Welfare State Institutions and Welfare State Outcomes

Welfare state institutions are focussing at the protection of citizens against major economic risks, especially in the areas of old-age, sickness, unemployment, and poverty. More recently, further social policy measures (basically social services) for families with children and other risk groups have been implemented. In our research team differences between welfare states and especially between certain social policy institutions will be analysed across countries and related to certain welfare state outcomes.
The institutional landscape of welfare states has changed through recalibration, and the substantial retrenchment in financing, benefits and services has had its impact on the objective living conditions and subjective well-being of citizens all over Europe. Current reform processes have changed national redistributional outcomes across different branches of the welfare state, affecting poverty, inequality, social security, health status and thus the life chances of different population groups. Emerging new inequalities may deeply influence how institutional arrangements are perceived and assessed by the public, this link being crucial for the longterm legitimacy of welfare states. It will therefore also be evaluated how welfare state institutions and their outcomes are perceived by the respective population. To what respect does the level of popular support vary according to individual characteristics such as socio-economic status, gender, education, and welfare state dependency? And are these patterns of support determined by specific institutional designs or are they universal across Europe?