Why pay for social security?: Paper to be presented at "What future for social security: cross-national and multi-disciplinary perspectives" conference at the Department of Social Policy, University of Stirling, 15-17 June 2000

With regard to the legitimacy of welfare empirical evidence tends to defy pessimistic theories. Here this puzzling contradiction between facts and theor is seen as a result of insufficient inderstanding of peoples's motivationto support welfare. For improving such understanding an empirical instrument is developed and applied for measuring directly the various motivations people may have to pay for social security schemes. Four types of motivation are deduced from sociological theories on solidatiy: perceived self-interest, moral obligation, affection and indentification with others, and accepted authoriy. In a national survey among the Dutch adult population in 1995 respondents were adked to what degree the furst three motives apply in their case. The main conclusions are that a large majority of the Dutch is motivated to pay for welfare on several grounds at the same time; older people, men and the highest educated are more strongly motivated to contribute to welfare, while welfare use and income level only have a modest influence; the main patterns can be understood from the encompassing sharacter of Dutch welfare.