1.Introduction
Before I start with the comparison of social investment policies and differences between the EU-member states, it is crucial to define what actually “Social investment” is and what kind of impact does it overall have. According to the European Commission, the Social investment is a specific approach “about investing in people. It means policies designed to strengthen people’s skills and capacities and support them to participate fully in employment and social life. Key policy areas include education, quality childcare, healthcare, training, job-search assistance and rehabilitation.” (European Commission, 2013).
Nowadays, in the 21st Century, in a time of dynamic globalization, the whole EU-community is experiencing two main issues, which are linked to the social policy – The economic Crisis and the demographic changes. Even before the Global financial crisis with starting point 2007-2009, The European Union had some similar challenges. Today the unemployment rates and the poverty in particular have reached new record highs. On the other hand the actively, working population of Europe is sinking, the level of older people is growing. This …show more content…
By definition there are two main categories of parties: “Left” and “Right”. Historically overviewed, the “Left”-wing parties tend to be more “working-class” based. They focus mainly on policy toward the lower classes, the low-income voters (progressive policy). Some examples for such parties are “Die Linke” in Germany , the democratin – socialist “Labour party” of Jeremy Corbyn in the United Kingdom and the “Socialist Party” in France. On the other side, “Right”-wing parties are focusing on employers and the “wealthy class”, wealthier voters (regressive policies) (Gingrich and Ansell, 2011:
Before I start with the comparison of social investment policies and differences between the EU-member states, it is crucial to define what actually “Social investment” is and what kind of impact does it overall have. According to the European Commission, the Social investment is a specific approach “about investing in people. It means policies designed to strengthen people’s skills and capacities and support them to participate fully in employment and social life. Key policy areas include education, quality childcare, healthcare, training, job-search assistance and rehabilitation.” (European Commission, 2013).
Nowadays, in the 21st Century, in a time of dynamic globalization, the whole EU-community is experiencing two main issues, which are linked to the social policy – The economic Crisis and the demographic changes. Even before the Global financial crisis with starting point 2007-2009, The European Union had some similar challenges. Today the unemployment rates and the poverty in particular have reached new record highs. On the other hand the actively, working population of Europe is sinking, the level of older people is growing. This …show more content…
By definition there are two main categories of parties: “Left” and “Right”. Historically overviewed, the “Left”-wing parties tend to be more “working-class” based. They focus mainly on policy toward the lower classes, the low-income voters (progressive policy). Some examples for such parties are “Die Linke” in Germany , the democratin – socialist “Labour party” of Jeremy Corbyn in the United Kingdom and the “Socialist Party” in France. On the other side, “Right”-wing parties are focusing on employers and the “wealthy class”, wealthier voters (regressive policies) (Gingrich and Ansell, 2011: