reviews: Mikko Kautto, Johan Fritzell, Bjørn Hvinden, Jon Kvist and Hannu Uusitalo (eds) Nordic Welfare States in the European Context London and New York, Routledge, 2001, 309 pp., £50.00 (hbk), £16.99 (pbk) ISBN 0 415 24161 8

This is the second volume on the work of the international research network ‘the Nordic Welfare States in the 1990s’. The first volume Nordic Social Policy (edited by M. Kautto, M. Heikkilä, B. Hvinden, S. Marklund and N. Ploug, Routledge, 1999) was devoted to comparing the developments and changing preconditions for social policies within the Nordic countries. In this second volume the recent history of the Nordic countries is examined from a wider perspective, and includes non-Nordic countries in the comparison. During the last decade, the Nordic welfare states have faced new pressures. Internal trends such as ageing populations, changes in family structure, gender relations and organization of work, accompanied by external pressures such as globalization and deepening European integration, pose a new challenge for the welfare states. The main questions raised in the book are: Have the Nordic countries maintained qualitatively different social policies, or are the contrasts and distinctions that previously existed now decreasing? Has the Nordic model of the welfare state been ‘Europeanizing’? The general answer to these questions is negative. Contrary to much speculation, there is little evidence to suggest that the Nordic welfare states are losing their distinctiveness compared to other European countries. Indeed, the trend even appears to be the reverse. This conclusion is based on empirical analyses of income distribution, gender equality and gender policies, health inequalities, social security, health and social services, and the financing of the welfare state. These areas are analysed by 16 authors. Johan Fritzell analyses income distribution in his chapter. Despite the fact that income inequality has been on the increase lately in almost all European countries, the Nordic countries are still more equal than the rest of the European countries. Similarly, according to Fritzell, the relative poverty of the most vulnerable groups is lower than in other European countries. Furthermore, as Annemette Sørensen shows, the gender gap in earnings is comparatively small in the Nordic countries, although still far from equality. The Nordic welfare states have provided a framework in which it became easier and more acceptable for women to pursue employment without having to sacrifice family life. However, as Randi Kjeldstad notes, there have been slightly converging trends in gender policies. In fact in some countries, the gender equality process has developed despite the absence of gender-sensitive policies. Two chapters of the book address the relationship between welfare and work. Bjørn Hvinden, Matti Heikkilä and Ilkka Kankare analyse activation policies and Jochen Clasen, Jon Kvist and Wim van Oorschot concentrate on work requirements in unemployment compensation schemes. Basically these analyses confirm a Nordic similarity, again. Nevertheless, the Nordic countries do not appear uniform and distinct in all respects. In particular, the responses of social security to changing family patterns did not follow any typology-specific routes. In contrast, according to Aksel Hatland, the Nordic countries could be located in three differing groups, 82 Book reviews