Inequalities in Eligibility for Social Care: An International Context

The issue of eligibility in social care systems has been the subject of extensive
scholarly debate, particularly with reference to advanced industrialized countries
and their welfare regimes. Our main research question was to consider how eligibility for social services is regarded in three countries (the UK, Finland and
Russia) and whether experts and authorities in these countries share similar notions when discussing the concept and criteria of eligibility. Eligibility issues are
of interest as they can clearly highlight differences in varying regimes of social
welfare. While the social-democratic regime is built on the basis of maximum
eligibility for social services, the neoliberal regime is based on addressing the demand for social services. Different actors are interested in different schemes of
eligibility. On the one hand, citizens are interested in broader eligibility. On
the other hand, business seeks to reduce the tax burden as much as possible.
The state stands between these two powerful actors and is motivated by the somewhat conflicting desires to reduce public spending while simultaneously bolstering its legitimacy and retaining the support of the electorate.