Liberal Welfare Systems

This chapter holds up the Liberal Welfare System(s) to critical scrutiny where there are strong preferences for market solutions to (social) welfare problems. It begins with a general overview of how liberal thought has conceptualised the (welfare) state and considers the developmental trajectory of welfare systems in social reform in diverse ‘liberal’ welfare states, covering the UK, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. The chapter then focuses on the extent to which the English-speaking world of welfare capitalism is still meaningfully ‘liberal’ and coherent today.