GermanyThe German welfare state was introduced under Bismarck in the 19th century. Its welfare system would survive throughout Germany's existence and would continue in West Germany after the post-World War II crisis. The traditional system has four main characteristics which remained largely unchanged until the administration of Chancellor Kolh. The first of these characteristics is that it was a social insurance system centered on wages. Rather than a general tax, the system is financed by contributions based on wages, which allows the contributor to better recover what he has contributed. Second, the system emphasizes the male breadwinner, with most benefits paid to the family patriarch. This coincides with the third characteristic of familism which expects German households to take care of things such as childcare. Finally, the German social protection system is corporatist in nature, which places it in an interesting position because it is controlled by both business representatives and social partners. In this section we will see how these aspects have been affected by austerity measures and reforms. Over the past half century, the German welfare state has undergone some progressive changes in its policies. We will now look at the four previous coalition governments and what they have legislated in terms of reform. As early as 1972, the SPO-FDP coalition planned to deepen and expand the current system. These measures were, however, interrupted during the oil crisis of 1973. Starting in 1975, Chancellor Helmond introduced a series of cuts to unemployment benefits and pensions, as well as earlier demolition programs. implemented that promote individual training. Unemployment eligibility rules are middle of paper in favor of policies that help individuals re-enter the job market. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dutch policy responded to this situation by reducing access for people with disabilities; reduction of benefits and duration of benefits. In 1996, the Dutch parliament abolished the Sickness Act, transferring the financial burden of disability and illness from the welfare state to the private sector for two years, with the aim of fully privatizing the insurance scheme , but this measure never came to fruition. In 2006, the most recent disability reform, the Ability-Based Work and Income Act, was enacted. The law clarifies the difference between social assistance and compulsory work. Welfare being defined as “collective social protection in the form of passive income protection” and workfare being defined as “collective social protection provided with the aim of improving employment. » (P433)