This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Google Scholar Articles by Knijn, T. Articles by van Oorschot, W. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

The Need for and the Societal Legitimacy of Social Investments in Children and Their Families: Critical Reflections on the Dutch Case

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: T.Knijn{at}fss.uu.nl.

	Abstract

In Europe, social investments on behalf of children have become an important issue in social policy. In the Dutch welfare state debate, however, the issue has only a modest place, which raises questions about whether an extension of existing arrangements would be necessary and what its societal legitimacy would be. This article discusses the first question by putting the Dutch situation and its policies into an international context. The second question is answered by an analysis of a public opinion survey on Dutch popular preferences for new child care and parental leave arrangements. The article concludes that extra social investments in children would be beneficial for the future of the Dutch welfare state but that their societal legitimacy is not that obvious, given the division in public opinion. The analysis shows that self-interest does play a role but that ideas about the importance of children, for society and for peoples’ personal lives, and ideas about the well-being of children are more important.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?