East Asian welfare states in transition - Challenges and opportunities

After the spectacular economic crisis of late 1997, there has been a call f or social welfare reform as well as economic restructuring in East Asia. Co vering Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, this article first seeks to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the East Asian welfare states. Second, it e xamines the pressures for reform of the welfare systems. Finally, it addres ses the question of whether the low spending East Asian welfare regimes wil l be maintained in the future. The strength of the East Asian welfare stare s mainly lies in their promotion of an ideology of developmentalism and the ir relatively low cost, while their weakness is that they tend to reinforce socio-economic inequalities. Economic recession and socio-economic pressur es as well as inefficiencies within the welfare states create pressure for change. The governments in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have responded wit h reform measures appropriate to these nations' social and political contex t. Despite different policy responses, the welfare stales in these countrie s will become more expensive, although they will remain low spenders among the developed nations.