New Labour's economic policy Flashcards
What were the aims of the New Deal?
- Reshape the Welfare State
- Provide jobs or training out of work or youngsters (250,000 young people)
- Build a £3 m “welfare to work” programme
- Build a ‘one nation’ society
- Main aim was young people and single parents
Description of the Winter Fuel Allowance 1997
A Winter fuel allowance for senior citizens
What are the strengths of the Winter Fuel Allowance 1997
- Granted £100 per person regardless of person’s income
Weaknesses of the Winter Fuel Allowance 1997
- It was a wasteful use of public money which could’ve been directed to areas else where
Description of National Minimum Wage Act 1998
Established £4.85 as minimum hourly wage for adult workers.
What are the strengths of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998?
- Raised wages of 1.5 m workers
- Provisions were made for figure to be altered with rise of living
- When it comes out it immediately raised the wages of 1.5 m workers
What are the weaknesses of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998?
- Conservatives initially opposed it as a threat to jobs
Description of the Jobseeker’s Allowance 1998
- Replaced the existing unemployment benefit and income support with a single Jobseeker’s Allowance.
- Aimed to increase employment
What are the strength’s of the Jobseeker’s Allowance 1998?
- 2.5 m claims
- Meant to streamline system
- People had to show they were actively looking to work
- Increase employment
What are the weaknesses of the Jobseeker’s Allowance 1998?
- Claimants should be encouraged to work they deserve to be treated with understanding not as an effect of dependency culture.
Description of the Working Family Tax Credit 1998
- Aimed to help single parents and reduce child poverty
- Entitled to child allowance which increased wages
What are the strengths of the Working Family Tax Credit 1998?
- Didn’t exclude from receiving other benefits
- Supported those with Children
What are the weaknesses of the Working Family Tax Credit 1998?
- Still a dependency culture
Description of Child Tax Credit 1998
- Aimed to help single parents and reducing child poverty
What are the strengths of Child Tax Credit 1998?
- Didn’t exclude from other benefits
- Right to receive child tax
What are the weakness of Child Tax Credit 1998?
- Dependency Culture
How was Labour’s New Deal different to Thatcherism?
- Full employment wasn’t Thatchers main aim as she didn’t really care whereas the New Deal is more about the people and employment - there is a sense of care for the people
Who was the Chancellor of the Exchequer?
Gordon Brown
What was the relationship like between Blair and Brown?
- Tension and misunderstanding of each other
Detail of economic situation for women
- Women were given pension credits when unable to work because of caring responsibilities
- Childcare provisions extended
What were the strengths of the economic situation for women?
- By 2007 all 3+4 year olds were entitled to 12.5 hours a week of free education
Detail of economic situation for children
- Establishment of Sure Start centres
What were the strengths of the economic situation for children?
- Aimed to help families with children by providing guidance + info to ensure preschool children were ready for school
Detail of the economic situation for The Health Service
- Lots of money poured into NHS - more money for nurses and doctors
- Special delivery unit set up in 2001
What were the strengths of the economic situation for The National Health Service?
- Waiting lists came down and there was more accountability for patients
What were the weaknesses of the economic situation for the National Health Service ?
- Blair was disappointed with the slow rate of change and later thought he should’ve been more radical earlier
- Cost, expensive, leaving a debt
Detail of the economic situation of workers
- Traditionally the party of the workers, but union had been in decline
- % of workforce that had been part of a union had fell from 29% to 26%
- New Labour emphasised pro-business attitudes instead
- extended privitisation
What were the weaknesses of the economic situation for workers?
- All employees weren’t entitled to request up to 3 months of unpaid parental leave for a child under age of 8
Detail of the economic situation of crime
- Did a lot to reduce social exclusion in order to stop crime from happening, but also lengthening prison sentences
What were the strengths of the economic situation for crime?
- Prove Labour could be as tough on crime as Conservatives
What were the weaknesses of the economic situation for crime?
- By 2005 46% of ASBOs went to under 17 year olds
Detail of the economic situation for poverty
- Domestic policy did have an impact on inequality and poverty
- 1999 Blair pledged to end child poverty in 20 years and through policies like tax credit he had brought it down by a quarter by 2005
- Growing fears of youth crime.
What were the strengths of the economic situation for poverty?
- All acts introduced and sure start centers continued to the ending of poverty (aimed to reduce)
What were the weaknesses of the economic situation for poverty?
- Critics would argue that enough wasn’t done
- The gap between rich and poor grew wider
Detail of the economic situation for education
- New Labour aimed to for 50% of young people to go to university
- Raised amount spent on education to 5.6% of GDP
- 1000 new schools opened
- By 2007, number of qualified teachers in state schools rose to 35,000
- Academics funded by private sponsorships
- Class sized reduced
What were the strengths of the economic situation for education?
- Provided special funding to raise standards in under achieving schools in deprived areas
What were the weaknesses of the economic situation for education?
- Cost, leaving a lot of debt for next government
- Number of NEETs increased to almost 20% by 2007
What were the priorities stated on New Labour’s Pledge Card?
-Cutting NHS waiting lists
- Cutting class sized to 30
- - Getting under 25s off benefits + into work
- no rise in income tax
- Fast track punishment for persistent young offenders
What were the successes of Blair’s economic policy?
- Labour inherited a booming economy
- Became a party of government who was trusted with the economy
- Blair was able to reduce employment below Major’s government and keeping inflation low
- Bank of England was giving independence
- Continued economic growth
- ‘New Deal’ policies reduced inequality and helped those disadvantages in society, especially minimum wage
- A growing economy - no more ‘relative decline’ - Labour now seen as party of economic competence
- Three election victories
- Massive investment in education and healthcare leading to some positive change
- Labour Party remained united and appealed to a wider selection of voters
- Devolution (to an extent)
- Peace in NI
- Blair formed and perused new consensus, Third way. Demonstrates public support of this.
- Moved away from ‘workers’
- Blair had forged new consensus, which helps to explain why the Conservatives found it difficult to attack him.
