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'My work is exciting' - social workers in Estonia compared to Norway
- Authors:
- GROENNINGSAETER Aarne Backer, KIIK Riina
- Journal article citation:
- European Journal of Social Work, 12(1), March 2009, pp.25-39.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The article discusses the relationship between social policy and social work, focussing on how municipal social workers in Estonia and Norway describe their work situation as implementers of social policy. It is based on a series of individual and group interviews. Estonia is the main case, and Norway is included for comparative reasons. The relationship between aims and reality, external conditions and development of the profession are important subjects. Social workers represent a link between users and the various social policy institutions. Estonian and Norwegian social workers experience a gap between needs and resources. Representatives from both countries referred to the growing workload and complained about low status. At the same time they describe a positive development. A common feeling of having limited resources when confronted with the needs of the users is combined with a feeling that social work is challenging and exciting. In both countries networks and cooperation across professional borders are important. The authors conclude that social workers are important actors in implementing changes at the local level, but they seem to be more concerned about the daily encounter with the individual user than with the policy framework.
The formation of social insurance institutions of the Baltic States in the post-socialist era
- Author:
- AIDUKAITE Jolanta
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 16(3), August 2006, pp.259-270.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This paper provides an overview of the differences that have emerged in the social insurance systems of the three Baltic countries since they regained their independence. It assesses how closely the institutional structures of social insurance in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania approximate to various ideal types of social security institutions to be found in the research literature. The findings indicate that, in general terms, the social security system of Estonia and Latvia can be labelled as a mix of the basic security and corporatist model, even if there are also some weak elements of the targeted model. In contrast, it appears that the institutional changes developing in the social security system of Lithuania have led to a combination of the basic security and targeted models of welfare. Even if they started with identical social security institutions inherited from the Soviet period, there is not only similarity, but also diversity in how these countries are now addressing problems in the social policy field.
Supporting young people in Europe: principles, policy and practice; the Council of Europe international reviews of national youth policy 1997-2001; a synthesis report
- Author:
- WILLIAMSON Howard
- Publisher:
- Council of Europe
- Publication year:
- 2002
- Pagination:
- 128p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Strasbourg
This report endeavours to draw out both the strategic issues and the operational challenges for effective youth policy. Based on both the national and international reports arising from seven countries across Europe (Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Romania, Estonia, Luxembourg), it has sought to highlight both common themes and significant differences in thinking and approach.
The transferability of welfare models: a comparison of the Scandinavian and state socialist models in relation to Finland and Estonia
- Authors:
- MANNING Nick, SHAW Ian
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 32(5), December 1998, pp.572-590.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Discusses two examples of the close relationship between a national social welfare system, and explicit transnational influences. The examples used, Finland and Estonia, faced both common and specific national problems following 1991, which led to rapid change in each country's economic situation and pressure on their respective welfare systems. Uses the countries as a case study of welfare changes in the "borderlands" where "old empires" meet. The countries were chosen because they are peripheral to what were rival spheres of influence and because they see themselves as having much in common.
Welfare to work in practice: social security and participation in economic and social life
- Editors:
- SAUNDERS Peter, (ed.)
- Publisher:
- Ashgate
- Publication year:
- 2005
- Pagination:
- 261p.
- Place of publication:
- Aldershot
This book brings together some of the leading experts to discuss the rationale for welfare to work policies, their limitations and problems encountered in practice. Contributors address topics ranging from the linkages between social security and the labour market to how the welfare to work agenda is responding to the needs of special groups such as lone parents, the long-term unemployed and those with a disability. The book puts the arguments and ideas that underlie the new welfare reform agenda under the microscope and explains how it is being implemented in an international context. Several new data sets are analyzed in a collection that covers developments in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Norway, the UK and the US, as well as several comparative studies. In doing so, this volume helps to bridge the gap between research and policy and demonstrates how policy can respond to the challenges it faces.
Social well-being and gender: post-soviet Estonia and the welfare state in Finland
- Authors:
- NARUSK A., KANDOLIN I.
- Journal article citation:
- Scandinavian Journal of Social Welfare, 6(2), April 1997, pp.127-136.
- Publisher:
- Munksgaard/ Blackwell
In this article the differences between men's and women's well-being in Estonia and Finland are studied according to the subjects' perceived stress symptoms within their work-family arrangements. Findings support previous research which illustrates the more women-friendly character of Finnish social policy.
Report on the social inclusion and social protection of disabled people in European countries: Estonia
- Authors:
- IRVAL Anu, et al
- Publisher:
- Academic Network of European Disability Experts
- Publication year:
- 2009
- Pagination:
- 39p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Utrecht
- Edition:
- Rev. ed.
This report reviews national implementation in Estonia of European Union social inclusion and social protection strategies, with particular reference to equality for disabled people. It is one of a series reviewing national implementation of the open method of coordination in social inclusion and social protection, and in particular the National Strategic Reports of member states from a disability equality perspective. A main aim is to provide the Commission with useful evidence in supporting disability policy mainstreaming. The first version of the report was published in 2008; this second version is updated with information available up to November 2009. It summarises changes since the 2008 report in the areas of: housing and homelessness; new strategies and actions for the inclusion of disabled people; new changes in incomes, benefits and pensions; new changes in long-term care and support; and the implications of the economic crisis. Part 1 of the report considers social inclusion plans; part 2 considers incomes, pensions and benefits; and part 3 considers care and support. The report concludes with some recommendations and an example of best practice.
Social policy and health: transition countries in a comparative perspective
- Authors:
- FERRARINI Tommy, SJÖBERG Ola
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 19(Supplement 1), July 2010, pp.s60-s88.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Former communist East and Central European countries experienced dramatic transformations to their economic, political and social systems in the 1990s. The change caused large scale unemployment due to international competition, which invariably led to a rise in poverty and a reduction in the standard of living, especially for women and children. This article examines the development and design of unemployment insurance and family policy benefits and their links to health outcomes in six European nations (Estonia, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary). When comparing these transition countries to long-standing welfare democracies important similarities and differences in policy and health are revealed. Unemployment benefit schemes resemble corporatist schemes in important respects, but with lower coverage and, at best, average benefits. Subjective wellbeing is also comparatively low among both employed and unemployed in the transition countries. Several transition countries have mixed family policy strategies that simultaneously support dual-earner families and traditional gender roles. However, an exception is Slovenia, which has a highly developed dual-earner support. Family policy generosity is related to lower rates of poverty, infant mortality and child injuries. The authors try to demonstrate the effectiveness of institutional analyses to the link between social policy and population health in a broad welfare state context.