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Wealth and Welfare States: Is America a Laggard or Leader?

Author

Listed:
  • Garfinkel, Irwin

    (Mitchell I. Ginsberg Professor of Contemporary Urban Problems, Columbia University School of Social Work)

  • Rainwater, Lee

    (Professor of Sociology Emeritus, Harvard University)

  • Smeeding, Timothy

    (Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Abstract

This book explores the role of the welfare state in the overall wealth and wellbeing of nations and in particular looks at the American welfare state in comparison with other developed nations in Europe and elsewhere. It is widely believed that the welfare state undermines productivity and economic growth, that the United States has an unusually small welfare state, and that it is, and always has been, a welfare state laggard. This book shows that all rich nations, including the United States, have large welfare states because the socialized programs that comprise the welfare state-public education and health and social insurance--enhance the productivity of capitalism. In public education, the most productive part of the welfare state, for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States was a leader. Though few would argue that public education is not part of the welfare state, most previous cross national analyses of welfare states have omitted education. Including education has profound consequences, undergirding the case for the productivity of welfare state programs and the explanation for why all rich nations have large welfare states, and identifying US welfare state leadership. From 1968 through 2006, the United States swung right politically and lost its lead in education and opportunity, failed to adopt universal health insurance and experienced the most rapid explosion of health care costs and economic inequality in the rich world. The American welfare state faces large challenges. Restoring its historical lead in education is the most important but requires investing large sums in education, beginning with universal pre-school and in complementary programs that aid children's development. The American health insurance system is by far the most costly in the rich world, yet fails to insure one sixth of its population, produces below average results, crowds out useful investments in children, and is the least equitably financed. Achieving universal coverage will increase costs. Only complete government financing is likely to restrain long term costs. In memory of Robert J. Lampman Colleague, Co-author, Friend and Mentor

Suggested Citation

  • Garfinkel, Irwin & Rainwater, Lee & Smeeding, Timothy, 2010. "Wealth and Welfare States: Is America a Laggard or Leader?," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199579310.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxp:obooks:9780199579310
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nicolás Salamanca & Buly A. Cardak & Edwin Ip & Joe Vecci, 2023. "Time-stability of risk preferences: A new approach with evidence from developed and developing countries," Discussion Papers 2305, University of Exeter, Department of Economics.
    2. Branko Milanovic & Sean Higgins & Nora Lustig & Whitney Ruble & Timothy M. Smeeding, 2016. "Comparing the Incidence of Taxes and Social Spending in Brazil and the United States," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62, pages 22-46, August.
    3. David Rothwell & Annie McEwen, 2018. "Child Poverty and Family Structure during the Recession in English-Speaking Liberal Welfare States," LIS Working papers 665, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    4. Jacques Fontanel, 2019. "Globalisation économique, facteur d'inégalités," Working Papers hal-02142671, HAL.
    5. Tom VanHeuvelen & Kathy Copas, 2018. "The Intercohort Dynamics of Support for Redistribution in 54 Countries, 1985–2017," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-22, August.
    6. Marek Kwiek, 2015. "Reforming European Universities: The Welfare State as a Missing Context," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 2, pages 8-39.
    7. Emily Rauscher & Byeongdon Oh, 2021. "Going Places: Effects of Early U.S. Compulsory Schooling Laws on Internal Migration," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(2), pages 255-283, April.
    8. Salvatore Morelli & Timothy Smeeding & Jeffrey Thompson, 2014. "Post-1970 Trends in Within-Country Inequality and Poverty: Rich and Middle Income Countries," CSEF Working Papers 356, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    9. Esping-Andersen, Gosta & Garfinkel, Irwin & Han, Wen-Jui & Magnuson, Katherine & Wagner, Sander & Waldfogel, Jane, 2012. "Child care and school performance in Denmark and the United States," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 576-589.
    10. Torben M. Andersen & Joydeep Bhattacharya, 2013. "The Intergenerational Welfare State," CESifo Working Paper Series 4359, CESifo.
    11. Qin Gao & Sui Yang & Fuhua Zhai & Yake Wang, 2017. "Social Policy Reforms and Economic Distances in China, 2002-2013," University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP) Working Papers 201722, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP).
    12. Bagis, Bilal & Yumurtaci, Aynur, 2020. "Welfare Perceptions of the Youth: A Turkish Case Study," GLO Discussion Paper Series 671, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. Vincent Mahler & David Jesuit & Piotr Paradowski, 2015. "Electoral Turnout and State Redistribution: A Cross-National Study of 14 Developed Countries," LIS Working papers 633, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    14. Peter H. Lindert, 2017. "The Rise and Future of Progressive Redistribution," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 73, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    15. John Goering & Christine M. E. Whitehead, 2017. "Fiscal Austerity and Rental Housing Policy in the United States and United Kingdom, 2010–2016," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 875-896, November.
    16. Manuel Schechtl & Rourke L. O'Brien, 2022. "Fiscal Impoverishment in Rich Democracies," LIS Working papers 831, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    17. Margot I. Jackson & Susan L. Moffitt & Susanna Loeb, 2023. "Introduction," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 706(1), pages 7-13, March.
    18. Gao, Qin & Yang, Sui & Li, Shi, 2015. "Welfare, targeting, and anti-poverty effectiveness: The case of urban China," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 30-42.
    19. Megan M. Reynolds & Ashley M. Fox & Yvette Young, 2021. "State‐level social safety nets for families coping with job loss," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(2), pages 121-138, June.
    20. Wu, Shiyou & Wu, Qi & Fraser, Mark W. & Chapman, Mimi V. & Gao, Qin, 2018. "Welfare participation and depression among youth in the United States: A systematic review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 354-367.
    21. Gao, Qin & Zhai, Fuhua & Yang, Sui & Li, Shi, 2014. "Does Welfare Enable Family Expenditures on Human Capital? Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 219-231.
    22. Garfinkel, Irwin & Zilanawala, Afshin, 2015. "Fragile families in the American welfare state," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 210-221.

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