GermanyThe German welfare state was introduced under Bismarck in the 19th century. His welfare system would survive throughout Germany's existence and continue in West Germany following the nation's spit after World War II. The traditional system has four main characteristics that remained essentially unchanged until the administration of Chancellor Kolh. The first of these characteristics is that it was a wage-focused social insurance system. Rather than a general tax, the system is funded by wage-based contributions, which allow the taxpayer to more closely collect what they have paid. Second, the system places emphasis on the male breadwinner, while most benefits are paid to the patriarch of a family. This coincides with the third characteristic of familism which requires German families to take care of things such as childcare. Finally, the German welfare system is corporate in nature, which places the system in an interesting position as it is controlled by both business representatives and social partners. In this section we will see how these aspects have been affected by downsizing and reforms. Over the last half century the German welfare state has experienced some incremental changes in its policies. We will now look at the four coalition governments of the past and what they have legislated in terms of reform. Since 1972 the SPO-FDP coalition had plans to deepen and broaden the current system, however these measures were interrupted during the 1973 oil crisis. From 1975 Chancellor Helmond introduced a series of cuts to unemployment benefits and pensions along with a previous cancellation of implemented programs that promoted individual training. Eligibility rules for unemployment have been... middle of paper......in favor of policies that help individuals reintegrate into the job market. In the late 1980s and early 1990s Dutch policy responded to this situation by reducing the availability of disabled people; reduction in performance and performance duration. In 1996 the Dutch parliament abolished the Sickness Act, shifting the financial burden of disability and illness from the welfare state to the private sector for two years with the intention of fully privatizing the insurance system, but this was never achieved. In 2006, the most recent disability reform was the Law on Work and Income Based on Ability. The law clarifies the difference between welfare and workfare. Welfare is defined as “collective social protection in the form of passive income protection” and workfare is defined as “collective social protection provided in an attempt to improve employment”.433)