Abstract:

The concept of care has gone beyond being a issue attributed to the private sphere in line with the social service policies undertaken by the modern welfare state since its emergence and its scope has been discussed in a wider framework covering the public sphere. The inclusion of the concept of care in welfare regime analyses is important in terms of how care responsibilities are shared between the state, the market and the family in society and how this sharing affects the social and economic relations of the society. In line with the transformation in the welfare system with the economic, social and demographic developments since the 1970s, the family institution’s efficiency, which has traditionally played an active role in welfare provision, especially in care services, has started to decrease. Thus, with the loss of functionality of the "familialism" principle, which is explicitly or implicitly accepted in most of the European welfare states, various reforms in care policies have been brought to the agenda. These reforms are shaped in line with the economic conditions of the countries and especially the situation in the labour markets within the framework of the characteristics of welfare regimes. The aim of this study is to present the reforms in care policies on the axis of the conservative welfare regime through the examples of Germany, France and Belgium which are thought to have the general characteristics of this regime. The evaluation shows that care policies in these countries in the post-1980 period have been implemented for similar purposes as a result of similar stimuli in two main periods: (i) 1980-2000 and (ii) 2000 and beyond. Finally, the study tried to draw a general policy framework for care in the last decade in Turkey and highlight different and similar spots in the conservative welfare regime.

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