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No evidence that social-democratic welfare states equalize valued outcomes for individuals with disabilities

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  • Gugushvili, Alexi
  • Grue, Jan
  • Dokken, Therese
  • Finnvold, Jon Erik

Abstract

It is acknowledged that generous welfare states can provide better outcomes to their populations in terms of objective and subjective indicators of well-being, yet there is little comparative evidence of the role that the welfare state regime plays in lessening disability-based inequalities. Using a large comparative data set of most European societies, Tukey's honestly significant difference and generalized Hausman tests for six welfare state regimes, we examine the assumption that social-democratic countries perform better in mitigating disability-based inequalities than conservative, liberal, Southern, Eastern European, and the former Soviet Union welfare state regimes. We compare the valued outcomes for individuals with and without disabilities regarding their education, labour market participation, material well-being, and life satisfaction. The main finding of this study is that the most generous welfare states in Europe do not perform better, and in some cases, perform worse, than other less comprehensive welfare state regimes in closing the gap in valued outcomes between individuals with disabilities and the rest of the population. We discuss potential explanations of these inequalities such as the nature of expectations and changing characteristics of welfare state regimes, and difficulties related to measuring disabilities across European societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Gugushvili, Alexi & Grue, Jan & Dokken, Therese & Finnvold, Jon Erik, 2023. "No evidence that social-democratic welfare states equalize valued outcomes for individuals with disabilities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 339(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:339:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623007189
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116361
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cretien Campen & Marc Santvoort, 2013. "Explaining Low Subjective Well-Being of Persons with Disabilities in Europe: The Impact of Disability, Personal Resources, Participation and Socio-Economic Status," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 839-854, May.
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    1. Gugushvili, Alexi & Grue, Jan & Finnvold, Jon Erik, 2025. "The effect of anti-discrimination legislation on individuals with disabilities in Nordic countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 383(C).

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