Stratification and the Welfare State
Title
Stratification and the Welfare State
Author
Moller, Stephanie
Misra, Joya
Research Area
Class, Status and Power
Topic
Social Stratification
Abstract
The welfare state is one of the most important predictors of inequality cross‐nationally, and research in this area is profuse. An expanding line of welfare state and stratification research focuses on the role of welfare states in addressing the needs created by increasing inequality, which has been generated by changing economic structures in the late twentieth and early twenty‐first centuries. This essay discusses the welfare state in light of changing economic structures and politics to explain why some countries have attenuated the rise in inequality, while others (notably the United States) have not. It concludes with suggestions for further research.