Breaking Dependency Culture (New Right) Flashcards
Overview
They believed the poor to be part of a dependency culture. Thatcher called the Welfare State the ‘nanny state’, as she thought it was treating adults like children by taking away their capacity for self-reliance and self-responsibility.
government moved away from universal benefits (available to everyone) and placed more emphasis on means tested benefits in an attempt to target the ‘genuine’ poor.
Means tested benefits
benefits are allocated according to the level of household income (means). People need to apply and qualify for this selective benefit. Eg income support, disability benefit.
Universal benefits
benefits available to everyone as a right, regardless of situation eg NHS, education, winter fuel allowance and free travel for pensioners. 90% of the public rely on NHS and state education
Universal benefits are too expensive and a drain on taxation
Universal benefits make the total cost of benefits higher as more people receive them. This is a waste of government resources. Eg every parent used to receive Child Benefit no matter what their income level. This makes benefits too generous and damages the entire country as taxpayers money is diverted away from investment in industry and this harms the economy and jobs.
Moreover, having means tested benefits saves the government money, as less people qualify for the benefit, government spending can be given to more worthy causes.
Universal benefits are not based on need and encourage a dependency culture
Too many people receive universal benefits when they do not need them eg free health care to the wealthy. Giving out benefits too easily means people may give up supporting themselves and become dependent by expecting the state to care for them. Marsland says the expectation that the government will look after our problems makes people give up self-reliance and social responsibility
However, means tested benefits targets those most in need: this ensures that only the ‘genuine’ poor are given benefits; they have to show their need to qualify for the benefit, eg household income.
A03: Advantages of universal benefits
Universal benefits are comprehensive as they ensure that everybody who is in need receives benefits, as no application is necessary.
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These benefits also prevent a low take up of benefits, as with means tested benefits people may fail to take up the benefits they really need as they are ignorant of what is available.
A03: Advantages of universal benefits
Universal benefits can actually save the government money as they have a cheap administration. Universal benefits are cheaper to administer as no expensive bureaucracy, of staff offices and form filling, is required to work out eligibility, so it is cheaper to give it all people
universal benefits avoid the stigma or labelling attached to those on benefits.
1988 Social Security Act
Significant change in social policy as it was designed to break the dependency culture of the poor with a series of social policy reforms that aimed to i. reduce government spending and ii. Improve incentives to work.
Make welfare benefits less attractive
welfare faced real cuts in benefits and a Job Seekers Allowance was introduced in which the unemployed had to prove they were looking for work or face benefit cuts.
Child Support Agency was introduced to make absent parents pay for their children’s maintenance rather than place the burden on the state.
increase in means tested benefits for medical treatment, and social security loans replaced grants. This was designed to make welfare claimants more responsible and to manage their budgets more effectively.
A03 Reforms:
policies were supposed to reduce government spending on the Welfare State. Bartholomew, a New Right theorist, believes high taxation acts as a disincentive to work by reducing the value of wages. He said a lower rate of taxation gives people more incentive to work harder and longer, thus creating more wealth for the country.
unemployment and high levels of poverty, more people needed the support of benefits and so the New Right were actually unsuccessful in their aim of reducing the size of the Welfare State by 1997.
