The majority of those who have a reasonably satisfactory understanding of the welfare state will agree that the definition entails; a nation whereby the government undertake appropriate action to ensure the provision of social goods and benefits. These welfare programs are usually provided at public expense with little or no cost to the recipient of the services. Policy prescriptions advanced by proponents of the welfare state emphasise securing a minimum standard of living for all of the population where no one is denied an essential service which might be available to others. This includes the production of social goods and services, the control of the business cycle and the manipulation of total output to allow for social costs and revenues. In Britain and certainly most other European countries the term `welfare state' has acquired a broad meaning. Here, the policy areas most concerned with the term `welfare' are; income security, health, social housing, education and the personal social services. The reason as to why these five services have been integrated into the definition of the welfare state in the united kingdom is indistinct, yet `seems to be based on the notion that these services share a common orientation towards meeting individual needs' (Taylor-Gooby and Dale, 1981: 3, Goodin, 1988: 11). Policies for equality can vary depending on many factors, however, there are three main types that policies for equality can aim at. Equality of treatment involves treatment without bias, prejudice or special circumstances applying to people. Equal opportunity can be the opportunity to compete, or the chance to compete on the same footing as others. Equality of outcome refers to the idea that resources are provided ... ... middle of paper ... ...ren and their Primary Schools. [Plowden Report]. London: HMSO. Ÿ Crosland, C.A.R. (1962) The Conservative Enemy: a Programme for Radical Reform in the 1960s. London: Jonathan Cape. Ÿ Dean, H (2002) Welfare Rights and Social Policy. Dorchester: Dorset Press. Ÿ Goodin, R.E. (1988) Reasons for Welfare. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Ÿ Labour Party (1964) Let's go with Labour for New Britain. London. Labour Party Ÿ Taylor-Gooby, P. & Dale, J, (1981) Social Theory and Social Welfare. London: Edward Arnold. Ÿ Walzer, M. (1983) Sphere of Justice. Oxford: Martin Robertson. Ÿ Webster, C, (1988) The Health Services Since the War, Vol. 1: Problems of Health Care: The National Health Service before 1957. London: HMSO. Ÿ Wilson, T. & Wilson, D. eds. (1991) The state and Social Welfare: The objectives of Policy. Avon: Bath Press.
This mini-paper will discuss the social welfare system. The mini-paper includes a discussion of welfare Policy, residual and institutional approach, and what is Social Welfare and Social Security. Midgely, (2009), pointed out that social welfare systems deliver services that facilitate and empower our society, especially to those persons who require assistance in meeting their basic human needs. The goal of social welfare is to provide social services to citizens from diverse cultures, and examples include Medicare, Medicaid, and food benefits. Midgley,( 2009).
Alcock, P. Erskine, A. and May, M (1998) The Student’s Companion to Social Policy, 2nd Edition, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing
Dolgoff, R. & Feldstein, D. (2003). Understanding social welfare (7th ed). New York, Allen & Bacon
Day P. J., Schiele J. H. (2013) A NEW HISTORY OF SOCIAL WELFARE (7th ed.) Location: United States
Equality is about an individual’s rights, giving people choices and respect. It is about ‘creating a fairer society, where everyone can participate and has the opportunity to fulfil their potential’ (DoH, 2004).
Cottle, Michelle. “Reforming Welfare Reform.” Washington Monthly 28.11 (1996): 9. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
Chambers, D.E., & Wedel, K.R. (2009). Social policy and social programs. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Trattner, Walter I. From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America, New York: Free Press, 1989.
There have been numerous debates within the last decade over what needs to be done about welfare and what is the best welfare reform plan. In the mid-1990s the TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Act was proposed under the Clinton administration. This plan was not received well since it had put a five year lifetime limit on receiving welfare and did not supply the necessary accommodations to help people in poverty follow this guideline. Under the impression that people could easily have found a job and worked their way out of poverty in five years, the plan was passed in 1996 and people in poverty were immediately forced to start looking for jobs. When the TANF Act was up for renewal earlier this year, the Bush administration carefully looked at what the TANF Act had done for the poverty stricken. Bush realized that, in his opinion, the plan had been successful and should stay in effect with some minor tweaking. Bush proposed a similar plan which kept the five year welfare restriction in place but did raise the budgeted amount of money to be placed towards childcare and food stamps. Both the TANF Act and Bush's revised bill have caused a huge controversy between liberal and conservative activists. The liberals feel that it is cruel to put people in a situation where they can no longer receive help from the government since so many people can not simply go out and get a job and work their way out of poverty. They feel if finding a job was that easy, most people would have already worked their way out of poverty. The conservatives feel that the plans, such as the TANF Act, are a surefire way to lower poverty levels and unemployment rates as well as decrease the amount o...
The welfare state is a political system that has been an important ideology used by countries that provide social programs to its people. One may say that the rise of the welfare state is caused by capitalist needs that lead to failure and end up hurting the well-being of its people. When the country is faced with a critical situation that hurts the people and the economy, the government is required to provide welfare programs that attempt to cure the consequences of failures of the country. For example, the Great Depression was the result of an economic crisis that caused the decline of people’s well-being. The society was faced with tremendous financial problems and the only way to fixed it was by providing an efficient welfare system, such as the New Deal. Among the programs certain acts passed, like the Social Security Act, provided benefits and compensation to workers and
While many believe that social welfare in the United States began with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal plan, the first American movement towards welfare came from a different Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt. He stated in his New Nationalism address that “every wise struggle for human betterment” objectives are “to achieve in large measure equality of opportunity... destroy privilege, and give to the life and citizenship of every individual the highest possible value both to himself and the commonwealth” (Roosevelt). Behind such a speech with charged language about democracy and fundamental equality, Roosevelt was instituting welfare programs such as limiting word days, setting a minimum wage for women, social insurance for the elderly and disabled, unemployed social insurance, and a National Health Service. After his proposal came Woodrow Wilson’s New Freedom initiative, FDR’s aforementioned New Deal, John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier, and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society (Historical Development). While social welfare is steeped in America’s history, there is a very contemporary debate on its effectiveness and ethicality. People argue that the reason welfare has such a long history in America is because it helps people get out of poverty, equalizes opportunities, reduces crime, and helps children; in essence, that welfare works. Many in opposition to welfare disagree, citing that the system creates a culture of dependence, is easily abused, hurts the middle class and costs the government too much on a system that isn’t wholistically addressing the needs of the American people.
Blau, J. (2004). The dynamics of social welfare policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
What is equality? The first thought that arises in most our minds when we hear this word is the condition of being nondiscriminatory, particularly in cachet, entitlement and opportunities. Based on the Cambridge English Dictionary, equality refers the prerogative of multiple people groups to have a homogeneous social status and deserve identical treatment (Dictionary, 2017). Nonetheless, in the context of this research, equality is the unbiased treatment towards people regardless of their gender.
"Social welfare development in America has been fragmented and lacks comprehensive conceptual framework for its development. It continues to be in a constant state of evolution as the United States struggles with mitigating the effects of a market-based economy on certain segments of the population."
Social welfare dates back almost 50 years, but through those years the real question is, what is social welfare? The interesting part of social welfare is that one persons definition or belief may be different from another’s belief. The truth is, not one person is right about the definition or ideology of social welfare. Social welfare programs have grown, shrunk, stabilized, and declined over the years, and today many believe that we are in a period of decline. The text “Ideology and Social Welfare” states that there are four different views to social welfare, all having their unique attributes. Personally, my view is a combination of the reluctant collectivists, the anti-collectivist, and the Fabian socialists view. I strongly believe that government intervention is necessary in order to control and regulate social welfare while keeping ethics in mind, but at the same time, it is not necessary for everyone. People have the ability to change their lives for the better with hard work and dedication. My opinion is just one of the hundreds that exist today, but as proven throughout history, not one person is necessarily right. The three approaches towards social welfare, the reluctant collectivist approach, the Fabian socialist approach, and the anti-collectivist approach, encompass critical points on social welfare and what can be done to avoid inequality.