Abstract
Comparative analyses of modern welfare states rely heavily on measures of social expenditure, which have been developed and refined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. These measures are used to assess the relative degrees of welfare effort, generosity and social protection afforded by welfare states. A critical analysis of the most rigorous and widely used measures of social expenditure reveals three fundamental issues, which involve the assumption of proportionality, indifference to need, and the discounted activity of deficit spending. These issues undermine the conventional social accounting for welfare states, making it virtually incomprehensible to interpret as a comparative measure of welfare effort, generosity, and social protection.
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