ABSTRACT
Dependency is part of the human condition and the need for welfare state services and provisions is related to that fact. Scandinavian research on divorce and measures on health and welfare indicates that Durkheim and Bernard's conclusions are still relevant in societies with a relatively high standing on indicators of gender equality. In order to improve social policy research on ordinary people's sentiments about the welfare system the evidence of two types of marriages should be taken into consideration. For women and young people the struggle for independence today seems therefore first and foremost to be a struggle for greater independence in relation to the family, not in relation to the welfare state. In wrestling with welfare bureaucracies many of the people most in need of help often do not get what they really want, rather, another interpretation of their needs. At the same time the most controlling services often are the only means of protecting victims of family violence.
