LOCATING THE CANADIAN WELFARE-STATE - FAMILY POLICY AND HEALTH-CARE IN CANADA, SWEDEN, AND THE UNITED-STATES

There is much disagreement regarding the nature of the Canadian welfar e state. While some researchers maintain that Canada is a welfare lagg ard like the United States, others consider it to be relatively advanc ed. Such pronouncements have much to do with the particular model with in which the researcher is working. The predominant model is the welfa re worlds approach, which categorizes the welfare state of Canada, lik e that of the United States, as liberal. However, researchers working within this tradition have, to date, focused primarily on income trans fer programs while ignoring social services such as health care system s. It is suggested here that such central components of social welfare must be included in the model if it is to adequately represent nation al welfare states.