post ww2 welfare state Flashcards
What is a welfare settlement
a temporary consensus of ideas
about how social problems and social injustices should be addressed
who should be entitled to welfare.
about how welfare should be organised
the outcome of negotiation between key groups with power in society
Postwar welfare settlement
A new settlement after World War 2 based on social democratic ideas of greater social equality and social citizenship (rights to a minimum standard of living) as the basis for social cohesion.
The state takes a much bigger role in the economy and in the provision of welfare.
William Beveridge
1942 Beveridge Report
Social Insurance and Allied Services
Five giants
what are the five giants?
Want Idleness Disease Ignorance Squalor
how Disease was fought
National Health Service Act 1946 Universal Free at the point of use Paid for out of taxation Access to GP and hospital services, dental and optical services, no charges for medicines or treatments.
How squalor was fought
Cheap loans to local authorities to fund housebuilding for rent
Restrictions on private housebuilding because of shortage of building materials
New Towns Act 1946
How ignorance was fought
Education Act 1944
Free, universal secondary education (‘tripartite system’)
‘Equality of opportunity’ / meritocratic principle
Leaving age raised to 15 in 1947
How idleness was fought
An assumption that the state would guarantee full male employment
How Want (poverty) was fought
A mix of universal and selective cash transfers
National Health Insurance Act 1946 Universal cash transfers (no means test) Flat rate Contributory Old age, sickness, unemployment benefits ‘Cradle to Grave’ Family Allowances Act 1945 Universal cash transfer Paid to mothers National Assistance Act 1948 Selective (means-tested) cash transfers for those ‘in need’
Main features of the postwar welfare settlement
Keynesian economic principles of state intervention to regulate the booms and slumps of capitalism
Social democratic political principles of social justice for all citizens without replacing capitalism
Built around the ideas of social rights and social citizenship as an entitlement to a minimum standard of living.
Mainly universal, but with some selective cash transfers
Redistributive – more horizontal (from one point in an individual’s life to another) than vertical (from rich to poor)
Some services and benefits provided by central government, others by local government
Welfare mix of mainly state provision with supporting roles for voluntary and private sectors
A partial decommodification of labour: the value of labour as expressed in wages was topped up with a social wage. Access to the social wage was primarily dependent on participation in paid work or marriage to a paid worker.
What did social policy writers say about the PWWS 50 years ago ?
TH MARSHALL (1965)
Social policy emerged in opposition to capitalism
Social policy had not only done so much to humanise conditions of life and work, it had altered the structure of society by admitting the working class to full membership of the community and giving its members the full status of citizenship
What did social policy writers say about the PWWS 50 years ago ?
John Saville (1957)
Social policy emerged as part of capitalism – assisting in the process of creating and regulating a ‘wage society’
The Welfare state has come about as a result of the interaction of three main factors:
the requirements of industrial capitalism for a more efficient environment in which to operate and in particular the need for a highly productive labour force;
the struggle of the working class against their exploitation;
recognition by the property owners of the price that has to be paid for political security.
Social policy emerged as part of capitalism – assisting in the process of creating and regulating a ‘wage society’
The Welfare state has come about as a result of the interaction of three main factors:
the requirements of industrial capitalism for a more efficient environment in which to operate and in particular the need for a highly productive labour force;
the struggle of the working class against their exploitation;
recognition by the property owners of the price that has to be paid for political security.
Capitalism and welfare
Beland
many theories of the relationship between capitalism and welfare (why do capitalist societies have social policies ?) imply that social policy emerged in opposition to capitalism
Could it be that social policy emerged as part of capitalism – assisting in the process of creating and regulating a ‘wage society’ ?
TH Marshall’s theory of citizenship
Citizenship is made up of three sets of rights:
Civil rights: freedom of contract, speech and property ownership
Political rights: right to vote
Social rights: right to a minimum standard of living
In Britain, these rights were won in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries respectively.
Citizenship attenuates the worst inequalities of capitalism
Citizenship rights transform capitalism to
democratic-welfare-capitalism
The conflict between social classes is permanently settled
