This report constitutes Deliverable 6.1 ‘National case study reports on social investment in basic service markets’, for Work Package x of the RE-InVEST project.

Portugal was submitted to Troika Memorandum of Understanding (2012-2014) and fiscal consolidation measures were implemented to achieve efficiency costs. Spending cuts in education, health system and social security were performed. The access to social benefits such as family allowance, social insertion income, unemployment benefits was making more difficult and stringent. In a context of social crisis the numbers of recipients as well as the amounts have been reduced and expenditure in social policies also decreased.

This report provides an overview of social investment for early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Europe in general and in eight of the RE-InVEST partner countries in particular - Belgium, England, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, and Scotland - employing a review of the literature, European-wide statistical analyses and two country case studies. Especially when it is high quality, ECEC has a great effect on the learning potential of all children. It is especially effective as a preventive (rather than curative) measure for disadvantaged children who risk getting stuck within the vicious cycle of intergenerational disadvantage and lower SES. It also enables paid work to be combined with parenthood and helps working mothers prevent career breaks.

This report examines trends in social investment in England following the financial crisis of 2007/8. The first section considers social investment in relation to four policy arenas: housing, financial services, early childhood education and care, and water. The second part of the report provides an overview of social investment and disinvestment trends in the healthcare system in England since the 1990s with a particular focus on mental health services. This section includes a detailed account of service users’ and professionals’ experiences of the impact of liberalisation and austerity measures on mental health service delivery drawing on qualitative data collection. Throughout the report we identify policy recommendations to address the effects and impacts of emergent trends towards social disinvestment and liberalisation of public services. This study is part of the wider pan-European RE-InVEST project to investigate the impact of the EU Social Investment package on marginalised groups since the 2007 crisis.