Political Advertising and the Growth of Social Welfare Expenditures

A characteristic feature of advanced industrial societies in the western world is the considerable growth of social welfare expenditures. This phenomenon is illustrated in Tables I and II which indicate the scale of increase which has taken place in the UK and the USA since the early 1950s. Expenditures trebled in the UK between 1953 and 1977, and grew almost sixfold between 1950 and 1975 in the USA. Not too much account should be taken of the different patterns of growth because of the historical differences in the development of social policy in each country. Moreover, their population growth has differed significantly.