The qwest of the welfare state: an index to measure universality of welfare states, a 1990-2019 overview and comparative analysis

Abstract

This thesis provides an analysis of the degree of universalism of different welfare states. Three categories of the welfare state have already been defined (Esping-Andersen 1990): the social democratic welfare state, typical of Scandinavia, the corporatist model, typical of continental Europe, and the liberal model, typical of the Anglo-Saxon countries. In this thesis, a fourth category will be included: the Southern Europe model, as proposed by several authors. To measure the degree of universalism of the different welfare states a composite index called QWEST is used. The “Quality of Welfare State” index estimates the degree of universalism through seven variables.