The study found that the countries with more targeting, such as the US and Australia, end up with far less generous welfare states than those with less targeting, such as Sweden, Denmark and Norway. It concluded that the size of welfare spending matters, and that universal benefits redistribute more to the poorest than targeted ones. This is because the amount of redistribution depends not simply on how much of each pound is targeted on the poorest, but also on how many pounds government has to spend in the first place. Targeting makes people less willing to contribute through taxation.
