What Is the Welfare State For?

Most states in the world make some provision for the welfare of their citizens. Every state engages with health care provision, almost all provide education services, and, after an explosion of interest in recent years, a substantial majority now have national schemes in place for cash assistance.

Welfare states matter for people’s lives – but there is little agreement about what one is. What are these states trying to do, and why? The book discusses the institutions and methods that characterise welfare states around the world. It focuses on the aims, purposes and justifications for social welfare services in order to explain what the welfare state is for.

"A great introduction to the historical–philosophical underpinnings, moral–theoretical fundaments and overall functions–purposes of the welfare state!" Christian Aspalter, Beijing Normal University & Hong Kong Baptist University United International College

“Concise and superbly written, this excellent book is must read for anyone who wants to understand the welfare state.” Daniel Béland, McGill University

"A brilliant critical contribution and powerful overview about how we got here and what is at stake .... obligatory reading for those of us who align our work with the Global South through the prism of human rights, and the struggles of migrants and indigenous peoples in Latin America and beyond." Camilo Perez-Bustillo, Saint Mary’s College of California

“This book provides insights into the diversity of moral principles and methods of welfare states across the globe.” Lutz Leisering, Bielefeld University

1. What is a welfare state?

2. What has government got to do with it?

3. The aims of social welfare policies

4. The case for welfare

5. Universal and communitarian perspectives

6. The welfare state and the market

7. Some challenges for the welfare state

8. The welfare states: past, present and future