Rethinking the Welfare State as We Know: Social Policies in COVID-19 Pandemic and the Post Period

In this study, the possible effects of COVID-19 on social policies were examined. Welfare states have long been faced with economic, social, demographic,and environmental problems. The intense pressure of COVID-19 pandemic on social policies, particularly healthcare and employment, is a major challenge for the welfare that are states based on nation state formation and financed through social security premiums and economic growth. In this context, it is inevitable for the welfare regimes to be re-structured and for the state to collaborate more closely with other actors (the family, civil society, and the market) in the distribution of social welfare. In addition to the transformation on a national scale, there are regulations to be made regarding the distribution of social welfare on a global scale. The current COVID-19 pandemic requires considering the possibilities of a global welfare regime, which aims to reduce income inequalities and to achieve an equitable and democratic regime shaped by comprehensive regulations, and where global welfare is again distributed on a global scale.