introduction to social policy essay 1

7/29/2019 Introduction to Social Policy Essay 1

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Introduction to Social Policy Essay 1: Sources

Alcock, P. May, N. and Rowlingson, K. (eds) (2008) The students Companion to Social Policy

Chap 1

Welfare pluralismthe recognition that state provision is only one feature of a broadermixture ofdiffering forms and levels of welfare service p9

This shift in focus of social policy as going from the welfare state to the welfare mix social forces, and hence social policies too, are dynamic. The legacy of the past will continue

to structure the future; but change is always taking place. P9

Chap 4

Alongside the market, and very often in response to its failures to provide either adequatelywaged work or adequately priced goods and services, NGOs developed.

The term social welfare pertains to the spectrum of social arrangements in place to meetneeds of individuals and groups, and to tackle social problems.

Social policy implies government welfare, however, there are other sectors which play amajor role in welfare provisionwelfare for most people is still provided through other

social mechanisms than the state p27

Then goes onto articulate the different sectors see book & paraphrase straight into essaydoc.

Social policy as an area of study is concerned with the way all these institutions affect thewelfare of individuals and groups p27

The family is the original and archetypal form of welfare aas well as being

Chapter 29 glennerster

There is no intrinsic reason why individuals cannot privately purchase welfare services,provided they have the money. However there are basic characteristics of many human

needs and the services that meet them that mean they are not well suited to individual

purchases in the marketplace p227

Three kinds of failure market failure, information failure and behavioural failure andadditionally a fourthcapital market failure

Savings bank concept that we pool our resources throughout our working lives in order topay for times when we need welfare, which are largely times when we are not able to work,

eg childcare & pensions etc.

Capital market failure is when the market fails to provide the necessary capital or loan toafford those provision who cannot afford it in that moment in time.

Hill, M. (2003) Understanding Social Policy(Seventh Edition)

Chap1


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Social policy may be defined as policy activities which influence welfare. While non-statebodies may be described as having policies , a generic expression like social policy is

primarily used to define the role of the state in relation to the welfare of its citizens. P1

Welfare & wellbeing are interchangeable words to most concerned with social policy Definition of Social Policy as broadly those of the state and other sectors in delivering

welfare/wellbeing to citizens.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/welfare.htm

(accessed 15/11/10)

Fraser, D. (2003) The Evolution of the British Welfare State

The Beveridge report, released in December 1942 (Fraser, 2003) rapidly became theblueprint for the modern British welfare state (nationalarchives.gov.uk) and was

instrumental in inspiring Labours pioneering creation in a landslide victory in the first post-

war electiona victory helped largely by their mandate to implement the recommendationsof the report (ibid)

Chapter 10 265

Welfare State became deeply embedded in the British political and social culture -265 withboth parties attempting to take credit for its successes (ibid).

Was developed during a time of high employmentsuch propitious circumstances (ibid)allowed the welfare state to develop deep roots which would be both difficult and

electorally dangerous to alter (ibid:265).

the mid-twentieth century Labour and Conservative governments were typified more byconsensus than differences of approach. Although possessing differing outlooks and

approaches, many of their policies had similar outcomes.

The resignations of Prime Minister Howard Wilson (1951) and Chancellor Peter Thorneycroft(1958) demonstrated that the welfare state could not be immune to the pressures of

economic life (ibid:266)

However the Conservatives equally were not free to disproportionately savage (ibid:266)the welfare state in implementing their own policies. Indeed this period is characterised by

the pragmatic nature in which both parties were limited in their independence to producepolicies.

Nicholas Timmins (quoted in Fraser, 2003:266) posits In these circumstances and heldwithin pragmatic grounds, the differences between parties need make no difference to the

broad shape of welfare

The consensus of the mid twentieth century was important, yet ideological differences insome policy areas for instance, education and private housing were present yet in practice

both parties governments often ended up in similar positions (ibid:266)

Instinctively Conservatives favoured individual provision and free market solutions and sothe Welfare State became a compensation for the areas of economic and social life where
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/welfare.htmhttp://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/welfare.htmhttp://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/welfare.htm


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the free market did not deliver (ibid:266) MARKET FAILURE EXAMPLEparticuarly useful as

it is the tories making the admittance that the free market cannot provide.

Labour, whilst utilising a different approach, equally saw the importanceit was a valuableinstrument in delivering the wider social and political aspirations of Labour (ibid:267)

Ideological connotations

Even where an ideological welfare had not existed a practical welfare consensus certainlydeveloped (ibid:267

both *parties+ found it necessary to critically review welfare policy in times of economiccrisis (ibid:267)

A relentless growth in social welfare expenditure (ibid:268) from the 1940s to the 1970ssaw welfare expenditure grow faster than national economic growth

Coupled to this, life expectations increased serving to heighten the economic burden viaincreased pensions expenditure

Demographic imperatives could thus be a powerful cause of increased welfareexpenditure (ibid:268)

Technological advances in medicine such as service-led improvements led to ministers ofspending departments to bid for increased funds so that their favoured policy objective

could be delivered -269 This intimates how pressures born of the political structure caused

economic pressures in the Welfare State. One could stipulate that a reflexive interactional

relationship exists between different influential factors on policymaking economic factors

undoubtedly influence policy, yet political even ideological factors could have knock-on

effects on the economy and thus affect the policy approach once more. If political influences

on policy affected economic productivity negatively, it follows that future policymaking

would be undertaken with a more economically austere approach. Indeed, the current

government has argued that the previous Labour governments overextension of funding is

the root cause of their austerity measures.

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/07/david-cameron-debt-interest-deficit)

Thatcherism and the welfare state in crisis 1979-1997

This period saw the welfare state come in for criticism on both sides. Criticism largely concerned with the dependency factor that welfare itself undermined the

will to work and led to unemployed de-motivated to find work

The welfare services such as the NHS developed a producer culture Received criticism from the left for not being flexible enough to adapt to evolving patterns of

social behavoir (ibid:282)

Thatchers election led to a change in thinking about the role of the state by reigning in itsrole and massively reducing public expenditure.

Thatcher was guilty of a bold and radical agenda (ibid:283) Unprecedently, this government used the level of unemployment as an economic tool to

contain inflation (ibid:283)

Unemployment tripled from 3% to 12% in the winter of 1982/3 The conservatives policies of this period demonstrated a fundamental shift in policy.. they

were proposing quite deliberately to increase unemployment
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/07/david-cameron-debt-interest-deficithttp://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/07/david-cameron-debt-interest-deficithttp://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/07/david-cameron-debt-interest-deficithttp://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/07/david-cameron-debt-interest-deficit


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http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/oct/11/equality-report-race-britain-launch

Article on the inqualities of Britain work out how i can integrate this into the paper

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/08/housing-benefit-north-south-divide

http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/carmarthen-journal/mi_8090/is_20100922/welfare-cuts-

1930s/ai_n55328603/

article

Powell, M. (eds) (2007) Understanding the mixed economy of welfare.

Chapter 1 The mixed economy of welfare and the social division of welfare Powell, M.

Mixed economy or welfare pluralism mean the same thing

Best, J. (

Baldock et al Social Policy(eds) Chapter 2 The Politics of Welfare, Manning, N

Social Policy is irremovably enmeshed with governments and politics Political party manifestos routinely include substantial proposals for changes in social

policies 29

Case study 2.1 (box on page 30) The outcomes of Clintons and Thatchers attempts athealthcare reform were determined by politics, rather than rational planning 30

financial resources or lack of them are a pre-eminent constraint on government action 31 Another constraint on policy is the legal structure within the respective nation. For example,

in Britain members of Charter 88 argue the case for a written constitution, as it could

theoretically offer safeguards to citizens against welfare injustices. On the other hand, in the

US, the varied interpretation of constitutional amendments ... has in any case often

undermined their original intentions 32

The rules of government enshrined in constitutions are not therefore independent ofinterpretation , and cannot themselves guarantee particular outcomes 32

Julian Le Grands eminent classification of the mechanisms of state social policy into Directprovision, financial support (as advocated by Friedman) and regulation)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/oct/11/equality-report-race-britain-launchhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/oct/11/equality-report-race-britain-launchhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/08/housing-benefit-north-south-dividehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/08/housing-benefit-north-south-dividehttp://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/carmarthen-journal/mi_8090/is_20100922/welfare-cuts-1930s/ai_n55328603/http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/carmarthen-journal/mi_8090/is_20100922/welfare-cuts-1930s/ai_n55328603/http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/carmarthen-journal/mi_8090/is_20100922/welfare-cuts-1930s/ai_n55328603/http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/carmarthen-journal/mi_8090/is_20100922/welfare-cuts-1930s/ai_n55328603/http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/carmarthen-journal/mi_8090/is_20100922/welfare-cuts-1930s/ai_n55328603/http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/08/housing-benefit-north-south-dividehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/oct/11/equality-report-race-britain-launch


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Governments are not the only source of welfare provision and services, however they remaintremendously important, particularly when considering the political influences on social

policy.

Private market, the voluntary sector and social movement sector, and informal networks aresignificant shapers and providers of welfare. 35

New social problems are infrequently the reason for changes in social policy. The ideas that sustain political parties are frequently developed through pressure groups

and think tanks who take in the task of thinking the unthinkable as far as policies are

concerned. For example previous conservative governments have consulted the Institute of

Economic Affairs (IEA) as well as the Adam Smith Institute, whereas the former Labour

government drew on the Fabian Society amongst others. 41

Chap 5 Social need and patterns of inequality

Arguably, the recognition and satisfaction of need distinguishes the welfare function of thestate from its other roles and activities 111

The definition of social need is crucial to social policy, and the lack of consensus about whichneeds should take priority lies at the conceptual heart of welfare. -111

elucidating the character of social need has real, practical significanceAccess to resourcesand the distribution of these resources are often heavily dependent upon notions of need 111

One of the most significant forms of inequality in the UK is in terms of income distribution There can be no straightforward connections made involving facts about need and the

respective social policies to address them. P129

Blakemore & Griggs Social Policy an introduction chapter 5

The policy dilemmas or choices that lace governments in deciding 'who gets what' can be summarized in two ways.

First, there are choices to be made about distribution and possibly about redistribution of services, resources and money.

And secondly there are choices to be made about funding the welfare system and deciding who will contribute and how

much they will pay. - 78


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History of welfare

Our welfare system is commonly referred to as the Welfare State, a vestige of the massive

significance its introduction carried. The Beveridge report, released in December 1942 (Fraser, 2003)

rapidly became the blueprint for the modern British welfare state (nationalarchives.gov.uk) and was

instrumental in inspiring Labours pioneering creation in a landslide victory in the first post-war

election. A victory helped largely by their mandate to implement the recommendations of the report

(ibid). Beveridgesfive giants -

The Welfare State could be said to operate like a savings bank much of its services are required by

those who cannot afford it at that moment in time, such as healthcare for the elderly and education

*for the young. Effectively, we pool our resources throughout our working lives in order to pay fortimes when we need welfare, which are largely times when we are not able to work (Glennerster,

2008).

introduction to social policy essay 1

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