The welfare state has been developed first and in its largest extent in North-Western Europe, in Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden. It is also in these countries where the crisis and financial problems of the welfare state are felt first. The need for restructuring the welfare state is a challenge of a supra-national, European and international scale. The book analyses the different welfare states in Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden with outlooks to Eastern Europe and Japan and examines the proposals for reforming and restructuring the welfare state in Europe. The book offers a unique combination of empirical and philosophical-ethical analysis of the welfare state.