Topic 3-Introduction to the Welfare State

• What is the welfare state?

  -Referred to as 'state' or 'public' sector

  -A system in place that looks after people

  -This is often done through the use of social policies

  -'Cradle to grave' care: Care from birth to death

  -Implemented using resources collected through taxation
• Origins of the welfare state

  -The Beveridge report

  -Written to combat the 'five giants on the road to recovery'-Want, Ignorance, Disease, Idleness, Squalor.

  -Beveridge highlighted these giants after seeing the effects of WWII

  -Many families were deprived/ experiencing the five giants

  -As a result, the welfare state finally came into effect in 1948 when the NHS was founded on July 5th
• What does the welfare state have to offer?

  -Tax systems (child tax credit)

  -Social security (benefits and housing support)

  -Social services via local council (social workers, care homes...)

  -Free education up until 18 years old

  -NHS (antenatal, postnatal, hospitals, GPs, opticians...)
• Evaluation

  -->Strengths:

  -Provides a safety net

  -A wider range of resources to meet a variety of people and needs

  -Accountability for progress and failure

  -Direct control and regulation of quality

  -->Weakness:

  -may believe that not enough money is given to the welfare state due to high rates of deprivation
• Welfare provisions


  -This range of provision that is available is known as 'welfare pluralism'. In society today, we have a 'mixed economy' which is where people use a variety of different providers depending on their needs

  -There are four types of welfare provision:

  -->Informal- Family, friends, neighbours

  -->Voluntary- Charities, churches

  -->Private- Businesses and corporations

  -->Public sector The State/ Government- Through taxation and government funding
• Strengths of mixed economy

  -->Informal- provided informally and free. Lending money on an informal basis.

  -->Voluntary-not created or controlled by the government. fill some gaps left by the safety net provided by the state by providing help and information in areas where state assistance is too little or non-existent. provide cheaper services than those provided by the state or private sectors. play important roles in pressure groups.

  --> The private sector- provides welfare services such as private hospitals, schools, care homes, private pensions, and medical insurance. New Right often sees the private sector as more efficient and effective than state pensions.
• weaknesses of mixed economy

  -->Informal- women are more likely to be carers. makeup 73% of people receiving a Carer's allowance for caring for 35 hours or more a week. assumed married women didn't need the same level of social security as men as they would take care of families.

  -->Voluntary- non-profit making organizations

  -->Private sector- access only to those who can afford it. create a two-tier provision with the greatest benefits going to those who can afford to pay. private services can fail and companies can go bankrupt.
• Is the mixed provision of economy sufficient in supporting individuals in British society?

  -->Marxist:

  -Welfare is there to buy off the working-class revolution

  -By pretending to address inequality and through keeping the proletariat healthy for a more effective labor force

  -The welfare state is a form of social control

  -->Feminist:

  -The welfare state supports patriarchy

  -Apparent inadequacy of support for women

  -The system benefits full-time working men
• Government responses to poverty

  -->There are four political ideologies that we refer to when looking at government responses to poverty:

  -Social Democracy 1951- 1979

  -The Third Way 1997- 2010

  -New Right 1979- 1997

  -Neoliberalism 2010-2015
• Social Democracy


  -Various governments throughout the beginning of the welfare state

  -The beginning of the welfare state was mainly Labour influenced with Prime Minister, Clement Attlee

  -Government responses at this time was based on The Beveridge Report (tackling WIDIS)

  -Introduces to meet demands of Post War Britain

  -Led to the development of Post War consensus- the idea that the State should play a major in the welfare state

  -Social inequality threatens stability of society, therefore cradle to grave care should be implemented.
• Evaluation

  -->Strengths:

  -Established the first welfare services of its kind and in response to some of society's needs.

  -Acknowledgment that some groups in society need further support.

  -->Limitations:

  -These systems were only established from the Beveridge report, researcher bias and representativeness needs to be taken into consideration.

  -Funding may have to be pulled from other services/resources.
• New Right


  -Privatise companies and create competition.

  -Policies reflecting the Dependency Culture theory

  -Welfare services are better quality when they are not provided by the state.

  -Taxation should be kept to the minimum.

  -Main aim - to 'shrink' the welfare state or 'roll back' the welfare state

  -Responsibility for social housing moved away from the state and to the third (voluntary) sector housing associations instead. -Council house tenants were granted the 'right to buy' their rented properties.

  -Social security benefits were increasingly means-tested.

  -Residential care was moved from government authorities to private and voluntary providers.
• Evaluation

  -->Strengths:

  -Their belief that benefits should not be universal and only for those in absolute need allows for government spending to be distributed elsewhere.

  -Having private organisations could be seen to improve standards for services as they are constantly in competition. This has sometimes encouraged improvement of state provisions.

  -->Limitations:

  -There is a lot of emphasis on the generosity of the welfare state/'nanny state'. There are many in society who may need the support temporarily and do not intend to become dependent on welfare support.

  -The encouragement of private welfare organisations competing with each other puts unnecessary pressure on people to be able to afford them- creates social inequality. As a knock on effect they may turn to family or charitable organisations.
• The Third Way


  -Positioned between neoliberalism on the right and social democracy on the left.

  -Promoting opportunity instead of dependence, 'a hand up, not a hand out'.
• Evaluation

  -->Strengths:

  -Following on from the New Right, New Labour ensured there was a stronger emphasis on tackling the problems of poverty and social exclusion.

  -Rather than victim blaming like the New Right, the aim was to give people a hand up through the benefits system into becoming self-supporting citizens through well-paid and secure employment, rather than keeping them dependent on welfare-state handouts.

  -->Limitations:

  -They still retained some of the previous New Right approach through using a range of private welfare providers and encouraging self-help.

  -An increase in further benefit systems needs to be funded through taxation which inevitably lead to tax rises which may cause others to struggle.
• Neo- Liberalism


  -Reform of the welfare state a central focus. Continued New Labour's focus on the working-poor.

  -NHS in England reorganised so that there was an increase in the role of private sector companies in the NHS.

  -Numbers on waiting lists for social housing continued to grow as cuts were made. The 'Bedroom Tax' was introduced whereby people were taxed for 'under-occupancy'.
• Evaluation

  -->Strengths:

  -A stronger emphasis was placed on the cultural and individual aspects of poverty, rather than material inequalities and wealth distribution. Provided a new perspective.

  -->Limitations

  -These responses led to the re-emergence of the 'deserving' and 'undeserving poor'- welfare policies took on the form of support for 'strivers' and 'hard-working families', with disdain expressed for those on welfare benefits regarded as 'shirkers'.

  -Cuts in the value of benefits, which hit the poorest the hardest.
• Dominant Political Ideologies

  -->SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC (Old Labour), Post-war - 1979

  Prime minister(s): Winston Churchill, Clement Atlee

  Harold Wilson.

  -->NEW RIGHT (Conservative), 1979 - 1997

  Prime minister(s): Margaret Thatcher, John Major

  -->THIRD WAY (New Labour), 1997 - 2010

  Prime minister(s): Tony Blair, Gordon Brown

  -->NEOLIBERALISM (Coalition- Conservative + Liberal Democrats // Conservatives + DUP), 2010 - 2015

  Prime minister(s):David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Theresa May

  Arlene Foster
• Social Democratic policies

  -->Policy: Universal benefits

  -Explain: Benefits that were available to all, regardless of income.

  -Examples: How would it tackle poverty:

  -To ensure that everyone received help and assistance

  -To remove the stigma of claiming benefits due to lack of income

  -To make the process easy because everyone was entitled
• Evaluation


  -->Strengths- The Welfare State: Extremely successful at tackling poverty and WIDIS

  -->Limitations- The Welfare State: Cost the economy huge amounts, which increased over the years

  -Universal benefits: Too expensive; as a result, many were unable to benefit due to running out of money.
• New Right policies

  -->Policy: Privatisation

  -Explain: Aim to shrink the welfare state and open up competition between businesses.

  -How would it tackle poverty: This would drive up competition, standards and efficiency and encourage entrepreneurs to set up businesses which would then create jobs and promote the 'trickle down of wealth'.

  -->Policy: Grants

  -Explain: Grants were replaced with loans, charges were introduced for eye tests and dentistry work.

  -How would it tackle poverty: This meant that some people then couldn't afford eye tests and dentistry work, thus reinforcing the class divide. This also deterred working-class children from going to university because the grants they once would have received became loans which was a daunting thing to have to pay back.
• Evaluation

  -->Strengths:

  -Privatisation:increased revenue, reduction in government borrowing, promotion of competition and the promotion of efficiency.

  -Grants: help finance a broad range of services, including health care, education, social services, infrastructure, and public safety.

  -->Limitations:

  -Privatisation: The rich got richer and the poor got poorer, so generally this policy failed.

  -Grants: This simply increased the class divide and inequality grew, failing to tackle poverty.
• Third Way policies

  -->Policy: National Minimum Wage (1998)

  -A policy enforcing minimum wage for workers aims to tackle poverty by providing decent wages and promoting work-life balance over benefits.

  -->Policy: Sure Start Centres

  -The government programme offers support services for parents and children in disadvantaged areas, aiming to tackle poverty by providing education and support to help them understand their rights and access to resources, thereby breaking the cycle of deprivation.

  -->Policy: Academies Programme

  -The introduction of an 'academy' programme in secondary schools in England and Wales aims to tackle poverty by transforming under-performing schools into academies, funded by businesses.

  -->Policy: Tax Credits

  -Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits are 'top-up' credits provided to families with children and low-income individuals to help them achieve a decent standard of living.

  -->Policy: New Deal

  -To tackle poverty, schools and colleges aim to equip students with practical skills for the workplace and beyond education. National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are introduced, providing skills like health and social care, enabling students to enter the workforce without starting at the bottom.
• Evaluation

  -->Strengths- National Minimal Wage: Effective in tackling absolute poverty; minimised exploitation of vulnerable groups

  -Academies programme: drive up standards and narrow the gap in the education system

  -Child Tax Credit: Very effective in reducing child poverty - reducing it from 35% to 19%

  -New Deal: Enabled the development of transferable skills

  -->Limitations- National Minimal Wage: Doesn't meet the average living wage

  -Academies programme: critics argue that academisation is just an extension of privatisation

  -New Deal: Marxist sociologists criticise the New Deal as it only supplies skills for low-paid work, reinforcing the class divide and not offering opportunities to escape poverty. The ruling class would benefit as they would have a cheap labour force, instead of helping those poor into adequate skilled work.
• Neoliberalism: Coalition government(2010-2015)


  -->Policy: The 'Big Society'

  -The plan aims to revolutionize the role of community and voluntary organisations in welfare provision, reducing dependency on the state. It will tackle poverty by encouraging volunteering, social action, charitable giving, supporting charities, and funding neighbourhood groups and charities.

  -->Policy: Triple lock system

  -A policy aims to protect pensioners by increasing state pensions based on inflation, wages, or 2.5%, thereby addressing poverty by ensuring pensioners maintain a decent standard of living.

  -->Policy: The Universal Credit

  -The proposed system replaces six existing benefits for unemployed/low-income working-age individuals, aiming to simplify the benefits system and tackle poverty by making it 'pay to be in work', gradually decreasing benefits as income increases.

  -->Policy: End to the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and increased tuition fees.

  -New Labour introduced the EMA to support low-income children attending university, but the Coalition government abolished it and increased tuition fees to £9,000 annually, claiming it wouldn't address poverty, but instead spent the money elsewhere.
• Evaluation

  1. The inverse care law failed to effectively address the needs of those most in need, leading to increased societal division.

  2. Pensioners are now better off than those in work, with higher weekly incomes. This reduces poverty among pensioners but costs the economy a significant amount due to longer living periods and an ever-growing pensioner population. The triple lock system and similar initiatives are not long-term viable.

  3. Critics argue that the system is unjust, as it fails to simplify complex needs and provides a single benefit, causing hardship for those most in need.

  4. Exorbitant tuition fees, lack of government support, discouraged working-class students from attending university, increasing the class divide and separating families with financial means from those without.