Abstract
The article deals with one of the argumentative figures that has been widely used within the literature about declining support for the welfare state and the emergence of a ‘rational opposition’. Thereby, it has been claimed that the high welfare burden on the middle and the upper classes makes them unwilling to comply with collectivist welfare arrangements, especially the policy of redistribution. After some introductory remarks about the redistributive welfare arrangements in Britain and Germany, the article focuses on attitudes towards redistribution by different status groups. By using survey data (ISSP 1990 and 1996) it will be shown that the relation between the tax burden and the policy objective of redistribution is not as straightforward as it is generally assumed. The findings suggest group specific relations between the perception of high tax burdens and support for redistribution: relative independence of both issues for the middle classes, a positive relation for the lower income groups and a negative one for high-income groups. The middle classes, whose attitudinal stances have often played a crucial role in the theoretical contributions, seem not to conform to the pattern of a conjunct relation of tax resentment and the disapproval of income redistribution.
“Giving away money isn’t as easy as it sounds.” (Rose & Peters, 1978, p. 80)
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Mau, S. (2002). Welfare Burden and the Disapproval of Redistribution. In: Glatzer, W. (eds) Rich and Poor. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0257-8_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0257-8_15
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