Social Investment as a Perspective on Welfare State Transformation in Europe

The intense debate on welfare state transformation concerns as much the interpretation of past developments as it does the direction in which European welfare states should evolve in the future. Within this debate, the idea of “social investment” (SI) as a framework to understand and design welfare state change has gained particular prominence. The SI perspective stresses that social expenditure, far from being purely a cost factor and thus a burden on economic competitiveness, can increase economic efficiency while at the same time fostering equality and social inclusion.