On support for welfare state reforms and deservingness in the Netherlands

Since the mid-1980s, welfare state arrangements have become increasingly conditional and austere. Simultaneously, deservingness perceptions have become increasingly important. This paper examines preferences as to which social categories contemporary welfare state reforms should target. Using unique data from a 2006 Dutch survey, the results reveal that the Dutch discern two principles of welfare state reforms – the first tapping into distributive reforms – decreasing redistribution, the latter tapping into commodifying reforms – increasing recommodification. Moreover, the level of people's identification with social categories explains why the public prefers commodifying reform to be intensively targeted at some social categories, but not at others.
Keywords: Deservingness, public opinion, recommodification, retrenchment, welfare state, legitimacy