Rethinking the Typology of Western European Welfare States

The newest, quadripartite typology of Western European welfare states needs some modifications nowadays. The Nordic and the Southern model have remained intact but the Continental and the Anglo-Saxon types have significantly converged (regardless of the economic crisis) that can be explained partly by some countries that have picked up some characteristics of another type and partly by the shift of the whole types themselves. Therefore the view that the types of welfare states are resistant to the changes and survive parallel in the long run is not true.