Only kindness will save the welfare state

The future of the welfare state is debated in a new book by Ole Fogh Kirkeby

The existence of the welfare state is at stake. The rights of the weak are undermined and the outskirts of Denmark are growing. Is it because of the financial crisis? According to Professor Ole Fogh Kirkeby, it isn't. In his new book, 'Om velfærd - Det godes politik'(about welfare - politics of the good), he points out that we as a society have chosen to cut down on the rights of the weak. If we want welfare in the future, we have to become better at giving up some of the goods - unselfishly.

Domestic care or not?

The welfare debate has reached new heights, but where it used to be about adjustments and distribution of the goods, the actual existence of the welfare state is now being debated. 

It is no longer about how many times a week Mrs. Smith needs domestic care, but about Mrs. Smith being in need of domestic care at all.

But is it a logical consequence of the lack of financial resources in the wake of the financial crisis? Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, recently said that the crisis is the worst since the 1930'es - maybe even the worst crisis ever. And it is not over yet. So maybe there aren't any money for welfare anymore.

The rights of the weak are disappearing

Ole Fogh Kirkeby does not agree. 

He has just published the book ’Om velfærd – Det godes politik’ and thinks that the discontinuation of the welfare state began before the financial crisis peaked. The crisis of the welfare state is just as much about changes in political power as it is about financial crises:  

- We had a large surplus up to 2008, but the rights of the individual were still reduced. Politically, the importance of the weak is decreasing - they are becoming a marginalised group, which is why the reduction of their rights is meeting very little resistance.

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Read the whole article in the newsletter Insights@CBS  and what it takes for Denmark to remain a welfare state.

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