Eurozone Financial Crisis and Its Impact on European Welfare States

Abstract

In the last 30 years, the welfare state has been doubted and many believe that the welfare state is in conflict with the nature of modern and post-industrial capitalism. The financial crisis in the eurozone, which began in 2008, once again, has entered the state into European theoretical waves. And it led to serious reconsideration of state`s functions in the continent. With the onset of the second phase of the crisis, this idea has got power that the existence of a welfare state was the main cause of this crisis and economic downturn. In order to cover the deficit imbalance and the lack of State funding, many theories were put forward to reduce the burden on the state's social and welfare responsibilities. As a result, many European states were forced to apply profound structural reforms and adhere to austerity policies. The result of these policies was a significant reduction in wages, reduction of social services, and privatization of the public sector. The question is: how has the eurozone financial crisis affected the welfare state in the EU and what is the welfare state function in the European social model? The eurozone's financial crisis has lowered the quality of the welfare state in the European Union, due to the slowdown in economic growth, and the only way to save the welfare state is to create a growth with employment,which is achieved through increased competitiveness. To test the above hypothesis, the Danish sociologist Gustavo Sping-Andersen's model will be used.

Keywords

• Welfare state; eurozone financial crisis; competitiveness; European Social Model; employment growth