ABSTRACT
In society today, there is much discussion about the ‘welfare state’. When citizens discuss the ‘welfare state’ there is a shared understanding of what the term actually means. This is rather surprising, as this term is a relatively recent arrival within our cultural terminology. In fact, according to DC March, the term ‘welfare state’ only started to be used in the 1930s and was not found in print until 1941 (The Welfare State, 1970). This development of a term to symbolise a system of government or a culture of government in which the state has assumed responsibility for the provision of benefits is significant for a number of reasons. Most significantly, when a single umbrella term is used to represent
large and diverse areas of social policy, it can allow politicians to make many minor alterations, or substantial changes, whilst still being able to claim that the ‘welfare state is safe’.
