Work and Family Policies for a Changing Work Force (1991) / Chapter Skim
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7 Family-Oriented Programs in Other Countries
7 Family-Oriented Programs in Other Countries
Pages 155-178
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From page 155... ...
This chapter begins with an examination of differences in the general approach to social welfare issues between the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL POLICY Social Insurance Provisions The countries of both North America and Western Europe have policies and programs to protect and assist individuals and families.
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From page 156... ...
People appear more willing to reduce their own standard of living on behalf of their neighbors, or perhaps their neighbor's children, when they share the same language, the same religion, and the same color. Countries that define citizenship by heredity rather than place of birth commonly adopt generous pronatalist policies when faced with declining birth rates and labor shortages, since these countries
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From page 157... ...
Most of these expenditures in the European countries are provided through government, the revenues coming either from earmarked payroll taxes or general revenues. The first column shows TABLE 7-1 Social Welfare Expenditures of Selected Countries in the European Community as a Percentage of Gross Domestic Product Expenditures Country Mandated Nonmandated Total Belgium 27.9 t.5 29.4 Denmark 27.6 1.1 28.7 Federal Republic of Germany 26.9 2.2 29.1 France 23.1 5.4 28.5 Italy 22.3 1.0 23.3 Netherlands 29.6 4.1 33.7 United Kingdom 19.5 4.6 24.1 United States 14.1 7.5 21.6 SOURCE: Adapted from Rein (1989:Table 1)
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From page 158... ...
expenditures for social welfare programs result in lower overall public-sector spending in the United States compared with Canada and Western Europe. This has important effects on the economy, such as permitting lower tax rates and increasing discretionary income for most households.
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From page 159... ...
The difference is more than compensated for by the 29 percent of taxes on goods and services and 18 percent value-added taxes raised by the European nations, compared with less than 4 percent in excise taxes in the United States and general sales taxes that vary between 0 and 8 percent among states (International Monetary Fund, 19881. The relatively low level of government expenditures and the reliance on income tax in the United States may be more than coincidental.
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From page 160... ...
PROGRAMS ESTABLISHED BY LAW Holidays and Vacations Working people in Western Europe have more paid time off from work than do their counterparts in the United States. All countries in Western Europe, with the exception of the United Kingdom, stipulate a legal minimum vacation period, usually 3 to 5 weeks starting with the first year of employment.
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From page 161... ...
Individual states declare public holidays, but this does not mean that all nonessential businesses have to close. Maternity and Family Leaves The concept of maternity leave is so widely accepted that, of the 118 countries covered in a survey by the International Labour Organisation (1985)
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From page 162... ...
Either way, however, some direct expenses are added to the costs related to the absence of workers while on leave. Spreading the cost through social insurance mechanisms shields small employers or those with unusually large numbers of young women employees.
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From page 163... ...
For instance, France requires employers to allow unpaid leave for personal reasons with entitlement to reemployment and seniority and to permit paid time away from work for routine child care needs, as is true in the Scandinavian countries and the Federal Republic of Germany. Currently the European Economic Community (EEC)
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From page 164... ...
The number of hours and their scheduling may differ from time to time, from place to place, and by type of industry, but they are generally determined by employers; workers usually have little discretion except perhaps when they initially choose a job that requires a particular number of hours. The average number of hours actually worked in nine Western European countries in 1980 varied from 41 in Spain to 36 in Norway and Sweden, compared with 47 in Japan and 39 in the United States (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 19861.
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From page 165... ...
SOURCE: Adapted from Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (1987: Table 1.3)
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From page 166... ...
. It is therefore not surprising that among adults it is mainly married women with other means of support and a strong commitment to what they perceive to be their family responsibilities who avail themselves of this option.
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From page 167... ...
The figures for other Western European countries are thought to be substantially lower, especially for blue-collar and service workers. The exception is Switzerland, where flextime has apparently progressed most rapidly and was estimated to cover about one-third of all workers by the mid-1970s (Owen, 1977~.
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From page 168... ...
, where the practice is in part a continuation of traditional home work. GOVERNMENT CHILD CARE PROGRAMS Just as the presence of a growing proportion of mothers of young children in the labor market has brought greater emphasis on family leaves, it has also focused attention on child care; the two issues are to a great extent complementary.
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From page 169... ...
In Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, however, child care is offered as part of social welfare. Because it is widely believed that Sweden has very high-quality child care centers (Kamerman, 1988)
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From page 170... ...
However, to the extent we can, it is useful to briefly examine the economic performance and the quality of life attained in the most economically advanced countries of Western Europe and Canada, countries that have relatively generous provisions in some or all of these respects, compared with those in the United States. There is no evidence that either good or bad economic performance is directly linked to the particular programs considered here; many other factors are inevitably involved.
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From page 171... ...
Only in Switzerland was the proportion lower than in the United TABLE 7-6 Central Government Average Annual Expenditures in 13 Industrialized Countries, 1960-1987, and Net National Debt, 1988 Total Outlays of Government as a Percentage of Gross Domestic Current Surplus/ Net National Product Receipts Deficit Debt, 1988 Belgium 42.2 37.7 -4.5124.5 Canada 37.1 33.8 -3.339.0 Denmark 44.3 43.7 -0.624.2 Federal Republic of Germany 42.6 41.1 -1.523.5 Finland 34.3 35.5 1.2-0.2 France 42.7 40.9 -1.825.5 Italy 39.8 32.8 -7.092.4 Netherlands 48.9 45.8 -3.155.9 Norway 42.5 46.0 3.5-25.3 Sweden 49.3 49.5 0.27.2 Switzerland 25.0 29.2 4.2 United Kingdom 41.0 37.6 -3.438.4 United States 32.0 29.1 2.930.6 Average, excluding United States 40.8 39.4 -1.336.8 SOURCE: Expenditures and receipts: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (1989c:Tables 6.5, and 6.6) ; column 3 is calculated from columns 1 and 2; public debt: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (1989a:Table 34)
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From page 172... ...
The annual rate of inflation between 1960 and 1987 in the United States of 5.1 percent compares very favorably with the average of 6.4 percent in the other countries. Because opponents of more generous social welfare programs tend to emphasize the importance of international competitiveness, it is particularly noteworthy that the United States had a less favorable balance of trade than all but two of the other countries.
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From page 173... ...
pa ~ 'e ~ e ~ to - ~ o ~ .o 'e 'I Go c ~ c ~ Do oo r~ .o no ·o ~ em c ~ o o v a' · c~ .
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From page 174... ...
; cars, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (1989b) ; telephones, TV sets, Bureau of the Census (1989f)
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From page 175... ...
Expenditures on health care in the United States were almost 12 percent of GNP in 1989, a larger share than in any of the other countries, which spend an average of under 8 percent (Meyer and Moon, 1988J. The United States does well with respect to maternal mortality, but this is related to the fact that mortality rates are far lower for younger mothers (U.S.
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From page 176... ...
The long-term record is consistent with the view that generous social programs have not resulted in an inferior economic performance in the Western European countries compared with the United States. On the contrary, European nations appear to be catching up.
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From page 177... ...
The United States fares well on maternal mortality but very poorly on infant mortality and very slightly so on life expectancy. While cross-cultural comparisons must be made with caution, the extensive social programs provided by governments in Western Europe, including child care and parental leave, and the heavy tax burden they impose on employers and individuals appear to be compatible with vigorous and growing economies.
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From page 178... ...
178 WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE tries have been catching up with the United States and in some respects have even overtaken it. This conclusion does not imply that blind imitation of their approach is wise; it does suggest that there are models for the successful combination of higher levels of investment in programs supporting working families and healthy and vigorous private enterprise economies.
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