Why do modern liberals defend the principle of social welfare?

The principle of social welfare is the idea that the state has a responsibility to intervene in the lives of citizens in order to ensure a basic standard of living, for instance through policies such as progressive taxation or national health care provision. Modern liberals, also referred to as social liberals in light of their support for welfare and redistribution, use two main arguments in support of this principle.

Firstly, the notion of positive freedom, introduced to liberal canon by Isaiah Berlin in “Two Concepts of Liberty”, defines freedom as the ability to do something (in contrast to negative freedom, defined as freedom from something). Welfare provision protects individuals from constraints on their freedom such as poverty and starvation. Modern liberals support social welfare in part because enables individual growth and development, it allows people to realize their potential. In the words of William Beverage, founder of the modern welfare state, “a starving man is not free” .

Secondly, modern liberals, among them perhaps most notably John Rawls, argue for the principle of social welfare (and against laissez faire economic policies) on the grounds of equal opportunity. In a just society, factors beyond an individuals control, such as class, disability or race, should not determine their quality of life. Modern liberals recognizes not everybody has an equal start in life, social welfare helps to make society more meritocratic such that where an individual ends up in life is a reflection of his or her ability and willingness to work rather than for instance the class or race they happen to be born into.