Book Review: Converging Worlds of Welfare? British and German Social Policy in the 21st Century
| Author | Mara A. Yerkes |
| DOI | 10.1177/138826271201400207 |
| Published date | 01 June 2012 |
| Date | 01 June 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book Reviews
European Jour nal of Social Secu rity, Volume 14 (2012), No. 2 151
capacity, or occupational capacity, and the need for a more harmonised u nderstanding
of the concept of ‘incapacity to work ’ under European law. e di erences between the
four countries with regard to incentives to return to work are striking. In Germany,
bene ts are reduced if earnings excee d a certain threshold in order to protect par tially
disabled employees. In the Netherla nds, on the other hand, all nancia l incentives are
aimed at increasing t he return to work. Moreover, employers in the Netherlands are
faced with strong obligations regarding the re-employment of their sick employees.
ere are also obligations on Swedish employers, while employers in Germany and
the UK have no obligations in thi s respect; there are just incentives.
e book Too S ic k to Work provides the reader with a solid overview of the
di erences in d isability strategies between t he four countries, and notes the pressure
from the European Commission to deliver uniformity. However, that is as far as the
book goes. Devetzi and Stendahl do not provide the reader with much direction on
how to reconcile these di erences with one another, by discussing, for example, the
opportunit ies o ered by the EU’s commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities, which entered into force for the European Union on
22January 2011.
Els Sol
University of Amsterdam
e Netherland s
Dr. C.C.A.M. (Els) Sol is an associate professor at the Amsterdam Institute for
Advanced Labour Studies and the Hugo Sinzheimer Institute in the Faculty of Law,
both at the University of Amsterdam. Her areas of expertise are labour market
policies, social se curity and exible work forms. In addition to teaching, Dr. Sol leads
and coordinates a number of major (international) research projects.
Jochen Clasen (ed.) Converging Worlds of Welfare? British and German Social Policy
in the 21st Century, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, 337 pp., ISBN 978–0-
19–958449–9.
is edited volume by Clasen o ers an in-depth comparison of social policy
developments in Britain and Germany. is comprehensive assessment of social
policies in two countries is exemplary for those wishing to undertake comparative
research and would be essentia l reading for students of social policy as well as
researchers and academics. e book excels at o ering detailed investigations of
social policy de velopments, employing a variety of research methods a nd approaches.
e book outlines how each of the two countries approaches social protection in
distinct ways, wh ich re ect their national di erences. Historically, German social
policy has focused on a rmi ng status di erences, while British social policy, in
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