What Is the Welfare State For?

Paul Spicker (Robert Gordon University)

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English

BRISTOL UNIVERSITY PRESS
22 September 2025

Welfare & benefit systems; Politics & government; Political activism; Welfare economics; Social security & welfare law

Series: What Is It For?

Most states in the world make some provision for the welfare of their citizens. Every state engages with health care provision, almost all provide education services, and, after an

explosion of interest in recent years, a substantial majority now have national schemes in place for cash assistance.

Welfare states matter for people's lives – but there is little agreement about what one is. What are these states trying to do, and why? The book discusses the institutions and methods that characterise welfare states around the world. It focuses on the aims, purposes and justifications for social welfare services in order to explain what the welfare state is for.

By: Paul Spicker (Robert Gordon University)
Imprint: BRISTOL UNIVERSITY PRESS
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 127mm,
ISBN: 9781529250756
ISBN 10: 1529250757
Series: What Is It For?
Pages: 162
Publication Date: 22 September 2025
Audience: College/higher education , General/trade , Further / Higher Education , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

Professor Paul Spicker is Emeritus Professor of Public Policy in Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and a writer and commentator on social policy. His studies of housing and welfare rights developed from his early career and his research has included benefit delivery systems, the care of old people, psychiatric patients, housing management and local anti-poverty strategy and he has published widely in the field. He is a consultant on social welfare in practice, working for agencies at local, national and international levels.

Reviews for What Is the Welfare State For?

""A great introduction to the historical/philosophical underpinnings, moral/theoretical fundaments and overall functions/purposes of the welfare state!"" Christian Aspalter, Beijing Normal University & Hong Kong Baptist University United International College