Social investment policy

Abstract

In recent years, in an up-and-coming manner, the notion of social investment has gained purchase in academic and policy circles as a novel welfare policy compass. Amid ageing societies, rising female employment, tightening labour markets and shifting cognitive orientations on the state’s role in the economy, policymakers and experts increasingly recognize the value of an effective welfare state as an asset for a productive economy. This encyclopedia contribution reviews origin, rationale, controversies and the politics of social investment reform as well as the growing importance of the European Union.