This book situates ethnic heterogeneity in the larger discussion of the welfare state and its redistributive outcomes, poverty and inequality. By using comprehensive, longitudinal data covering 1980 to 2010 from 17 high income countries, this analysis helps achieve a major milestone in comparative welfare state research both conceptually and methodologically. Conceptually, it elevates the relevance of growing ethnic heterogeneity in thinking about how politics and economics of the welfare state operate, collectively impacting the magnitudes of poverty and inequality. Methodologically, the analysis conducted in this book provides broader empirical tests for the many propositions and discourses found in the literature based largely on anecdotal evidence, case studies, and unjustifiably limited quantitative data. The innovative oeprationalization of the multidimensional character of both welfare state policies and ethnic heterogeneity help broaden the analytical frameworks of comparative welfare state research.
The outcome is a major advance in the way we understand the causes and redistributive consequences of the welfare state, in which ethno-racial, religious, and especially immigration heterogeneity can play a crucial role. A thorough and insightful analysis presented in this book helps students, researchers, and policymakers better understand the ethnic heterogeneity connections of the welfare state and redistribution, together with a comparative perspective of the changing faces of ethnic heterogeneity, welfare state policies, and poverty and inequality in high income countries.