This paper examines a hypothesis that there is a negative correlation between the activity in social organizations and the support for the welfare state. The hypothesis was inspired by the study showing a reinforcing effect of welfare spending on social capital indicators and a negative substitution effect on informal solidarity (van Oorschot, Arts and Halman 2005). The analysis was performed using data from the 2008/2016 European Social Survey, taking into consideration additional sociodemographic variables. The results revealed a lack of correlation between the associational activity and the support for the welfare state, and a relatively coherent pattern of impact of the control variables on associational activity.