ABSTRACT
Underlying the interest in welfare state programmes and cross-national variations in the pattern, size and structure of various social policies, is that we regard the welfare state as an institution exerting great influence on our lives and well-being. A further assumption is that this impact differs between individuals and social categories, and accordingly that the degree of inequality in the distribution of societal goods and resources has scope to be affected. Hence, in so far as there is crossnational variation in these programmes, ‘outcome’ inequality may systematically vary between nations.
