Data review “Attitudes towards the welfare state from a national and international perspective"

The German welfare state is increasingly challenged by e.g. technological change, changes in the work environment or demographic change. At the same time, the welfare state plays a key role in mitigating these challenges. Societies’ broad approval of the welfare state is crucial to maintain its functionality. In this context, the question arises whether society (still) approves of the welfare state and who supports or criticises which benefit payments. As the need for welfare state reforms increases, it is essential to learn which reforms are supported and which are rejected.

In this project, we conduct a data review to answer these questions. The data review will provide an overview over the data available. We will especially collect information on societies’ attitude regarding the following topics:

• Responsibility of the state in the areas of education, family, labour market, pensions
• Amount of benefits payments
• Economic status of persons in different circumstances and age groups
• Transitions in life e.g. labour market entry or retirement
• Need for reform and basic orientation of the welfare state; responsibility of state, economy and individuals

In our data review we will consider both national and international surveys with a broad range of relevant questions. The surveys must also cover a considerable time span to allow for the analysis of long-term trends. We will take into account smaller, target-group-specific surveys as well.