Arguments for Welfare: The Welfare State and Social Policy

This book makes the case for the welfare state. Nearly every government in the developed world offers some form of social protection, and measures to improve the social and economic well-being of its citizens. However, the provision of welfare is under attack. The critics argue that welfare states are illegitimate, that things are best left to the market, and that welfare has bad effects on the people who receive it. If we need to be reminded why we ought to have welfare, it is because so many people have come think that we should not. This chapter presents 26 reasons for the provision of welfare. The file for this record represents only a sample chapter from the whole work, which is available for purchase from the publisher.