Social solidarity is one of the central pillars of the welfare state. In this chapter, we investigate to what extent the welfare state is supported by public opinion. We see support for the welfare state as an important indicator of social solidarity. First, we investigate whether welfare state support is diminishing, as is often suggested. We fi nd that in reality, welfare state support is not decreasing. Rather, it has been constant or has even increased during the last ten to fi fteen years. Given the fact that welfare state policies are changing, what does this high level of welfare state support mean? Does it mean the public opposes the retrenchment taking place in social policies, or does it mean the public supports these changes? To answer these questions, the second part of this chapter focuses on investigating the nature of social solidarity: Under which circumstances and with whom are people willing to share risks? We try to answer this question by investigating how people think about social risks, about deservingness and about the normative foundations of social policy. Our conclusion is that the welfare state is still fi rmly supported by public opinion because the developments in social policies are in line with developments in public opinion. Both are developing in the direction of increased conditionality and obligatory reciprocity.

Support for welfare state (reform)

It is often argued that developments in Dutch public opinion are diametrically opposed to the direction in which Dutch welfare policy is changing. Research from the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (Sociaal Cultureel Planbureau; SCP) demonstrates overwhelming welfare state support among the Dutch population and suggests that people more or less reject ongoing efforts to reform and retrench the Dutch welfare state (Becker 2005). Various authors have pointed to comparable circumstances abroad: high levels of welfare state support are accompanied by policies aimed at reform and retrenchment (Ringen 1987; Kaase and Newton 1995; Svallfors and Taylor-Gooby 1999).

Allegedly high welfare state support is also contrary to predictions in academia, which claim there is an emerging ‘crisis of the welfare state’. Social scientists and economists have long argued that there are certain perverse mechanisms within the system that undermine the welfare state and its legitimacy (Murray 1984; De Swaan 1988; Hirschman 1980).