Culture of Dependency

Welfare Reform and the Third Way

The culture of dependency argument holds that chronic low income among entitlement recipients results from welfare benefits and not personal inadequacies. The generosity of the welfare state reduces self-reliance and responsibility. The main ideas of this perspective originated with the concept of a culture of poverty argument in the 1960s, along with debates on the existence of an underclass in the 1980s. Both held that poverty in third world countries and poor communities in developed countries rested on a set of behaviors learned inside those poor communities. The culture of dependency argument draws on historical attacks on welfare, with a central focus on the undeserving poor and abuse of entitlements. According to advocates of the culture of dependency argument, welfare reduces the will of individuals to work. Other aspects of the argument are that welfare causes a decline in family values linked to child illegitimacy and a rise in the number of single-parent families. The assumption is that, when faced with opportunity, individuals with entitlements will not work if it requires too much effort to secure a small rise in income.

Social theorists identify a culture of dependency with other social problems, including family breakdown, addiction, and educational failure. Those critical of socialist welfare states and entitlements make the argument that the welfare state leads to passive actors and inhibits enterprise among dependents. The welfare reforms of the 1990s thus evolved with ideas of creating a new contract making recipients accountable, while using market solutions to end poverty. Supporters of the doctrine of the Third Way argue for a smaller role for the state, while emphasizing accountability and personal responsibility. They argue for a stakeholder approach to entitlements where the state does not guarantee long-term support. In Australia and New Zealand, social reforms also led to critical responses to the welfare state and the culture of dependency.

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