Welfare Services in Flemish Municipalities: Measuring and Explaining Local Governance Regimes

Abstract: In many countries, as in Belgium, welfare services are provided by either local governmental, private nonprofit, or private commercial organizations. Next to that, welfare service delivery is often embedded in local communities. In this article we measure the prevalence of these three types of organizations at the local level, for the policy areas of child care and elderly care. Through the theoretical lenses of demand-side, supply-side and social origins theories, we also try to find an explanation for this relative prevalence. The results we present can be helpful in defining the limits local governments face in coordinating the heterogeneous field of welfare service deliverers in their local community, a role they have to play since the new Flemish Decree on Local Social Policy.

Keywords: Local social policy in Flanders, Public/Nonprofit/Commercial organizations, Child care, Elderly care