Oral Presentations

Today, let’s tale about the sustainability of European welfare state.
I have divided my presentation into 4 parts. Firstly the rationale of this presentation will be given. Secondly, I will introduce the findings of what factors influence the sustainability of European welfare state. And it include… after a conclusion of these factors. I will talk about what I have learnt from the research process and the limitations need to improve.
Some researcher argue that economic globalization is the most important factor causing the plight of European welfare state. And analyse this factor from two aspects, political and economic.
Politically, because of the higher social welfare spending, the common sense formed between different parties no longer exists. Conservatism still believes that well-developed welfare system is the foundation of a fair and decent society, while the liberal argues that the welfare system is the enemy of enterprise and economic development, they also advocate the cut of welfare spending. Though welfare-cutting policies have lots of benefits, it cannot get the support of citizens. So, in order to get votes, avoid dissatisfying people, the policies cannot be conducted and the conflicts between welfare and economic development cannot be solved.
Economically, from the view of product and service globalization, it is likely to cause the social dumping. There is no advantage for western countries’ products to compete with cheaper products from oversea countries. Secondly, capital globalization will affect European countries’ tax sources. Big companies tend to invest in some places with lower tax around the world. The European countries have to attract investment by lower tax. Thirdly, the labor globalization directly influence the social redistribution. People come to developed European countries for jobs, so local people are at a higher risk of losing their jobs.
And then some other researchers argue that aging population is the most important factor. The pensions for old people constitute the biggest piece of welfare expenditure and the second largest expenditure is health care. More than 50% of the welfare spending is used in these two components. Meanwhile, the old over 65 years old account for more than 15% of European population and will increase to 20% by 2025. Because of the population aging tendency, the labour market suffer a labour shortage. The teenagers have to undertake more responsibility for the elderly. Moreover, unemployment rate, medical expense and security costs are all related to demographic factors. As a result, with more old people relying on social grants, welfare states will undertake larger financial pressure.
And then some researcher questioned the aging population is only one part of the welfare system, changes of family structure is also a serious threat. There are three main changes. A growing number of women entering labour market will lead to a rise of unemployment rate and and increase maternity-leaving cost and the baby-raising welfare. Secondly, cultural concept’s change and birth control technology’s progress leads to a sharp decline in fertility rate. Moreover, In the past 30 years, the growing number of divorce increases the proportion of single-parent families. And these families tend to be less competitive in labor market, they need the national welfare system to provide necessary security. These changes weaken the family safeguard function and force welfare states to undertake more responsibilities.
In conclusion, the plight of the welfare state is not caused by any single issue, but a mixture of external factors like economic globalization and internal factors such as aging population and family structure’s change.
I have learnt a lot from the research process. Firstly, of course the content of my research. It is my major-related topic, I have learn more economic knowledge. Culture. Secondly, I learnt how to prepare a presentation, I need to fully understand my topic and select some most convincing points to express my opinions. Thirdly, I learnt how to organize a representation, it must be clear, well-organized, and better understood. To do this, it should include some essential points like purpose, findings and so on.
Now, I have to say my presentation still have some limitations, It does not include too much data, and focus on the influential factors, did not mentioned the solutions. I am still a little stressed My pronunciation still need to improve.
In the future, for the content of presentation, I should use more data and try to be more specific. And for the way I introduce them, I need to be more confident when expressing my ideas. And match more natural gestures. I should also practice my pronunciation more.

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