The Richer, The Poorer


Book Description

The Richer, The Poorer charts the rollercoaster history of both rich and poor and the mechanisms that link wealth and impoverishment. This landmark book shows how, for 200 years, Britain’s most powerful elites have enriched themselves at the expense of surging inequality, mass poverty and weakened social resilience. Stewart Lansley reveals how Britain’s model of ‘extractive capitalism’ – with a small elite securing an excessive slice of the economic cake – has created a two-century-long ‘high-inequality, high-poverty’ cycle, one broken for only a brief period after the Second World War. Why, he asks, are rich and poor citizens judged by very different standards? Why has social progress been so narrowly shared? With growing calls for a fairer post-COVID-19 society, what needs to be done to break Britain’s destructive poverty/inequality cycle?







Breadline Britain


Book Description

Poverty in Britain is at post-war highs and - even with economic growth -is set to increase yet further. Food bank queues are growing, levels of severe deprivation have been rising, and increasing numbers of children are left with their most basic needs unmet. Based on exclusive access to the largest ever survey of poverty in the UK, and its predecessor surveys in the 1980s and 1990s, Stewart Lansley and Joanna Mack track changes in deprivation and paint a devastating picture of the reality of poverty today and its causes. Shattering the myth that poverty is the fault of the poor and a generous benefit system, they show that the blame lies with the massive social and economic upheaval that has shifted power from the workforce to corporations and swelled the ranks of the working poor, a group increasingly at the mercy of low-pay, zero-hour contracts and downward social mobility. The high levels of poverty in the UK are not ordained but can be traced directly to the political choices taken by successive governments. Lansley and Mack outline an alternative economic and social strategy that is both perfectly feasible and urgently necessary if we are to reverse the course of the last three decades. One of Listmuse's Greatest British Politics books




Social Work and Social Policy


Book Description

An understanding of social policy is vital for engaging practically with social work values, and dealing with political and ethical questions about responsibility, rights and our understanding of ‘the good society’. This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to social policy, tailored to the needs of a social work audience. The new edition of this popular and accessible text analyses current policies and policy themes relevant to social work, and locates them in the context of fundamental social policy principles and debates. It discusses the nature of social policy and its relationship to social work, and covers essential themes such as: - service user participation and involvement - the balance between individual, societal and state responsibility for people’s wellbeing - the interactions of the state, the private sector, voluntary organisations and the family - the relationships between needs, rights and choices - the purposes and challenges of professional social work - the meanings of ‘equality’, ‘prevention’ and ‘personalisation’. Each chapter ends with activities for reflection and analysis, and suggestions for further reading. Social Work and Social Policy is invaluable for students undertaking social work qualifying courses, all of whom are required to demonstrate an understanding of the social policy contexts of practice.







Psychology, Human Growth and Development for Social Work


Book Description

This exciting new edition is an engaging and accessible introduction to understanding human behaviour and development from a psychological perspective. Written by a psychologist with extensive teaching experience, it offers a clear and systematic exploration of psychological concepts and research, and discussion of their relevance for social work practice. The psychological framework provides thematic coherence for a uniquely wide range of material, from brain development to communication skills, psychiatric diagnoses to forms of discrimination. With a logical and intuitive structure, it's perfect for Human Growth and Development modules and a range of other Social Work modules with psychological content, enabling students to see how different elements of theory and research connect together for practical application.




Challenge and Change for the Early Years Workforce


Book Description

The early years sector is going through a period of unprecedented change. This has resulted in significant challenges for the early years workforce and it is crucial that settings, teams, leaders and individual practitioners respond to these if they wish to continue to provide the best care and education for young children. This timely text identifies and addresses the key challenges for those working with young children from managing personal and professional change, adapting to new legislation and considering new ways of thinking about children’s early learning. It considers the core knowledge and understanding of good practice that enables practitioners to respond appropriately and with confidence to issues they face on daily basis. Covering a wide range of diverse topics including professional identity, neuroscience, outdoor education, literacy, special educational needs, the family and the ‚risk‘ factor, the book encourages the reader to reflect upon their own views and attitudes towards change practice and includes: Chapter overviews and summary boxes Case studies to highlight good practice Questions to promote debate Annotated further reading Aimed specifically at those that are studying and working with children from birth to 8, this book will be a core text for Foundation Degrees in early years, early childhood studies and those working towards Early Years Teacher Status.




Governing for the Future


Book Description

The book focuses on how to enhance the political incentives on democratically-elected governments to protect the interests of future generations.




Diversity and Welfare Provision


Book Description

Recognising diverse groups within society is a vital part of policy research and analysis, yet few texts have drawn together the breadth of experiences of welfare provision from a diverse group of citizens. This book fills this gap, by exploring how diverse citizens experience welfare provision. It aims to promote debate about the importance of social divisions in society and to address the gaps in research, in relation to race, ethnicity, disability, gender and LGBTQ+. It comes at a crucial time as we emerge out of a decade of austerity, a global pandemic and Brexit, where issues of diversity have been at the forefront of debates, and renews the call for analysis within social policy, particularly on issues of diversity in the 21st century context.




Fair Society, Healthy Lives


Book Description