T. H. Marshall

THE RIGHT TO WELFARE

Twenty years ago the Welfare State was a novelty, and there was much that could be said, in general terms, about the genesis and the nature of the rights to which it gave efFect. Today all this can be taken for granted, and anybody who is bold enough to broach the subject afresh will be expected to try to dig deeper and to look more closely into the details of the picture. It is difficult for him to say anything that is worth saying without getting involved in matters that are either technical or controversial, or both, and these are apt to demand more space for their proper treatment than I have at my disposal here. So I shall be content to concentrate on the highlights of the scene, as I see it, and to indicate the paths along which ones thoughts would travel, if one were to pursue the subjea further.