This book by Udaya R Waglé situates ethnic heterogeneity in the larger discussion of the welfare state and its redistributive outcomes, poverty and inequality, in high income countries. By using comprehensive, longitudinal data covering up to 2010, Waglé makes a major milestone in comparative welfare state research both conceptually and methodologically. Conceptually, this book elevates the relevance of growing ethnic heterogeneity in thinking about how politics and economics of the welfare state operate, collectively impacting the magnitudes of poverty and inequality. Methodologically, the analysis conducted in this book provides broader empirical tests for the many propositions and discourses found in the literature based largely on anecdotal evidence, case studies, and unjustifiably limited quantitative data. A thorough and insightful analysis presented in this book helps students, researchers, and policymakers better understand the ethnic heterogeneity connections of the welfare state and redistribution, together with a comparative perspective of the changing faces of ethnic heterogeneity, welfare state policies, and poverty and inequality in high income countries.