The Heterogeneity Politics of the Welfare State: Changing Population Heterogeneity and Welfare State Policies in High‐Income OECD Countries, 1980‐2005

Abstract

Whether and how developments and changes in welfare state policies are related with population heterogeneity has been a subject of contention. This article examines this relationship using data on welfare state provisions and practices, and ethno-racial, religious, and immigration heterogeneity, from 17 high-income Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries between 1980 and Findings suggest that while religious diversity lacks a systematic association with welfare state policies, the relationship of ethno-racial and especially immigration diversity bifurcates between welfare state decommodification and expenditures. The welfare state expenditure-increasing and welfare-state-provision-decreasing roles of immigration, in particular, provide important insights into why welfare state policies may have been limited in some countries and lately scaled back in others.

How much do social protections matter to poverty and inequality? An insight from Asian experiences

“…The experiences, for example, may vary widely across the different cross-sections in Asia by regionality, population, capacity constraints, or other political economy structures. Studies have found many factors including GDP, unemployment, trade, democracy, and demographic composition to help disentangle the roles of social protection policies by affecting opportunities, employment, and incomes (Alesina and Glaeser, 2004; Brady, 2009; Brady et al, 2005; Korpi and Palme, 1998; Pierson, 2001; Wagle, 2013a, 2013b). The impact of time is also important given the evolving context of social protection policies in low- and middle-income countries.…”

“…Missing from this process is the ‘social contract’ that brings citizens and states together for an institutional path to address social risks, vulnerabilities, and inequality through a coordinated system of transfer. The experience of more established welfare states shows that a sustainable system of social protection is possible primarily through universal and redistributive policies operationalizing the ‘social rights of citizenship’ (Esping-Andersen, 1990, 1999; Marshall, 1964; United Nations Research Institute for Social Development [UNRISD], 2010; Wagle, 2013a, 2013b).…”