Class 8:

welfare states- definition

A societal regime in some rich, capitalistic parliamentary countries, through which basic social rights of citizens are guaranteed by an institutional, legal framework.

•High standard of living

•Social rights

•Free market capitalism

•Democratic corporatism

•Parliamentary reforms

•Nation states (tension with Europe and globalisation)

welfare states- conceptualisation

• Narrow approach: Focuses mainly on income transfers and social security to reduce inequality.

• Broad approach: Looks beyond income, addressing how labor markets, education, family life, and other social structures are organized.

• Welfare state regimes: The interaction between the state, market, and family shapes social policies and outcomes.

three worlds of welfare capitalism

• Social rights and de-commodification: The degree to which people’s well-being depends on selling their labor in the market. High dependence means high commodification.

• De-commodification: The extent to which individuals can maintain their living standards independently of market forces.

• Three ideal types of welfare state regimes:

  • Liberal: Emphasizes means-tested assistance and market reliance.

  • Conservative/Continental: Focuses on preserving status and family roles, with moderate de-commodification.

  • Social Democratic: Offers universal benefits and high de-commodification, promoting equality and social rights.

Liberal welfare state regimes

• Values individualism, hard work, and free markets—common in Anglo-Saxon countries.

• Characterized by low decommodification and high inequality.

• Social welfare is limited: restricted social rights with mostly flat-rate and means-tested benefits, often targeting very low-income groups (sometimes stigmatizing).

• Supports private insurance both actively (through regulation and transparency) and passively (expecting middle classes to fund their own).

• Labor market policies emphasize low minimum wages, flexibility, deregulation, and weak unions.

• Examples: UK, USA, Canada, Australia.

• Closely aligned with neoliberal ideology, promoting the belief that markets will improve life.

conservative welfare state regimes

• Aims to preserve the status quo, class hierarchy, and traditional gender and family roles.

• Features medium levels of decommodification and inequality.

• Organized around corporatism with different social programs for various occupational groups, offering earnings-related benefits and decent social rights.

• Limited role for free markets and private insurance.

• Focuses on families rather than individuals, reflecting a male breadwinner model, which creates biases based on status and gender.

• Labor market policies include decent minimum wages, strong unions, and passive employment support (providing benefits but expecting individuals to find jobs).

• Typical in countries like Germany, Italy, and France.

social democratic welfare state regimes.

• Ideals: social and gender equality, and full employment.

• Features high decommodification and low inequality.

• Offers extended and universal social security: one universal system with earnings-related benefits.

• Limits the role of free markets and private insurance.

• Socializes family duties, supporting a dual-earner model and focusing more on individuals than families.

• Labor market policies include active employment and unemployment measures, public employment programs, and strong unions.

• Typical examples: Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

link with social stratification

Welfare state regimes function as systems of social stratification with distinct patterns:

• Liberal regimes tend to produce social dualism, creating clear divisions between social groups.

• Conservative regimes often reproduce existing class and gender inequalities through their policies.

• Social-democratic regimes also reproduce income inequality, mainly because many benefits are earnings-based.

Despite these differences, the regimes vary significantly in their overall levels of inequality and social stratification.

criticism on Esping- Andersen

• It focuses too much on social benefits and pays insufficient attention to social services.

• The empirical analysis is limited to only a few countries.

• The model includes only three welfare capitalism types, overlooking others such as:

  • South European welfare models,

  • Post-communist regimes (which were expected to become conservative but did not),

  • Confucian welfare types found in East Asia.

welfare regimes or programs?

Welfare state regimes are ideal types used to categorize social policies. In reality, each country blends elements from the three main regime types. Social policy and social security systems are constantly evolving and adapting over time.

Policy Issues: Elective or Universal? Flat-rate or Earnings-related?

Social policy faces key questions:

• Should benefits be targeted selectively to the poor, or provided universally to everyone?

• Should benefits be flat-rate (the same amount for all recipients) or linked to earnings (varying based on previous income)?

Policy Issues: Pro Selectivity and Flat-Rate Benefits

• Pro Selectivity:
  Efficient use of limited budgets by targeting those in need; avoids giving money to non-poor groups; enhances the visibility and public support for social policies.

• Pro Flat-Rate Benefits:
  Provides strong incentives to work; avoids reproducing existing inequalities that earnings-related benefits may reinforce.

Policy Issues: Pro Universalism and Earnings-Related Benefits

• Private market insurances tend to increase social inequality.

• Benefits that are too low push people to accept inadequate jobs too quickly.

• Universal and earnings-related benefits are less stigmatizing.

• Such benefits boost popular support for social security and, in turn, support for social taxes.

the paradox of redistribution

“The more benefits are targeted only at the poor, and the more focus there is on creating equality through equal public transfers to everyone, the less effective we are at reducing poverty and inequality.”

This means broad, universal benefits often do better at fighting poverty and inequality than narrowly targeted programs.

Matthew effect

“Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

This means that higher-income groups tend to benefit more from social benefits and services than lower-income groups, reinforcing existing inequalities.

universal basic income

A universal basic income is a regular cash payment made by the government to all individuals, regardless of their income or employment status, without any means testing or work requirements.

basic income- support from the right

UBI encourages entrepreneurship by providing a financial safety net, allowing people to take risks like starting new businesses without fear of losing basic support.

basic income- critique from the left

UBI may weaken trade unions and workers’ collective power, potentially reinforcing capitalist structures rather than challenging them.

basic income, what is it?

• Paid in cash, not in kind —> pure money, not social security benefits.

• Provided regularly, on a consistent schedule.

• Funded and implemented by a political community (usually a nation-state).

• Given to all members of that community, individually.

• Without means testing — everyone gets the same flat rate, reducing bureaucracy.

• No requirement to work or fulfill conditions to receive it.