The Welfare State

Vani Borooah

Chapter 11 in Growth, Unemployment, Distribution and Government, 1996, pp 93-102 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The term ‘Welfare State’ or ‘welfare system’ usually refers to the activities of the state in five areas: social security, health, education, housing and personal social services. The size of a country’s welfare system is measured by the total amount that the government spends on these areas (‘welfare spending’!) expressed as a percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP). Most countries spend on welfare in order to achieve certain common objectives. Differences between countries in the size of their welfare systems, in the arrangements for administering such a system and in the manner by which welfare services are provided, then reflect differences in the extent to which (and the manner in which) they wish to pursue such objectives, not to differences in the objectives per se.

Keywords: Gross Domestic Product; Private Insurance; Moral Hazard; Welfare System; State Pension (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-37300-6_11

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230373006_11

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