Not Only the Poor: The Middle Classes and the Welfare State [Paperback]

Originally published in 1987 Not Only the Poor explores the self-interested involvement of the non-poor in the welfare state, particularly the middle class. Using evidence from Britain, America, and Australia, they show that the non-poor were crucial in the founding of the welfare state, and in all three countries the non-poor benefit extensively from key welfare programmes, including those ostensibly targeted on the poor. Goodin and Le Grand conclude that the beneficial involvement of the non-poor in the welfare state is probably inevitable, but this may be no bad thing, depending on the alternative and on the nature of the egalitarian ideal adopted.

List of Tables and Figures  Preface  Part I: Background  1. Introduction  2. Measuring the Distributional Impact of the Welfare State: Methodological Issues  Part II: The Origins of the Welfare State  3. Risk Sharing and Social Justice: The Motivational Foundations of the Post-War Welfare State  Part III: The Operation of the Welfare State  4. US Anti-Poverty Policy and the Non-Poor: Some Estimates and their Implications  5. The Middle-Class Use of the British Social Services  6. Creeping Universalism in the Australian Welfare State  7. Distributional Biases in Social Service Delivery Systems  Part IV: The Challenge to the Welfare State  8. The Middle Classes and the Defence of the British Welfare State  9. The Expansion and Contraction of the American Welfare State  Part V: Conclusion  10. Not Only the Poor  About the Author  References  Index

Originally published in 1987 Not Only the Poor explores the self-interested involvement of the non-poor in the welfare state, particlƒ,