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The dog that didn't bark: economic development and the postwar welfare state

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2009

Francis G. Castles
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Abstract

This paper focuses on the linkages between postwar economic and social policy development. Examining the relationship between affluence and levels of welfare over the period as a whole reveals a tendency for social expenditure effort to be higher in moderately affluent then in extremely affluent nations. Turning to the question of how economic growth impacted on welfare expansion in the early postwar decades, the paper argues that growth was a necessary, rather than a sufficient, condition of welfare development. Finally, analysis of the era of welfare containment suggests that domestic economic performance has been the main factor conditioning expenditure change

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Type
Focus: The future of the Welfare State
Information
European Review , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , July 2000, pp. 313 - 332
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 2000

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