{"title":"Politische Konflikte in der Sozialpolitik zwischen 2017–2021 in Deutschland: Eine Inhaltsanalyse von Plenardokumenten und Pressemitteilungen","authors":"B. Bender, L. Malsch","doi":"10.1515/zsr-2023-0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0019","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Die Studie erweitert die Forschung zur Unterstützung sozialpolitischer Reformen bei Parteien, Gewerkschaften und Arbeitgeberverbänden. Wir zeigen, dass kompensatorische Maßnahmen die klassischen Konflikte zwischen rechts und links sowie Arbeit und Kapital widerspiegeln. Sozialinvestitionen zeigen hingegen klassenübergreifende Befürwortung; außer bei der AfD, die sich gegen eine breite Unterstützung zu Gleichstellungsmaßnahmen am Arbeitsplatz positioniert. Die Ergebnisse basieren auf einer systematisch qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse von 21 Plenarprotokollen und 323 Pressemitteilungen zwischen 2017 und 2021 (19. Legislaturperiode). Der Beitrag trägt zum einen dazu bei, die konzeptuelle Relevanz der Unterscheidung zwischen kompensatorischer und sozialinvestiver Sozialpolitik zu verdeutlichen. Zum anderen zeigen wir, dass es sich trotz unterschiedlicher Zielvorstellungen der Akteure bei den Sozialinvestitionen um ein überwiegend – wenn auch nicht völlig – konfliktfreies Politikfeld handelt. Dies trägt zur Erklärung des kontinuierlichen Ausbaus von Sozialinvestitionen bei und kann auch als Prognose für eine zukünftig, sozialinvestive Entwicklung in Deutschland betrachtet werden.","PeriodicalId":504346,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift für Sozialreform","volume":"116 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140978107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‚Versicherungsfremde Leistungen‘ in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung: Kritik eines gesundheitspolitischen Leitbegriffs","authors":"M. Simon","doi":"10.1515/zsr-2023-0025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0025","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der Diskussion über ‚versicherungsfremde Leistungen‘ in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (GKV). Es wird ein Überblick gegeben über die Entwicklung der Diskussion seit den 1950er Jahren und darüber, welche Elemente und Leistungen der GKV bisher als ‚versicherungsfremd‘ bezeichnet wurden. Bei den als ‚versicherungsfremd‘ bezeichneten Elementen handelt es sich um solche, die konstitutiv für die GKV sind, und die als ‚versicherungsfremd‘ bezeichneten Leistungen sind Bestandteil des Leistungskataloges der GKV. Die Verwendung des Begriffs ‚versicherungsfremd‘ impliziert folglich die Forderung nach Beseitigung dieser Elemente und Ausgliederung dieser Leistungen aus der GKV. Es wird gezeigt, dass der Verwendung des Begriffs letztlich das Geschäftsmodell der privaten Krankenversicherung als Maßstab zugrunde liegt. Die Verwendung des Begriffs impliziert somit die Forderung nach Angleichung der GKV an das Geschäftsmodell der PKV.","PeriodicalId":504346,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift für Sozialreform","volume":"24 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140974481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the Impact of Adjusting the Basic Pension on Lower-Income Groups in the German Pension System","authors":"Charlotte Fechter, Werner Sesselmeier","doi":"10.1515/zsr-2023-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0017","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This article explores the impact of adjustments to the basic pension (Grundrente) on lower income groups in the German pension system. This is done by hypothesizing that the basic pension reform is weakening status maintenance in the German welfare state for lower-income groups. We analyse monetary gains from the basic pension across different groups. We then adjust the eligibility criteria for the basic pension regarding the length of contribution periods and earning points threshold. From these findings, the paper develops a systematization for what needs to be considered in future pension reforms if the equivalence principle for lower-income groups is to be weakened.","PeriodicalId":504346,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift für Sozialreform","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140974760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Education systems as life course policies? The example of subnational educational regimes and young adults’ family transitions","authors":"Ariane Bertogg, Christian Imdorf","doi":"10.1515/zsr-2023-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0013","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This study investigates the role of subnational educational opportunities for three typical transitions in young adulthood: 1) leaving the parental home, 2) starting to cohabit and 3) becoming a parent. Educational opportunities shape young adults’ life courses as they facilitate the accumulation of human capital, labour market entry and financial independence. Education systems and opportunities are part of transition regimes shaped by the specific cultural, economic and policy characteristics of a (subnational) context, and are thus likely to affect moving out and family formation.\u0000 Drawing on the example of Switzerland with its large cantonal variation in educational opportunities, we use longitudinal data from the TREE panel study to follow a cohort of young adults born in the mid-1980s from ages 16 to 29. Event history models show that larger shares of young people in vocational education at a cantonal level are associated with earlier moving out and parenthood, but later partnership formation. The influence of vocational opportunities is moderated by the presence of a university in the canton.","PeriodicalId":504346,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift für Sozialreform","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140260812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial: Social policies as life course policies – normative ideas, institutions and individual agency","authors":"Thurid Eggers, Simone Scherger","doi":"10.1515/zsr-2023-0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0020","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":504346,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift für Sozialreform","volume":"13 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140263010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social policies and the life course – a complex relationship re-visited","authors":"Simone Scherger","doi":"10.1515/zsr-2023-0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0014","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Social policies structure individual life courses, cushion individual life course risks, and provide normative orientation. The paper brings together literature from life course sociology and welfare state research in order to provide an updated systematisation of the relationship between individual life courses and social policies. The modern life course regime and its welfare regulation are described as centred around individual actors, and as part and parcel of modernisation processes and the institutional arrangement mediating between the modern (democratic) state and the capitalist economy. Furthermore, the paper discusses these structural roots of life course policies, their resulting characteristics and their normativity. Key aspects in this are individualisation and its limits, the multilevel implementation of social policies and their life course effects with regard to inequalities.","PeriodicalId":504346,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift für Sozialreform","volume":"20 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140262262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Coping with old-age poverty – the role of agency and different forms of societal support","authors":"Christopher Grages, Ralf Och","doi":"10.1515/zsr-2023-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0012","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Across Europe, there is a substantial but varying number of older people struggling to make ends meet. We examine how older people with a low income make use of their individual resources and those that are available from their family and community as well as public support (in cash and in kind) when coping with poverty. This article is based on the experience of old-age poverty, drawing on 59 life-course interviews with low-income older people in Norway, Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. We introduce a typology of coping strategies with two main dimensions: the capacity for agency and the capacity for transformation. We show that coping strategies vary not only based on individual factors and appropriate social policy support, but also on further societal support provided by civil society, families or social networks that supplements or compensates for gaps in social policy provision.","PeriodicalId":504346,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift für Sozialreform","volume":"47 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140262055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reproduction policy as life course policy: normative modelling of reproductive life courses in Germany","authors":"Hannah Zagel","doi":"10.1515/zsr-2023-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0011","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This paper investigates how familialist repronormativity, pro-natalism and reproductive autonomy feature as normative models for reproductive life courses in Germany’s current landscape of reproduction policies. Life course research has largely overlooked reproduction as a life course sphere, which is subject to state intervention and strong institutionalised normative assumptions about whether, when and how people should procreate. Drawing on policy documents and a new policy database, this paper compares the current state of reproduction policies in five policy fields (sex education, contraception, abortion, medically assisted reproduction and pregnancy care) to ideal-typical normative orientations towards reproductive life courses. The result is a more systematic understanding of the multidimensionality that is inherent to “life course modelling” (Leisering 2003) of the reproductive life sphere.","PeriodicalId":504346,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift für Sozialreform","volume":"19 7S6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140262535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Coping with non-take-up of means-tested benefits: a qualitative longitudinal study on single parents’ life courses in French-speaking Switzerland","authors":"O. Larenza","doi":"10.1515/zsr-2023-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0008","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Many single parents (SPs) receive means-tested benefits (MTBs) in Switzerland. As a risk-management policy, MTBs can alleviate phases of financial hardship in SPs’ life courses. Conversely, when SPs experience non-take-up (NTU), MTBs may turn into a stressor and impinge on their lives. This paper investigates how NTU can shape SPs’ life courses. Thirteen SPs with full custody of their children who experienced NTU while facing economic hardship were interviewed in a qualitative panel in French-speaking Switzerland. A three-step analytical strategy involving thematic, categorical and chronological analysis of the qualitative data was conducted. The results show that SPs can compensate for the lack of MTBs by looking for alternative support from their families, friends and acquaintances or the labour market; by trying to bypass the MTB regulations so as to access them; by making changes to their lives to comply with MTB eligibility criteria or by giving up on the MTBs. NTU not only affects SPs financially but can also delay their professional careers, jeopardise their relationships with the children; delay new couple relationships and force them to live in an unpleasant environment. Intergroup inequalities affect SPs’ paths as MTB clients. By overlooking the implications of SPs’ childcare obligations and the hidden costs linked to separation, targeting practices may lead to tertiary NTU.","PeriodicalId":504346,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift für Sozialreform","volume":"24 S1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140262479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Between life course regimes and biographical orientations: labour market trajectories of refugee mothers in Germany from a gendered perspective","authors":"Katrin Menke","doi":"10.1515/zsr-2023-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0010","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 After arrival, refugees face the challenge of reordering their biographies in new social contexts that are framed by certain life course policies, institutionalised bureaucratic processes and norms. How do processes of adherence to and adaptation of familiar routines and orientations take shape among refugee women with care responsibilities in Germany? Following on from existing literature on life course, refugee and biographical research, this article enriches current research by adding a gender-sensitive analysis of the labour market trajectories of refugee mothers in Germany. Based on biographically oriented interviews with 22 women with children who fled to Germany from predominantly Arab countries between 2015 and 2020, two findings are presented and discussed: a) different phases of arrival framed by different life course policies and norms unfold in various bureaucratic settings, and b) three different labour market orientations and strategies depending on the women’s biographical orientations, their renegotiation in unfamiliar environments and the life stage the women currently find themselves in. The results provide new insights into the biographical trajectories of refugee women’s labour market participation and challenge a predominantly static view of this group as homogeneous in terms of qualifications, care responsibilities and employment aspirations.","PeriodicalId":504346,"journal":{"name":"Zeitschrift für Sozialreform","volume":"91 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140261346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}