COVID-19 has transformed the British welfare state. The government has created millions of new beneficiaries, spent tens of billions of pounds it doesn’t have and created a mountain of public debt. And yet, when the crisis has passed, we will be left with all the old problems of welfare and well-being which we have systematically failed to address over the past 50 years.
In this book, Christopher Pierson argues that we need to think quite differently about how we can ensure our collective well-being in the future. To do this, he looks backwards to the welfare state’s origins and development as well as forwards, unearthing some surprising solutions in unexpected places.
Tony Blair was the longest serving Labour Prime Minister in British history. This book, the third in a trilogy of books on New Labour edited by Martin Powell, analyses the legacy of his government for social policy, focusing on the extent to which it has changed the UK welfare state. Drawing on both conceptual and empirical evidence, the book offers forward-looking speculation on emerging and future welfare issues.
The book’s high-profile contributors examine the content and extent of change. They explore which of the elements of modernisation matter for their area. Which sectors saw the greatest degree of change? Do terms such as ‘modern welfare state’ or ‘social investment state’ have any resonance? They also examine change over time with reference to the terms of the government. Was reform a fairly continuous event, or was it concentrated in certain periods? Finally, the contributors give an assessment of likely policy direction under a future Labour or Conservative government.
Previous books in the trilogy are “New Labour, new welfare state?" (1999) and “Evaluating New Labour’s welfare reforms" (2002) (see below). The works should be read by academics, undergraduates and post-graduates on courses in social policy, public policy and political science.
This comprehensive study provides a thorough account of important policy developments in the Netherlands that are significant beyond the borders of the Dutch welfare state. It demonstrates the dramatic changes that have taken place in the protection of old and new social risks, exploring the mechanisms behind these changes in the context of corporatist welfare state institutions. This book is essential for welfare state scholars, graduate students and policy makers.
The New Labour government elected in May 1997 claimed that it would modernise the welfare state, by rejecting the solutions of both the Old Left and the New Right.
New Labour, new welfare state? provides the first comprehensive examination of the social policy of New Labour; compares and contrasts current policy areas with both the Old Left and the New Right and applies the concept of the ‘third way’ to individual policy areas and to broader themes which cut across policy areas.
The contributors provide a comprehensive account of developments in the main policy areas and in the themes of citizenship and accountability, placing these within a wider framework of the ‘third way’. They find a complex picture. Although the exact shape of the new welfare state is difficult to detect, it is clear that there have been major changes in areas such as citizenship, the mixed economy of welfare, the centrality of work in an active welfare state, and the appearance of new elements such as joined up government at the centre and new partnerships of governance at the periphery.
New Labour, new welfare state? provides topical information on the debate on the future of the welfare state and is essential reading for students and researchers in social policy, politics and sociology.
Richard Titmuss (1907-1973) was a pioneer in the field of social administration (now social policy) and this reissued classic contains a selection of his most famous writing on social issues. It covers subjects ranging from the position of women in society, changes in family life, and the social effects of industrialisation, to the problems of an ageing population, pensions, social security and taxation policy, and the development of the national health service. This collection contains one of Titmuss’s most original contributions to the analysis of welfare policy – his reflections on ‘The social division of welfare’. The book stands the test of time as representative of his thinking, and as an inspiration to those who wrestle with the complex issues of our welfare state.
119 ov er vie w© The Policy Press • 2012 • ISSN 1759-8273 Journal of Poverty and Social Justice • vol 20 • no 2 • 2012 • 119-34 • http://dx.doi.org/10.1332/175982712X652023 Overview: resisting welfare state restructuring in the UK Peter Taylor-Gooby The UK Coalition government’s cut-backs and restructuring of the welfare state imply considerable risks for citizens and for its own economic legacy and re-election prospects. They form part of a larger strategy to set the UK political economy on an entirely new path. This article reviews current proposals and
123 FIVE The welfare state debate 10 October 1950 Dear Taoiseach The Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland at their meeting on October 10th had under consideration the proposals for a Mother and Child health service and other kindred medical services. They recognise that these proposals are motivated by a sincere desire to improve public health, but they feel bound by their office to consider whether the proposals are in accordance with Catholic moral teaching. In their opinion the powers taken by the State in the proposed Mother and Child Health Service are
Created during and after the Second World War, the British Welfare State seemed to promise welfare for all, but, in its original form, excluded millions of disabled people. This book examines attempts in the subsequent three decades to reverse this exclusion. It is the first to contextualise disability historically in the welfare state and under each government of the period. It looks at how disability policy and perceptions were slow to change as a welfare issue, which is very timely in today’s climate of austerity. It also provides the first major analysis of the Disablement Income Group, one of the most powerful pressure groups in the period and the 1972 Thalidomide campaign and its effect on the Heath government. Given the recent emergence of the history of disability in Britain as a major area of research, the book will be ideal for academics, students and activists seeking a better understanding of the topic.
The British welfare state is traditionally understood to be comprised of five main services: health, housing, social security, education and the ‘personal social services’, such as social care and child protection.
In this book, Paul Spicker offers an original take on the role of the state in relation to these services, along with three other areas where institutional services have been developed: employment services, equalities and public services, such as roads, parks, libraries and rescue services.
Dismissing false and misleading narratives, this book profiles the real problems that need to be addressed and offers inspiration for a better path forward.
