vernments became increasingly committed to not only promoting education, but a host of other programs designed to enhance the welfare of the population and the growth of the economy."
It is the purpose of this senior thesis to compare and contrast the welfare systems of the United States and Japan. The report will demonstrate that both of these countries created in the 1960s through the early 1990s what Sodaro (2004) calls the "Keynesian welfare state," a state system of welfare in which the economic ideas of John Maynard Keynes led to spending of between 10 and 20 percent or as much as 30 percent of all gross national product (GNP) on social programming. The report will highlight the similarities and the differences between the American and Japanese welfare programs.
H.J. DeBlij and Peter O. Muller (2003) described the situation facing Japan after World War II. Japan was defeated and its economy was destroyed. However, Japan was no longer remote from the mainstream of global action. It had many opportunities after World War II to modernize its economy and to develop programs that would help to meet the needs of a population that was experiencing great difficulties after the war.
In 1980, Japan spent 9.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on social welfare programs. In 1990, this amount increased to 11.2 percent and by 1995, was 13.8 percent of GDP. Government budget surpluses and deficits as a percentage of GDP in Japan were -0.8 percent in 1985, 2.9 percent in 1990, -3.6 percent in 1995, and -6.0 percent in 1998 (Sodaro, 2004).
Japan's welfare system is quite extensive and contains a number of individual programs. Ulrike Schaede (2003) described Japan's welfare system as related to its social contract which does not tolerate uncertainty or social suffering. Schade (2003, p. 1) described the post-war social contract n Japan as follows:
This system, combined with fast economic growth, made a nat...