From a Caring State to an Investing State. Stages of a Changing Welfare Model in Labour Market Policy

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the changing model of social security. The analyses are focusing on changes in labour market policies which have taken place in the countries of the European Union. With the critical review of scientific literature of welfare changes, we try to answer the next questions. What circumstances led to the shift from the welfare state focusing on welfare benefits and services to the generally accepted model of the activating? What reforms and what stages lead to the transformation of the welfare model especially in the area of labour market policies? How the earlier integration efforts, which had mainly focused on entitlement, was replaced with a market-based approach like social investment? The most important result of the critical analysis is the presentation of the policy model transfer between the states of the European Union and the steps of the reform process, which jeopardise the enforcement of the citizen's social rights. The first part of the study presents the theoretical framework for the transformation of the labour market policies, the key pillars of the welfare state and the term “activation state” and “investing state”. The second part examines the key features of five stages of changing model.