Analysing the History of British Social Welfare


Book Description

This book offers insights into the development of social welfare policies in Britain. By identifying continuities in welfare policy, practice and thought throughout history, it offers the potential for the development of new thinking, policy making and practice.




The Winding Road to the Welfare State


Book Description

How did Britain transform itself from a nation of workhouses to one that became a model for the modern welfare state? The Winding Road to the Welfare State investigates the evolution of living standards and welfare policies in Britain from the 1830s to 1950 and provides insights into how British working-class households coped with economic insecurity. George Boyer examines the retrenchment in Victorian poor relief, the Liberal Welfare Reforms, and the beginnings of the postwar welfare state, and he describes how workers altered spending and saving methods based on changing government policies. From the cutting back of the Poor Law after 1834 to Parliament’s abrupt about-face in 1906 with the adoption of the Liberal Welfare Reforms, Boyer offers new explanations for oscillations in Britain’s social policies and how these shaped worker well-being. The Poor Law’s increasing stinginess led skilled manual workers to adopt self-help strategies, but this was not a feasible option for low-skilled workers, many of whom continued to rely on the Poor Law into old age. In contrast, the Liberal Welfare Reforms were a major watershed, marking the end of seven decades of declining support for the needy. Concluding with the Beveridge Report and Labour’s social policies in the late 1940s, Boyer shows how the Liberal Welfare Reforms laid the foundations for a national social safety net. A sweeping look at economic pressures after the Industrial Revolution, The Winding Road to the Welfare State illustrates how British welfare policy waxed and waned over the course of a century.




The Welfare State


Book Description

This Very Short Introduction discusses the necessity of welfare states in modern capitalist societies. Situating social policy in an historical, sociological, and comparative perspective, David Garland brings a new understanding to familiar debates, policies, and institutions.




Colonialism and Welfare


Book Description

The British Empire is part covered three centuries, five continents and onequarter of the world's population. Its legacy continues, shaping the societies and welfare policies of much of the modern world. In this book, for the first time, this legacy is explored and analysed. Colonialism and Welfare reveals that social welfare policies, often discriminatory, and challenging to those colonised were introduced and imposed by the ?mother country.' It highlights that there was great diversity in rationales and impacts across the empire, but past developments had a major impact on the development of much of the world's population. Contributions from every continent explore both the diversity and the common themes in the imperial experience. They examine the legacy of colonial welfare - a subject largely neglected by both historians of empire and social policy analysts. This original book shows that social welfare today cannot be understood without understanding the legacy of the British Empire. Academics, specialised students with an interest in comparative social policy, history of social policy, imperial history, colonialism, and contemporary third world social policy will find this book invaluable to their studies.




Good Times, Bad Times


Book Description

Two-thirds of UK government spending now goes on the welfare state and where the money is spent – healthcare, education, pensions, benefits – is the centre of political and public debate. Much of that debate is dominated by the myth that the population divides into those who benefit from the welfare state and those who pay into it – 'skivers' and 'strivers', 'them' and 'us'. This ground-breaking book, written by one of the UK’s leading social policy experts, uses extensive research and survey evidence to challenge that view. It shows that our complex and ever-changing lives mean that all of us rely on the welfare state throughout our lifetimes, not just a small ‘welfare-dependent’ minority. Using everyday life stories and engaging graphics, Hills clearly demonstrates how the facts are far removed from the myths. This revised edition contains fully updated data, discusses key policy changes and a new preface reflecting on the changed context after the 2015 election and Brexit vote.




Oxford Bibliographies


Book Description

Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on social work as a discipline grounded in social theory and the improvement of peoples' lives. Bibliographies are browseable by subject area and keyword searchable. Contains a "My OBO" function that allows users to create personalized bibliographies of individual citations from different bibliographies.




Family, Dependence, and the Origins of the Welfare State


Book Description

A comparative analysis of social policies in Britain and France between 1914 and 1945.




The Twentieth-century Welfare State


Book Description

The welfare state has been one of the most significant developments in 20th-century Britain. Drawing on recent research, this volume narrates its principal changes and provides a thematic historical introduction.




Social Policy for Social Work


Book Description

Contemporary social work cannot be understood without an appreciation of the broader context of social policy in which it takes place. Such an understanding is increasingly important as social workers are expected to work across institutional, professional and even national boundaries in new ways profoundly affected by the changing global context. This insightful book examines how shifts in the dominant political ideology have affected the nature of welfare provision, the kinds of social problems addressed by policy, and the balance of responsibilities for well-being between individuals, the family, voluntary organizations, the market and the state. It explains the impact of these developments on the organization of social work and on relationships between social workers and service users. The book discusses contested concepts central to social work – such as justice, liberty, equality, difference, need and risk – and illustrates these through a range of examples. The critical analysis provided in this book offers students of social work a crucial foundation for negotiating difficult and sensitive practice situations and defending their profession, providing them with the tools and knowledge to uphold key professional values.




Analysing Social Policy Concepts and Language


Book Description

Social policy scholars and practitioners work with concepts such as “welfare state” and “social security” but where do these concepts come from and how has their meaning changed over time? Which are the dominant social policy concepts and how are they contested? What characterises social policy language in specific countries and regions of the world and how do social concepts travel between countries? Addressing such questions in a systematic manner for the first time, this edited collection, written by a cross-disciplinary group of leading social policy researchers, analyses the concepts and language used to make sense of contemporary social policy. The volume focuses on OECD countries located on four different continents: Asia, Australasia, Europe, and North America. Combining detailed chapters on particular countries with broader comparative chapters, the book strikes a rare balance between case studies and transnational perspectives. It will be of interest to academics and students in social policy, social work, political science, sociology, history, and public administration, as well as practitioners and policy makers.