As we have seen in Chapter 2, comparing attempts at benefit extension for the unemployed (via residualisation) in the French and Italian cases brought a number of key features to the fore: namely, the prevalence of informal work, limited administrative capacity, and the centrality of the family in the Italian welfare state. The obvious next question is whether and to what extent these findings are applicable in a broader setting. This chapter takes a first cut at this question by looking at a set of broadly similar countries, coupling an examination of policy trajectories with a discussion of public opinion.

We begin by laying out developments in six other Continental and Southern European countries: respectively, Austria, Belgium, and Germany; and Greece, Portugal, and Spain. In doing so, we highlight the similarities and differences across policy trajectories in these countries, with a particular focus on whether they mirror their French and Italian counterparts. This qualitative assessment of generalisability will serve to complement the quantitative approach undertaken in the next chapter. A number of considerations highlight the value of providing a cursory overview of additional cases. At a broad level, the goal is clearly to determine the extent to which our two central cases can be taken as indicative of broader trends – but this has different implications for the French and Italian cases.

With France, which was a clear laggard among Continental welfare states in extending benefit coverage for persons not covered by unemployment insurance, we are left wondering about earlier moves to extend benefit coverage. Did other Continental countries undergo similar reforms earlier on, driven by similar factors? Or did the other countries follow entirely different trajectories? With regard to Italy, given our broader focus on benefit extension, the discussion of Italian failure to reform is in a certain sense dissatisfying on its own. How did other Southern European countries, faced with similar status quo pressures, overcome these obstacles to reform? What distinguishes late reformers from early ones, and countries that have extended benefits from those that have not? The case studies will attempt to provide some answers to these questions. However, as we shall see, while the Continental European cases can highlight different policy trajectories in addressing the issues related to benefit standardisation and universalisation, the Southern European cases offer more analytical leverage vis-à-vis generalisation.