'A magisterial examination of the historical, economic and political forces shaping the Welfare State, from its incipient beginnings in Fifteenth Century Europe to the rise of conditional cash transfers in Latin America in the 1990s. A must-read for anyone interested in rethinking the role of the State after the pandemic.' Francisco H. G. Ferreira, co-author of Economic Mobility and the Rise of the Latin American Middle Class
List of Figures; List of Tables; Part I. Overview: 1. Enduring Issues; 2. Findings and Lessons; Part II. The Long Rise, and its Causes: 3. Why Poor Relief Arrived So Late; 4. The Dawn of Mass Schooling before 1914; 5. Public Education since 1914; 6. More, but Different, Social Spending in Rich Countries since 1914; 7. Is the Rest of the World Following a Different Path?; Part III. What Effects?: 8. Effects on Growth, Jobs, and Life; 9. Why No Net Loss of GDP or Work?; 10. Do the Rich Pay the Poor for All This?; Part IV. Confronting Threats: 11. Do Immigration Tensions Fray the Safety Nets?; 12. Pensions and the Curse of Long Life; 13. Approaches to Public Pension Reform; 14. Borrowing Social-Spending Lessons; Appendix A. Sources and Notes for Chapters 3 and 4; Appendix B. Sources and Notes for Chapter 10; Appendix C. Chapter 12's Pension Accounting – Equations and Forecasts; Acknowledgements; Notes; References; Index.