Increasing Demands on the Welfare State? Trends in Behavior and Attitudes

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  • Jan Martin Ljunge
We find that younger generations in Sweden demand more social insurance compared with the older generations, although program rules have been constant for decades. The trend is strong, almost one % point higher take up per cohort, and robust across demographic groups. These trends in behavior are mirrored in attitudes toward benefit uptake in a broad set of countries, including Sweden. Younger generations have a more relaxed attitude toward claiming public benefits. Our findings indicate that younger generations demand more from the welfare state, and our behavioral data from Sweden quantify the speed at which demand is increasing. (JEL codes: H31, I18, J22, Z13).
Original languageEnglish
JournalEconomic Studies
Volume57
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)605-622
Number of pages18
ISSN0013-0362
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2011

ID: 33598114