The horizontal ‘re-mix’ in social care : trends and implications for service provision

Abstract

This chapter re-conceptualises the notion of ‘welfare mixes’ in social care and addresses the main changes taking place in European countries. First, we provide a typology of care provision modes that refines the so-called ‘welfare diamond’ (Jenson, 2013) and we discuss the theoretical implications of welfare mixes, which originally set out to promote equality and partnership among different providers, striving for user-centred and universal social services. However, reviewing the changes that have been introduced over the past few decades, we detect a tendency whereby re-mixes accentuate social inequalities between lower and higher income groups due to increased fragmentation and marketisation, which threatens equality among service providers and universal provision.