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This study on the canton of Zug not only highlights the problematic aspects of social welfare. While these are also taken into account, the interest fundamentally encompasses all services provided by society, guaranteed benefits, and mandated measures for people in distress or in situations deemed precarious.

The examined spectrum includes material support for those in need and insurance benefits, as well as relevant counseling services and placement services, or voluntary and enforced outpatient and inpatient care. Who came into focus within the comprehensive social welfare system of social and health services? What legal frameworks were established? What institutions and facilities existed, and which public and private sponsors and actors were involved? How did those affected and participants experience social welfare, and what was daily life like in care facilities?

This broad approach to the topic represents the first attempt to capture social welfare as a complex system of demand and offerings, actors, and options for action, based on a manageable community such as the canton of Zug, which has evolved over 170 years. The fact that no methodological models can be relied upon makes the endeavor both challenging and innovative.