Systems, Fiddling and Strangers: Young People on the 'Welfare State'

In: Social policy and society: SPS ; a journal of the Social Policy Association, Band 2, Heft 2, S. 91-99

Abstract

This paper is concerned with young people's understanding of the welfare state; who and what is it for, and what is their relation to it? It is argued that such qualitative research into these questions is not common. Exploring these issues increases our knowledge of the presence that ideas and discourses about welfare states have in young people's understanding of the social world. Qualitative approaches such as the one adopted in this paper can tap into meanings and perceptions that young people have in relation to the welfare state that can be glossed over with more quantitative concerns with 'attitudes'.