Public and Private Social Welfare

This article presents the most recent estimates of net social expenditure, with new estimates taking the analysis up to 2005. It also shows that conventional estimates of gross public spending differ significantly from estimates of net public spending and net total social expenditure. Moreover, the article addresses the implications of the more comprehensive definition of welfare state effort for analysis of the distributional impact of the welfare state and for an assessment of the efficiency and incentive effects of different welfare state arrangements. The tax system plays an important role in social policy. Impacts of taxation and private spending on social effort are described. Just as conventional measures of public spending are incomplete measures of welfare state effort, the incentive and distributional effects of private and occupational welfare are usually not included in assessments of welfare state outcomes.