Las nuevas dimensiones del estado del bienestar en el contexto de la crisis

Abstract

In this article we try to show the route for achieving the Welfare State that the present society needs, that is, the society that knows and bears the consequences of the recent financial crisis. After a short historical perspective we give an overview on definitions and characteristics of the Welfare State, relating its content and challenges to the instruments, measures and possibilities of Welfare Economics, on which performs an essential but rigorous synthesis. Based in this complex relation, and taking into account the new social framework caused by crisis, we stand out the very dimensions that are necessary if we temper the welfare state to the demands of our time. Besides the main problems derived of the crisis, it is of great importance for getting the desired and convincing state of welfare the fact of considering the high degree of corruption and the rise of inequality that we can verify in the real world and that poses serious obstacles on the way to achieving our goal.