Welfare Chauvinism, Populist Radical Right Parties and Health Inequalities Comment on "A Scoping Review of Populist Radical Right Parties' Influence on Welfare Policy and its Implications for Population Health in Europe".

Clare Bambra,Julia Lynch

doi:10.34172/ijhpm.2020.149

Abstract

In this short commentary, we examine the implications of the welfare chauvinism of the populist radical right (PRR) for health inequalities by examining the international evidence about the impact of previous periods of welfare state contraction on population health and health inequalities. We argue that parties from various political traditions have in fact long engaged in stigmatisation of welfare recipients to justify welfare state retrenchment, a technique that the PRR have now ‘weaponised.’ We conclude by reflecting on implications of the rise of the PRR for the future of welfare states and health inequalities in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Highlights

Health as a whole has suffered, too: Welfare provision is not just beneficial for the health of the most disadvantaged and marginalised, and for the whole population, reducing total mortality and increasing life expectancy. 11,17
We examine the implications of the welfare chauvinism of the populist radical right (PRR) for health inequalities by examining the international evidence about the impact of previous periods of welfare state contraction on population health and health inequalities
We argue that parties from various political traditions have long engaged in stigmatisation of welfare recipients to justify welfare state retrenchment, a technique that the PRR have ‘weaponised.’ We conclude by reflecting on implications of the rise of the PRR for the future of welfare states and health inequalities in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)