The welfare state (from the English. The Welfare State - welfare state) or "the welfare state" (welfare state) - a term which denotes the totality of social institutions in the Western countries, designed to ensure all members of society from social rights by the redistribution of income. The state must guarantee to all its citizens at least some minimum standard of living, including housing, education and medical care. The proponents of this theory argue that the welfare state is not only fair, but also effective, because the absence of such guarantees gives rise to external effects of economic activities (externalities) in the form of crime, poor public health and disability many members of the community. Critics underscore the significant costs associated with this, the negative impact on economic incentives. Thirty years after the Second world war - the heyday of the welfare state in Western society. Since 50 years there has been an explosion of costs for different sorts of social programs: public education, social security, healthcare, housing and municipal construction, etc. the Share of expenditures in gross domestic product has increased several times and made up almost half of all state budget allocations. The main tasks include pensions, sickness insurance, in accident, the child and family, social bespomoschno, housing, etc. the welfare State was seen as a natural part of the development of industrial society, as a social shock absorber of various costs in the course of its operation. At the inception of the industrial society welfare state has shown its limits, beyond which comes the loss of social position, all vividly manifests a paradox: the more you spend on welfare, the worse you live the poor.
