The legacy of World War II on social spending in the western world

The Second World War had a major impact on almost every aspect of European society, but one area that has been relatively under-researched is the influence the war had on social spending. Presenting results from a new study, Herbert Obinger and Carina Schmitt illustrate that World War II not only created new welfare constituencies such as disabled war veterans, but but also changed politics and institutional settings in a way that facilitated the expansion of the welfare state in the post-war period.