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Evaluation of the Post-War Increase in Social Welfare Spending*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2009

Robert Lampman
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Abstract

American social welfare spending, broadly defined, increased faster than GNP in the years 1950 to 1978. The extra spending was directed mainly at the traditional welfare population categories of the aged, disabled, and female family heads. The extra funds were provided chiefly by payroll taxes and wage diversions. The social benefits that flowed from the extra social welfare spending include improved economic security and reduction in income poverty. These benefits, which are non-quantifiable, are supplemented by the quantifiable addition to GNP which arises from a more highly-educated labour force. The quantifiable social costs associated with the extra social welfare spending include a loss of potential GNP due to induced reduction of hours at work and extra resources used up for education and health care. The reader's judgement of the worth of the non-quantifiable social benefits is critical to his or her overall evaluation.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , July 1985 , pp. 263 - 275
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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