Description
Every capitalist system relies on growth and accumulation, producing inequality somewhere along the process. Our economies continue to grow, yet the so-called benefits of growth have not trickled down and improved people’s lives across society. Inequality has actually been growing: the richest 1.5% own almost 48% of the world’s wealth (UBS Global Wealth Report, 2024). To live well within planetary systems, we need to shift how our financial wealth, power, and resources are distributed across society.
In this policy primer, we offer an alternative to the growth-centred welfare narrative. We demonstrate that the obsession with GDP is incompatible with solving the ecological crisis, and that more growth is not necessary to create economic security and social wellbeing in Europe. The way that welfare is currently organised is dependent on growth, but that is an institutional construct and a political choice.
That’s why we advocate for eco-social welfare: this alternative approach involves the fair distribution of wealth, power and resources; investments in essential services; and centring of community wealth and practices of care. Drawing on national and municipal examples across Europe, we highlight key transition paths needed for decoupling welfare from growth and provide strategic insights to advance a welfare agenda rooted in eco-social justice for all.
