Welfare State Models

Describe, compare and contrast different models of welfare states

Before going into depth about different models of welfare states, it is important to define what exactly a welfare state is and what it means. ‘Welfare state denotes a democratic state that, in accordance with its constitution, not only guarantees basic rights and personal and economic freedoms (stated under the rule of law), but also takes legal, financial and material measures to equalise social differences and tensions (up to a point). The principle of the welfare state to that extent is related to the goal of justice under the rule of law and is laid down in Articles 20 and 28 of the Basic Law’. (Petring et al, 2012).

Worldwide, there are many different varieties and models

The 3 different models of welfare states are in many aspects, greatly different to each other. They each promote different ideologies of how much interference and input the government should have in the welfare of their people, what constitutes as fair and equal and how much do people need in order to sustain comfortable and tolerable lives. These different models have diverse historical backgrounds, derivations and functions and this essay will delve into these.

The first model of the welfare state which will be discussed in this essay is the ‘Liberal Welfare State’. The most obvious example where this model is used is the United States of America (USA). The USA has not got a unified welfare system. Comparing the USA to other countries, it is clear that the central government has, in recent history, had little influence in social welfare provision. The main developments of the social welfare provisions were during the Roosevelt administration in the 1930’s. This administration effectively laid down the foundations and basis for the social security system in existence in the United States today (Spicker,

The example of this which will be used in this essay, alongside the most well functioning example is Sweden. Many people see the ‘Social Democratic Welfare state’ model used in Sweden as the most ‘idealistic model’. Many people and nations look up to Sweden for their top-quality healthcare and education systems as there are known worldwide for being some of the best and most efficient. Sweden has the highest level of spending on social protection in the OECD, as well as the lowest proportion of income left to independent households - less than half its national income (Spicker, 2017). This model provides excellent comprehensive government funded primary and second level education alongside very high levels of social housing. This model also provides high subsidies for all types of housing and rent schemes. The ‘Social Democratic Welfare state’ in Sweden also provides for an excellent standard universal public healthcare and childcare. Most importantly, this model further allows for high employment levels, which reached 68.10% as of last year. (Trading economics, 2017), some of the highest