Attitudes towards the welfare state: What do national and international surveys tell us?

As part of a recent data review on attitudes towards the welfare state, both German and international survey data were analysed to determine the extent to which they reflect the public’s attitudes towards key issues such as the responsibility of the welfare state, the areas in which the state should intervene, the level of welfare benefits, the need for reform and people’s notions of fairness.

It is apparent that, whilst certain topics – such as state responsibility or the level of welfare state benefits – are covered in many surveys, there is no systematic data on the areas in which the welfare state should intervene. In the vast majority of cases, the questions are not asked consistently over a long period of time, making long-term time-series, panel or trend analyses difficult, if not impossible.

DIFIS-Studie 2026/9 (in German).