A cross-country comparative analysis of the adult social care sector

SPS Seminar
16 June 2022, h. 11.00 
SPS Seminar Room (Passione side)
and on MS TEAMS https://bit.ly/3tnSHqv 

Speaker: Stefania Marino   University of Manchester
Discussant: Gabriele Ballarino    Univerity of Milan

Abstract
This paper contributes to the theoretical understanding of institutions as fundamental in shaping the demand for migrant labour by investigating labour market regulation as possible explanation for cross-country differences in labour market segmentation and the presence of migrant workers. It compares the adult social care sector in the UK and the Netherlands with important cross-country differences in the reliance on migrant labour amid similar cost saving policies and marketization drives. The analysis draws on qualitative data collected between 2009 and 2019 and consisting of policy documents, interviews with relevant actors, and observations during trade unions and care workers’ meetings. The findings highlight the importance of path-dependent features of the national industrial relations systems in explaining observed differences but also how the specific nature of the regulatory outcomes depends on unions’ strategies and power.

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