This essay attempts to; discuss the dominant social policy perspectives that have influenced social policy making in the United Kingdom since 1945.
To explain how differing perspectives have responded to healthcare as a social problem.
To describe two key policies that have been instigated since the start of New Labour in 1997, and to examine a contemporary social policy relating to health.
In 1941 Sir William Beveridge was commissioned by the then Conservative prime minister, Winston Churchill to conduct a study of the welfare system of the time.
The Beveridge report paved the way for the welfare state as we know it and was important in shaping the social democratic ideology that remained prevalent until the mid 1970’s.
The key principals behind most social democratic ideology are that of equality and collectivism. In practice, the state manages the economy using Keynesian economic principals, manages the provision of welfare through the welfare state and takes a regulatory roll in peoples lives. This protects citizens from the extremes of poverty and prevents major economic inequality.
The New Right ideology came to the fore in the mid 1970’s as a result of a major recession and the reality of an economic crisis.
The 1979 general election was won by the Conservative party led by Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher was prime minister until 1990 in a period of politics that came to be known as Thatcherism.
Two key thinkers of the time were Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek who saw ‘the free market’ as central to the success of Thatcherism and believed that government should concentrate on economic issues, thus allowing ‘market forces’ to shape society.
From the early 1990’s a new, politically cen...
... middle of paper ...
...el medical treatment, help and advice via centres that are easy to access.
The NHS annual review 2009-2010 found that NHS direct recommended to 49% of callers to go to less urgent/lower cost points of care, saved 2.4 million GP appointments and 1.2 million ambulance journeys (www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk 2010).
Disadvantages of these direct services are that they are extremely expensive and only offer a reactive form of health care, while not providing enough health education.
Works Cited
Pilkington A & Yeo A Sociology in focus Haddington, Scotprint. 2004.
Pugh P & Garratt C, Keynes a graphic guide London, Icon books. 2009.
Walsh M, Stephens P & Moore S Social policy and welfare, Stanley Thornes Ltd. 2000
www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk.
Hendrick, H. (2005) Child welfare and social policy: an essential reader. Bristol: The Policy Press.
Tomlinson, J (1998) 'Why so austere? The British Welfare State of the 1940s', Journal Social Policy, 27(1), pp. 63-77.
Dolgoff, R. & Feldstein, D. (2003). Understanding social welfare (7th ed). New York, Allen & Bacon
It contained a summary of principles that were based on social surveys carried out between wars, that were necessary to banish poverty and want from Britain, by aiming to provide a comprehensive system of social insurance ‘from cradle to grave’.
With reference to the 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services by Sir William Beveridge Musgrove writes, ‘Seldom has any report to a government been so influential’ (Musgrove, 2000: 845-846). It is a fact that when we read material today regarding the British welfare state and indeed welfare states of many other countries the name Beveridge seems to always find itself anchored within the lines. This prevalence throughout the years stems from the popularity it had on both the British government and its citizens at the time of its publication. Bought by 635,000 people the Beveridge report stated three key principles. Namely, a determination to be radical; to launch a profound attack on want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness, coined ‘the five giants’; and to promote a healthy co-operation between the state and the individual (Fraser, 1973). Guided by these principles the report proposed a system of social security based on three assumptions: that the government would grant family allowances, set up a comprehensive health service and maintain full employment. It is important to note that the Beveridge report held quite a role in the post war election of 1945. All main political parties displayed interest to implement its proposals and this was used to their advantage in their campaigns, none more so than labours "Let Us Face the Future" campaign which subsequently lead to the election of Clement Atlee as Prime Minister in July 1945. Hill states that the laws passed immediately following the end of the war under Attlee administration were clearly and explicitly inspired by the Beveridge report. Most notably through the Family Allowances Act of 1945, the National Insurance Act of 1946, the National Health Act of 1946 and...
This essay will look at defining what social policy is and give a brief overview of the selected policy. Examining the need for the policy, statistical evidence supporting this. Then the pressure groups lobbying and who may have been influential in policy development.
Roosevelt’s administration implemented extensive public work programs that drove down the unemployment rate and busted morale. Although most of the New Deal programs no longer exist today, there were some policies that were integral to the advancement of American society. The most notable of these was the Social Security Act of 1935 Social security helped expand the governmental role of the president and was the blueprint for future welfare programs. Be that as it may, the changes during the 1930s were rudimentary. The most influential thing Roosevelt did was revolutionize the democratic party to reflect a more modern portrait of liberal ideology. The formation of the progressive, left-leaning, democratic party that exists today flourished under Roosevelt. Overall, however, to say that his policies were fundamental is quite disputable. The reasoning for this argument is that Roosevelt viewed the economy as a monolithic entity. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins said herself that Roosevelt wasn’t familiar with economic theory and he comprehended wealth at the most elementary of levels. Roosevelt concluded that the way to fix the economy was by solving the problem of under-consumption. However, what Roosevelt failed to recognize was that economic prosperity was an intersectional issue. Race and gender played astronomical roles in economic stability. Even Roosevelt’s own wife,
In this essay I will analyse the origins of Community Care and what benefits emerged when the NHS Community Care Act 1990 was established. Later on, I will explain and critically evaluate the effects of privatisation in social care and health.
Tanner, Michael. “Welfare: A Better Deal than Work.” Nationalreview.com. August 21, 2013. March 20, 2014.
Blau, J. (2004). The dynamics of social welfare policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Social Policy is an analysis of the social services and the welfare state. The welfare state is what gives individuals the chance to bounce back after adversity that may happen in their lives. Social policy is used to develop and deliver services to society to meet the welfare and wellbeing needs of those who may need it (Alcock, 2008, p.2). Social policy focuses on unemployment, people with disabilities, elderly, vulnerable and less-able people, single parent families and how help and support to them can be delivered in the best way possible. Social policy notifies the way in which health services, legislations and policies are conveyed. Over time, governments have either changed or built on existing legislations and policies in response to
There is a current belief within the government that the focus on income over the last decades has ignored the root causes of poverty and this has resulted in a multitude of social problems which have now become deep rooted. In 1941 the government commissioned a report to establish how society could be rebuilt after the war. The Beveridge report (1942) aimed to eradicate the ‘five evils’ to be: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. The work of Beveridge is still evident today as it led to many things which other countries are not fortunate to have such as a National Health Service which was introduced in 1948 along with our welfare state which was designed to protect us from ‘the cradle to the grave’ (bbc) The main driving force behind The Beveridge Report (1942) was to ...
Cheyne, C., O’Brien, M., Belgrave, M. (2008). Social Policy: In Aotearoa New Zealand (4th ed). Australia and New Zealand: Oxford University Press
Social work has existed in many different variations since the beginning of society. Initially, in the preindustrial society, minus a few exceptions, those who couldn’t cope on their own were the sole responsibility of family members. Upon the development of the industrial revolution in the Nineteenth Century, formal social work services emerged to enable society to cope with the major changes in the social system, due to modernity, urbanization, and industrialization. These services grew significantly and were reformed repeatedly throughout the rest of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries until the United Kingdom became a Welfare State, in which the state took on the responsibility to “protect the health and well-being of its citizens” (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). Moreover, social work exists to serve the vulnerable people in the community including, the elderly, the youth, the mentally ill, the homeless, and the poor, along with many others. Although all vulnerable peoples are of equal importance in social works
Lyndon Johnson was the next president to make significant advances in social welfare. He launched his War on Poverty, aimed at turning America into a Great Society, one without homeless on the streets or hungry children. In order to accomplish these goals he established liberalized requirements for government money. Over the next thirty years, Johnson’s dreams of a society without poverty were not realized. Time showed his programs did more harm than good, raising the nation debt to staggering proportions. In 1996, Bill Clinton signed a Welfare Reform bill as passed to by a Republican Congress. Reform in 1996 meant cutbacks in aid to the peopl...