Equity in social policy, a human rights and results based approach A welfare state comparison: the case of disability

The reinforcement of equity and the inclusion of vulnerable population groups in social welfare systems development remains prominent in both, local and global policy arena. This paper assesses the hypothesis that certain welfare regimes produce more equitable social welfare outcomes than others. A human rights and results based perspective is adopted to explore whether there may be a relation between social welfare outcomes in the general population and in less advantaged population groups across welfare systems with different classification. Welfare sample states are consistent with a tripartite classification of welfare regimes, namely: a) social: Denmark, Norway, Sweden; b) corporatist: France, Germany; and c) liberal: United Kingdom, United States of America. For the purpose of this paper “people living with disability” represent vulnerable population groups. A choice founded on the universal characteristics of disability, including its complexity that requires a holistic approach with strong cross sector collaboration. Results from both, the general and vulnerable population were tabulated to calculate a human rights and results based equity index (HREI). The integration of an additional cost factor allowed to explore cost-effectiveness. Findings confirm the hypothesis that certain welfare regimes do produce more equitable social welfare outcomes than others with the social regime to produce best and most equitable results as well as best appreciation of cost-effectiveness. The latter could indicate that welfare systems founded on limited de-commodification, high public investment, priorisation of employment and valuing of collectivity and solidarity are most efficient. Yet, more in-depth research would be required to validate these findings and to better understand causality.