Sozialhilfe in Schweden und Deutschland

Uwe Schwarze presents a comparative empirical study on social assistance and social administration of two major European welfare state models. The focus is on the recent reforms carried out under the banner of activating social policy, both at the national and municipal levels. In a comparison of cities, the author analyzes the interface between an activating labor market policy, municipal administrative reform, and the development of personalized social services. As a result, he identifies specific variants of life course policy for Sweden and Germany and provides extensive material for comparative learning in the current welfare state debate.