The Irish welfare state:closer to Boston than Berlin?

In many western countries the concept of the welfare state is not, in itself, in crisis. This is because the idea of supporting their own society-members is not up for debate, however, the way of providing that support is. Most countries in Europe have a common desire to reduce their social services to exculpate the state from the financial stresses and strains caused by the dramatic rise in public and social expenditures during recent years. For instance, social expenditures from 1960 to 1975 in the Netherlands have increased to nearly triple from 11.7 to 29.6 per cent (George and Taylor-Gooby 1996, p.5). One of the main reasons is the pressure caused by the acute decline of the birth-rate with a simultaneous boost of the anticipated average lifespan due to the continual improvement of health care. In addition to these demographic changes unemployment has increased again in several western countries, as “economic conditions in many countries began to deteriorate” (ibid pp.4-5). Therefore more people are in need and are dependent on the social benefits of the state to support their living wage than in the early years of the Welfare State. This period of development, between the 1950s and 1970s, is referred to as ‘The Years of Welfare Optimism’ (ibid p.2). These current circumstances are playing into the hands of the advocates of Neoliberalism, a rethinking and reassertion of classical liberalism