The imperative of social investment policy coherence

Today, there is widespread agreement about social investment imperatives for sustaining European welfare states. Nonetheless, there are a number of important caveats to make social investment happen on wider scale than just the more advanced welfare systems. Creating virtuous circles of participation and productivity, prevention, inclusion, and emancipation requires social investments to be, in the first place, mutually consistent, and in the second, sufficiently ambitious. In terms of mutual consistency, social investment strategies are really about coherent policy mixes. The social investment perspective is based on a life-chance/life-course perspective, and this suggests that policies can be effective only if the whole chain is maintained, from early childhood education and care to lifelong training and active ageing. Partial implementation may at best deliver partial success. High unemployment benefits of short duration, coupled to strong activation incentives and training obligations, if supported by vigorous active labour market policy services, are most successful in lowering unemployment and raising productivity. The disincentive effects of high replacement rates cannot be considered in isolation from employment protection legislation. Expanding childcare without taking into consideration labour market barriers to female employment can be extremely expensive. By the same token, raising the retirement age without opening up the job market for second careers and improving employment relations, is likely to generate few savings. Working mothers cannot profit from inclusive family services in dualized labour markets. Good practice policy mixes, moreover, are to be found in countries where lifelong learning, welfare-to-work programmes, activation, and other social services are provided by highly competent, client-friendly, and professional frontline personnel.