Summary
The concept of ‘social investment’ has gained traction in debates over welfare state futures. Like any notion of investment, social investment posits measurable ‘wellbeing returns’ on investment in advanced societies. Fundamental to any empirical assessment of social investment is the critical role of three complementary policy functions: (1) improving the stock of human capital; (2) easing the flow of gendered labour market and family life-course transitions; and (3) maintaining and updating inclusive social protection buffers, both in the present and over time. Assessing social investment ‘returns’ is complex: The multidimensional character of social investment policy interventions, their implications for different social groups, the effects of policy (in-)complementarities and interactions, and the challenge of delineating effects across different time dimensions are not properly addressed by existing research, still based on methods devised for the analysis of the industrial welfare state. WellSIRe develops a mixed methodology using five layers: (1) quantitative-macro analysis of long-term welfare performance; (2) quantitative-micro analysis of individual socioeconomic conditions over in- and out-of-work transitions; (3) quantitative-micro analyses of subjective wellbeing and capabilities over the life-course; (4) qualitative-institutional analysis of temporal sequences of national social investment reform; and (5) qualitative-institutional analysis of subnational social investment policy delivery. Each layer provides distinct inferential leverage for causal explanations about (non-)returns on social investment reform across countries, with a focus on vulnerable groups in the working-age population. The five-layered methodology will cumulatively provide new insights, ultimately allowing for a fair empirical assessment of the social investment policy paradigm in its own right.
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| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/882276 |
| Start date: | 01-09-2020 |
| End date: | 31-08-2025 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 1 872 200,00 Euro - 1 872 200,00 Euro |
Cordis data
Original description
The concept of ‘social investment’ has gained traction in debates over welfare state futures. Like any notion of investment, social investment posits measurable ‘wellbeing returns’ on investment in advanced societies. Fundamental to any empirical assessment of social investment is the critical role of three complementary policy functions: (1) improving the stock of human capital; (2) easing the flow of gendered labour market and family life-course transitions; and (3) maintaining and updating inclusive social protection buffers, both in the present and over time. Assessing social investment ‘returns’ is complex: The multidimensional character of social investment policy interventions, their implications for different social groups, the effects of policy (in-)complementarities and interactions, and the challenge of delineating effects across different time dimensions are not properly addressed by existing research, still based on methods devised for the analysis of the industrial welfare state. WellSIRe develops a mixed methodology using five layers: (1) quantitative-macro analysis of long-term welfare performance; (2) quantitative-micro analysis of individual socioeconomic conditions over in- and out-of-work transitions; (3) quantitative-micro analyses of subjective wellbeing and capabilities over the life-course; (4) qualitative-institutional analysis of temporal sequences of national social investment reform; and (5) qualitative-institutional analysis of subnational social investment policy delivery. Each layer provides distinct inferential leverage for causal explanations about (non-)returns on social investment reform across countries, with a focus on vulnerable groups in the working-age population. The five-layered methodology will cumulatively provide new insights, ultimately allowing for a fair empirical assessment of the social investment policy paradigm in its own right.Status
SIGNEDCall topic
ERC-2019-ADGUpdate Date
27-04-2024
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