Summary

The Comparative Welfare Entitlements Dataset (CWED) provides systematic data on institutional features of social insurance programs in 33 countries spanning much of the post-war period. CWED 2 is a significant extension and update of the information collected and published online as CWED by Lyle Scruggs. The purpose of the dataset is to provide an essential complement to program spending data that is available from international sources like the OECD's Social Expenditure Database. Data is provided for unemployment and sickness insurance as well as for standard and minimum pensions and covers income replacement rates of cash benefits, eligibility criteria and coverage of the programs. Since the update in September 2017, replacement rates are available for eight household types, making CWED2 one of the most comprehensive datasets on replacement rates for social insurance programs.

Acknowledgements

Financial support for Lyle Scruggs was provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation (grant number SES-1023939). Further financial support was provided within the research project "Welfare Policies in the Enlarged Europe" funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG; grant number JA 638/12-1, 12-2), led by Detlef Jahn and coordinated by Kati Kuitto.

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