The Filipino desire for a welfare state
This third comparison of Filipinos (PH) with Thais (TH), Taiwanese (TW), South Koreans (SK), Japanese (JP) and Americans (US) deals with whether people hold the government responsible for providing certain things or conditions for them (see “Attitudes toward government,” 4/14/18, and “Attitudes toward government surveillance,” 4/21/18), based on the 2016 Role of Government surveys of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP).
The outstanding finding of the ISSP surveys is that Filipinos are so much more demanding of governmental services than the other nationalities as to appear to be seeking a full welfare state.
The data are from the 11 survey questions in the table. They are arranged in descending order of PH responses, though Q7a to Q7k were asked sequentially.
Of the six nationalities, Filipinos have the highest percentages (in parentheses) in 8 of the 11 items, demanding that the government provide: health care for the sick (97), support for university students (97), assistance for the aged (95), provision of jobs (92), assistance to industry (89), socialized housing (88), equality between men and women (86), and unemployment assistance (82).
Filipinos demanding control of inflation are at 94 percent, which is second by only 1 point to Thais.
Filipinos demanding protection against industrial damage to the environment are at 88 percent, which is third, by 6 points and 1 point respectively, to Taiwanese and Thais.
The only significant departure from the pattern is that we Filipinos are at 66 percent in demanding less income inequality between the rich and the poor. This puts us 15-18 points below (by 18, 17 and 15 points, respectively) Thais, Taiwanese and South Koreans, but still a large 10 and 12 points above Japanese and Americans, who only have slight majorities.
Great demands, but few resources. Providing so many things, without fueling inflation, requires adequate revenue from taxation. Rich countries, like those of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), take, on average, one-third of their gross domestic product in taxes. Full welfare states like Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden tax away half of GDP.
For the countries discussed in this column, the 2015 tax-to-GDP percentages are 31 in Japan, 26 in the United States, 25 in South Korea, and 21 in Thailand (in 2013), but only 17 in the Philippines (from OECD; no Taiwan data).
To meet the hopes of the Filipino people, TRAIN1 and TRAIN2 are far from enough; the government must undertake even more drastic tax reforms.
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What the government should provide, 2016 national surveys
“Government should … (%) PH TH TW SK JP US
Q7c. … provide health care for the sick” 97 93 89 85 70 85
Q7h. … give financial help to university students
from low-income families” 97 92 85 83 58 87
Q7d. … provide a decent standard of living for the old” 95 87 89 83 68 87
Q7b. … keep prices under control” 94 89 95 93 81 71
Q7a. … provide a job for everyone who wants one” 92 83 76 58 38 35
Q7e. … provide industry with the help it needs to grow” 89 74 83 76 63 71
Q7i. … provide decent housing for those
who can’t afford it” 88 77 75 74 32 74
Q7j. … impose strict laws to make industry
do less damage to the environment” 88 89 94 88 74 88
Q7k. … promote equality between men and women” 86 80 84 57 60 83
Q7f. … provide a decent standard of living
for the unemployed” 82 67 64 65 46 55
Q7g. … reduce income differences between
the rich and the poor” 66 84 83 81 56 54
Source: International Social Survey Programme.
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