Explaining patterns of support for the provision of citizen welfare

Abstract

This study seeks to explain individual-level variation in attitudes toward the responsibility of welfare provision. We seek to understand the microfoundations of support or opposition to the government's role in welfare provision in Europe. While other studies have explored the role that economic or political attitudes have on support for the government's role in welfare provision, this is the first study to assess the relative role that individual psychology, particularly risk acceptance, can play in shaping a citizen's attitude toward welfare provision. We argue that an individual's psychological predisposition will play an important role in shaping how s/he thinks about the provision of welfare. The study takes its data from seven European countries: Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. We find that economic self-interest (particularly, social class status, income, and education) is a consistent predictor of one's view of who should be responsible for providing for citizen welfare. In addition to the traditional economic and political explanations, we find support for a psychological explanation, specifically that individuals who are more risk acceptant are more likely to prefer that individuals play a greater role in welfare provision.