XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 15-21, 2018)

352

Social Investment Policies in a Life-Course Perspective. Part I

RC19 Sociology of Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy (host committee)

Language: English

Social investment policies have received much attention in academic and political debates, as they improve people’s skills and capabilities in order to prepare them to cope with the risks they are likely to encounter over their life course. International bodies such as the EU, OECD, World Bank and UNESCO promote social investment policies for this very reason. Increasing social risks arising from the pressures of post-industrialisation as well as globalisation can be expected to further contribute to the increasing relevance of social investments in welfare state reform. The proposed session aims to critically assess the opportunities but also the limits of social investment policies in the re-design of welfare states. Specifically we want to approach social investment policies from a life-course perspective as different life cycle stages (from childhood to adulthood) as well as life-course transitions (from education to employment to parenthood) present specific needs and challenges. The life-course perspective enables us better understand the complexity and changing nature of risks over the life cycle. We welcome comparative papers examining social investment policies, particularly across different regions of the world (e.g. Europe and East Asia), but we also consider single-country study. Indicative policy areas include education and training, active inclusion, and child and elder care.