Understanding Bismarck’s legacy

This article examines the role that work history plays in income replacement social security benefits in Belgium. The central premise is that, due to the Bismarckian origins of Belgian social security, work history is a concept that is structurally at the core of this system. However, the fact that this element is, from a legal perspective, considered to be self-evident and a prerequisite for the functioning of social security, should not preclude us from exploring its contingent nature. The article argues that the way in which work history is expressed in the laws governing different social security benefits can sometimes create or perpetuate a certain state of affairs, based on an underlying value judgement. In this sense, work history supersedes the mere technical or neutral character that can be attributed to it, and in fact functions as an implicit or explicit policy tool to help model social security in a particular way

Economics · Epistemology · Judgement · Law and economics · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Positive economics · Premise · Social security · Sociology · State (computer science · Work (physics · Computer Science · Employment and Welfare Studies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies

• It's all About the Money? Legal Pitfalls of Extending Social Protection to Unpaid (or Poorly Paid) Trainees

  Open Access•Amaury Mechelynck•European Journal of Social Security•2026

  Incluir item

• Live-in care workers for older persons

  Sylvia Hoen, Rose-Lima Van Keer et al.•International Journal of Care and…•2025

  Incluir item

• Continental Welfare at a Crossroads

  Open Access•Anton Hemerijck, Ive Marx•A Long Goodbye to Bismarck?•2010

  Incluir item

• Bismarck and the social question

  Open Access•Marcel van Meerhaeghe, Jürgen Backhaus•Journal of Economic Studies•2006

  Incluir item

• New Risks and Social Change

  Peter Taylor-Gooby•New risks, new welfare•2004

  Incluir item

• Origins of the German Welfare State

  Open Access•Michael Stolleis•Origins of the German Welfare State•2013

  Incluir item

• Institutional Solutions to Precariousness and Inequality in Labour Markets

  Open Access•Zoe Adams, Z O E ADAMS et al.•British Journal of Industrial…•2014

  Incluir item

• Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies

  G Esping-Andersen•Social foundations of postindustria…•1999

  Incluir item

• The EU social pillar

  Open Access•Paul Schoukens, Alberto Barrio et al.•European Journal of Social Security•2018

  Incluir item

• What Adult Worker Model? A Critical Look at Recent Social Policy Reform in Europe from a Gender and Family Perspective

  M Daly, Mary E Daly•Social Politics International…•2011

  Incluir item

• The Decline of the Male Breadwinner Model

  Jane Lewis•Social Politics International…•2001

  Incluir item

• Lisbon and social Europe

  Open Access•Claire Annesley•Journal of European Social Policy•2007

  Incluir item

• Online, on call

  Open Access•Ursula Huws, Neil H Spencer et al.•New Technology Work and Employment•2018

  Incluir item

• Financing social security out of contributions

  Open Access•Wolfgang Scholz•International Social Security…•2015

  Incluir item

• Polarisation of Non-standard Employment in Europe

  Open Access•Jeroen Horemans•Social Indicators Research•2014

  Incluir item

• A long goodbye to Bismarck

  Bruno Palier•A long goodbye to Bismarck?•2010

  Incluir item

• Globalization and Labour in the Twenty-First Century

  Open Access•Verity Burgmann•Globalization and Labour in the…•2016

  Incluir item

• Maternal Employment

  Open Access•Giulia M Dotti Sani, Scherer et al.•Work Employment and Society•2018

  Incluir item

• The adult worker model family, gender equality and care

  Jane Lewis, Susanna Giullari•Economy and Society•2005

  Incluir item

• Flexicurity in Bismarckian Countries? Old Age Protection for Non-standard Workers in Belgium

  Open Access•Hans Peeters, J H M Peeters et al.•Journal of Social Policy•2008

  Incluir item