French Welfare State Reform

Through a historical and comparative analysis of French, Swedish, New Zealand and Dutch case studies, ‘French Welfare State Reform’ explores the political and economic sustainability of the of the welfare state. This book explores an important, emergent issue: what types of reforms are required to enable welfare states to preserve sustainability? For the purpose of this study, a sustainable welfare state is one that can remain the guarantor against social risks and adverse economic trends for all segments of their respective societies and satisfy sound fiscal criteria (such as the Maastricht requirement for all members of the EMU that their fiscal budget deficit does not exceed 3% of the GDP), without imposing considerable financial burdens on future generations.