PopDigests Policy Briefs Discussion Papers Policy Insights Books and Reports Yearbook Related Content Policy Insights - Policy priorities on gender equality. What should policymakers focus on? Event - Digital Engagement, Socioeconomic Inequalities and Adolescent Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study Event - Migration, Integration and Ethnic Relations Course Pop Digest - Are men and women spending their time equally? News - The Berlin Demography Days take the perspectives of younger people into focus Event - The State of the Union Policy Brief Welfare states as lifecycle redistribution machines Age is more important than status in how social policies operate Document Download Population & Policy Compact 31/2021 (543.01 KB) Image Key Messages In practice, European welfare states are neither primarily nor solely responsible for inequality reduction They redistribute much more across age than across socio-economic status lines Accordingly, welfare states should be viewed mostly as an institutional solution to the lifecycle consumption financing problem. References Vanhuysse Pieter, Medgyesi Marton, & Gál Robert Ivan (2021). Welfare states as lifecycle redistribution machines: Decomposing the roles of age and socioeconomic status shows that European tax-and-benefit systems primarily redistribute across age groups. PLoS ONE 16(8): e0255760. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255760 Author(s) Vanhuysse Medgyesi Gál Source Vanhuysse, P., Medgyesi, M. and Gál, R. (2021). Welfare states as lifecycle redistribution machines: Age is more important than status in how social policies operate. Population & Policy Compact 31, Berlin: Max Planck Society/Population Europe.