3) Welfare state. Flashcards
What is welfare in the UK?
Welfare pluralism: there are multiple sources of welfare- these are primarily provided by the state but are also provided by a range of private and voluntary sources.
Define ‘cradle to the grave’ welfare.
People are looked after from birth to death by the welfare state through child benefit, pensions and the NHS (link nanny state.)
Beveridge report: 1942.
Based on 4 assumptions: full employment, universal welfare, free healthcare+ education, women are housewives.
Tackle the 5 giants:
-Want- benefits.
-Disease: free healthcare.
-Ignorance: free+ compulsory education.
-Worklessness: job centre, unemployment benefits.
-Squalor: council houses.
State welfare.
-The NHS.
-Benefits (unemployment, child.)
(Marxist- Gramski- Fake caring face of capitalism.)
Strengths and weaknesses of state welfare.
S: Acts as a safety net when private sector fails eg companies going bankrupt due to COVID.
Provides a wider range of services.
Can be held accountable for failings eg underperforming schools+ ofsted.
W: At the mercy of government funding, which can be cut eg NHS funding cuts, tax cuts for the rich, universal credit.
There can be a lot of strain on state services eg strain on the NHS due to COVID, furlough scheme for the unemployed.
Informal welfare provision.
Provided by family and friends eg:
-Lending money or housing.
-Illness/ disability care.
-Childcare (going to grandparents’ house.)
-Weekly visits for pensioners.
-Food+ education for children.
How does the government benefit from informal welfare?
-Don’t have to spend money.
-Puts less strain on state services.
-Saves money for taxpayers.
Impact of informal welfare on young people.
-Poor education from missed school.
-Miss out on socialisation.
-Adult responsibilities at a young age.
-Poor mental health.
Feminism: girls are more likely to be carers because of gender roles- women should be carers.
The Voluntary sector.
Non-profit organisations- charities. Made of volunteers and payed staff. Fill in gaps in state welfare.
Eg: Macmillan, Shelter (homelessness), NSPCC (children), Age UK.
Strengths and weaknesses of the voluntary sector.
S: -Provides professional carers- Macmillan nurses with personal experience, who know how to deal with it.
-Responds quickly- NSPCC available more readily than school in holidays. Less waiting time+ locally based.
-Specialised- Age UK made for old people- stop discrimination.
-Acts as a pressure group, highlighting inequalities to gov- puts more resources towards an issue.
W: -Reliant on donations- not guaranteed.
-Doesn’t exist in some areas where it is needed- lack of volunteers or funds. Lack of demand in some areas.
-Funding cuts- may have to close.
Voluntary sector+ cost of living.
Raised demand for charities- more people may donate for personal reasons or public concern. The government will see the importance and adapt to the issues.
May result in less volunteering and donations. More need it, putting a strain on the services.
The private sector.
Private hospitals (BUPA), schools, care homes.
-New right: more efficient.
-Only available for the wealthy, so the disadvantaged will not get it. The rich can queue jump eg private healthcare to be at the top of a waitlist.
Marxism and the private sector.
The proletariat can not afford private.
-Private ownership: bourgeoisie make profit.
-Cycle of deprivation: poor health= poor education.
-Divide+ rule: proletariat blame each other fr lack of resources, when it is the gov’s underfunding to blame.
-People work harder to afford decent healthcare, being further exploited by the bourgeoisie.
Government responses to poverty and welfare: pre-Thatcher
The social democratic model was present in Britain until the late 70s, when Thatcher became prime minister (market liberal model). This provided welfare services, benefits for unemployment, free childcare+ education, council houses.
New right+ Conservative gov response.
-Raise the quality of the UK through competition: eliminate dependancy culture through
self-sufficiency.
-Target benefits to only the ‘deserving poor’ eg sick+ disabled people.
-Serious cuts to welfare and benefits.
-Child support allowances introduced to penalise absent fathers.
Define New Labour.
1997: Blair (social democratic, not socialist) came into power. Kept some new right elements. ‘Hand up rather than hand out’: help the poor to be self-supporting through benefits.
New Labour gov response.
-Introduced minimum wage.
-Sure-start centres: help the education of disadvantaged children+ provide family support+ advice. Prevent children from falling behind in school.
-Free childcare 3-4+ maternity leave 6-9months.
-Family intervention project: intervene when there are multiple problems eg antisocial behaviour, money.
-Tax credit: give people with with children, disabilities.
Coalition gov (Lib dems+ Conservatives) 2010-15.
Combined the New Right approach and the supportive elements of the social democratic New Labour.
-Continued support for childcare, parenting and child poverty.
-Introduced universal credit: made it easier to claim benefits. Combined multiple kinds.
Weaknesses of childcare- contemporary example.
Lack of education mostly affects the working class. If someone submits an application 1 day late, they’ll have to miss out on work to look after their child- worse if they are a single parent. They’ll have to rely on inadequate benefits.
Inverse care law (Grand.)
The groups that need help the most will get the lest funding, and the ones that need it the lest get the most spent. Most welfare goes to everyone, meaning that the middle class benefit the most.
Why the welfare state is not succeeding.
-Many people are denied benefits.
-Some childcare is not free any more.
-Ethnic minorities are less likely to get welfare.
-1/3 children are still in poverty.
-Rising need for food banks.
-Strain on the NHS due to underfunding.
-Middle class do better in education.
-Benefit scroungers (NR.)
Racial inequality.
-White British people are more favoured by employers.
-Majority of ethnic minorities are working class.
-Language barriers result in not being able to voice need for benefits.
Gender inequality.
-Childcare: working class women have to take time off work to be primary carers of children, where rich people can pay for private childcare.
-Women are less likely to be believed about medical conditions eg severe period pain.
