ABSTRACT
A welfare state attempts to create a social safety net and to attenuate social inequality. The development of the modern welfare state began at the end of the nineteenth century, when legal social security systems were introduced in several European countries. After WWII, an expansion of welfare state measures took place in Western countries. Initially, international comparative research worked with a convergence thesis, which assumed that social security would rise as a country’s economy grew (Wilensky 1975). Further research revealed that the degree of welfare state development was independent of economic growth to a certain degree. Several typologies have been developed to describe the differences among welfare states. Gösta Esping-Andersen (1990) developed the most well-known typology, which distinguishes between three welfare state models: the social democratic system (e.g. Sweden), the conservative (e.g. Germany and Italy) and the liberal (e.g. USA).1
