Welfare and Old Age in Europe and North America:
The Development of Social Insurance
Editor: Bernard Harris
Perspectives in Economic and Social History
978 1 84893 189 3: 234x256mm: £60.00/$99.00
978 1 84893 190 9
Over the last twenty years, historians have become increasingly interested in the role of non-state organizations in the development of welfare services. This study is particularly focused on the role of friendly societies and other insurance bodies in the provision of aid for the elderly and the sick. Essays examine the origins and development of welfare both in Europe and America, and concentrate on the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They consider the relationship between the commercial sector and the state, and examine some of the ways in which these organizations continue to contribute to welfare provision. The volume will be relevant not just to historians, but also to policy makers involved in healthcare today.
Readership
History of Medicine, Social History and Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Studies
Contents
1 The origins and development of mutual health insurance in Europe and America – Bernard Harris
2 Coalminers, accidents and insurance in late-19th century England – John Benson
3 German Knappschaften, 1854-1923: The costs and benefits of size – Timothy W Guinnane, Tobias Jopp and Jochen Streb
4 A new welfare system: the friendly societies in the eastern Lombardy from 1860 to 1914 – Paolo Tedeschi
5 Economic growth and demand for social coverage in Spain: the role of friendly societies (1870-1942) – Jerňnia Pons Pons and Margarita Vilar Rodriguez
6 Sickness insurance and welfare reform in England and Wales, 1870–1914 – Bernard Harris, Martin Gorsky, Aravinda Guntupalli and Andrew Hinde
7 From Sickness to Death: The Financial Viability of the English Friendly Societies and Coming of the Old Age Pensions Act, 1875–1908 – Nicholas Broten
8 'Un-American' or unnecessary? The adequacy of voluntary sickness insurance arrangements and American rejection of compulsory government health insurance before 1930 – J C Herbert Emery
9 Medical assistance provided by La Conciliación, a Pamplona mutual assistance association (1902-84) – Pilar León-Sanz
10 Statutory health insurance, sickness funds and the development of private health insurance in the Netherlands, 1940-2006 – Robert A A Vonk
11 Belgian health insurance – Daničle Rigter
Reviews
'This excellent collection shows how workers of all skill levels across Europe and North America formed sophisticated insurance operations that influence the way we insure against these same risks today. The authors provide insightful analyses from a variety of cultures. To see the impressive variety of mutual arrangements, clearly presented and carefully analyzed, there is no better place to start than this important book.' John E Murray, Rhodes College