The Multidimensionality of Welfare State Attitudes: A European Cross-National Study

Abstract

When evaluating the various aspects of the welfare state, people assess some aspects more positively than others. Following a multidimensional approach, this study systematically argues for a framework composed of seven dimensions of the welfare state, which are subject to the opinions of the public. Using confirmatory factor analyses, this conceptual framework of multidimensional welfare attitudes was tested on cross-national data from 22 countries participating in the 2008 European Social Survey. According to our empirical analysis, attitudes towards the welfare state are multidimensional; in general, people are very positive about the welfare state’s goals and range, while simultaneously being critical of its efficiency, effectiveness and policy outcomes. We found that these dimensions relate to each other differently in different countries. Eastern/Southern Europeans combine a positive attitude towards the goals and role of government with a more critical attitude towards the welfare state’s efficiency and policy outcomes. In contrast, Western/Northern Europeans’ attitudes towards the various welfare state dimensions are based partly on a fundamentally positive or negative stance towards the welfare state.

Sophie's Choice

“…The independent variables are aligned with the hypotheses and with findings in previous studies, which have found them to be significant determinants of social attitudes concerning the role of government in social provision (Algan, Cahuc, and Sangnier 2011;Foster and Kaminska 2012;Roosma, Gelissen, and van Oorschot 2013;Schwander and Häusermann 2013), in redistribution (Jaeger 2009;León 2012;Stegmueller et al 2012), in government measures to promote equality, security, and opportunity (Taylor-Gooby 2011).…”

The weakest link in welfare state legitimacy: European perceptions of moral and administrative failure in the targeting of social benefits

“…These studies all find large proportions of populations perceiving overuse of welfare benefits (Ervasti, 1998(Ervasti, , 2012Goul Andersen, 1999;Halvorsen, 2002). In European comparative studies that analyze attitudes toward a broad range of welfare dimensions, perceived overuse is often standing in stark contrast to mostly positive perceptions of social programs and social rights (Roosma et al, 2012;Sihvo and Uusitalo, 1995a;Svallfors, 1991;Van Oorschot and Meuleman, 2011). Moreover, in studies in which overuse is analyzed as part of other critical welfare attitudes -for example, the bureaucracy of the welfare state or the idea that welfare makes people lazy -it often appears as the most problematic issue perceived by the public (Ervasti, 1998(Ervasti, , 2012Goul Andersen, 1999;Halvorsen, 2002).…”

“…Those studies invariably show that the European public is relatively critical of not only the performance and outcomes of welfare systems (especially in Southern and Eastern Europe) but also procedural justice: the European public tends to perceive that their countries' welfare systems have relatively high degrees of bureaucracy and low degrees of both efficiency and effectiveness (Roosma et al, 2012). More specifically, studies that examine critical attitudes toward the welfare state conclude that people are most critical about the mis-targeting of welfare benefits in terms of both the abuse and the non-take-up of benefits (Edlund, 1999;Ervasti, 1998Ervasti, , 2012Goul Andersen, 1999;Halvorsen, 2002).…”

“…the non-take-up of benefits). Several scholars find that attitudes toward overuse and underuse are only weakly related: a person's perception of the overuse of benefits does not say much about his or her perception of underuse (Ervasti, 2012;Roosma et al, 2012;Sihvo and Uusitalo, 1995a). Therefore, overuse and underuse perceptions do not seem to be complementary parts of one perceived concept of ineffective redistribution.…”

Post-communist financial and economic development: cluster analysis of selected countries

“…Roosma, J. Gelissen, and W. Oorschot, suggest that attitudes towards the dimensions differ between Western/ Northern and Eastern/Southern European welfare states [9,250]. In Western/Northern European countries, respondents are more positive towards the outcomes and efficiency of the welfare state than in Eastern/Southern European countries.…”