Economic Equality and Social Welfare: Policy Preferences in Five Nations

Nate Breznau is a sociology PhD Fellow in the ‘Social Integration and the Welfare State’ field at the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences. His research interests are policy preferences, institutions, welfare state policies and quantitative methods. He is currently working on a dissertation investigating the relationship of public opinions and social welfare policies.

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International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Volume 22, Issue 4, Winter 2010, Pages 458–484, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edq024

22 October 2010

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Nate Breznau, Economic Equality and Social Welfare: Policy Preferences in Five Nations, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Volume 22, Issue 4, Winter 2010, Pages 458–484, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edq024

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Abstract

Welfare policies are a common feature of many societies and often strongly favored by the public. Research abounds on welfare policy differences across nations yet scholars pay less attention to why and how the public formulate opinions on welfare policies. The following analysis shows evidence that the public are not merely self-interested in their policy preferences. I propose instead that they have a further goal in mind unrelated to material gains: the reduction of social inequality. I investigate this possibility using survey data from large, representative national samples in Australia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Finland, and Poland (N = 13,294). Structural equation estimates correcting for measurement error show that those with economic egalitarian values are much more supportive of welfare policies consistent with instrumental rationality theory. These egalitarian values are more important than self-interest and national institutions in shaping preferences for government control of social services, price controls for basic needs, and subsidies for basic needs. This holds true after controlling for policy regime, attitudes toward government, family income, education, occupational status, sex, age, and church attendance and holds in all five nations.