Social Welfare in Britain Revision Lecture: (1) Term 2 topics and (2) General Advice

Term Two Topics From Thatcher to Blair, Brown and Cameron But end of post-war consensus 1976 IMF cuts - time of economic crisis, just like now Then rising unemployment and inflation marked end of Keynesian approach Rising conflict: labour, Ireland, feminism, antiracism Shift to post-industrialism Globalisation starts to undermine the nation- state

Examination topics New Right critiques of the welfare state New labour and the Third Way Conservative/Lib Dem coalition Employment and Unemployment policy since 1979 Poverty and inequalities Education policy since 1979 Health inequalities Changes to NHS since 1979

Political landmarks in my Life 1974 Labour government promises radical social reform 1976 Labour government implements IMF Cuts 1979 Thatcher wins first election after ‘Winter of Discontent’ 1983 Thatcher wins 2 nd term after Falklands war 1990 Coup against Thatcher by Major 1992 Major wins 4 th term 1997 Landslide New Labour victory 2010 election – Conservative/Lib Dem Alliance

Thatcher – ideological break? Not just an political/ideological shift Economic and Structural change Thatcher never won majority of votes cast Very unpopular until 1983 Falklands war Labour took first steps down road Thatcher pragmatic – Thatcherism invented later by sociologists and political scientists? New right principles influenced policies However she had to take account of pro-welfare views in some areas - attack trade unions and poor, but not NHS ‘sacred cow’

Thatcher’s ‘political’ economy – shift power from labour to capital Prioritise control of inflation: revoke 1944 White Paper Allow unemployment rise Hastened the deindustrialisation of UK: source of our current problem? Privatised public utilities – create ‘popular capitalism’ Attack on trade union power – Defeat the miners: revenge for 1974

Examples of Thatcher’s Social Policy Sweeping cuts in public expenditure 1980 Promoted council house sales: property owning democracy or unsustainable boom? 1980 More conditional benefits – the Social Fund 1986, and Job Seekers Allowance 1976 Revoked Rooker-Wise 1978 amendment 1980: uprate benefits in line with prices not earnings (major cause of child poverty) Denied existence of ‘poverty’ – Households Below Average Income (HBAI) Social Engineering – Incapacity Benefits late 80s onwards

Theoretical Underpinnings Government should live within means - run the economy ‘like a household’ Inflation the priority rather than employment Too much public expenditure crowds out private investment: cause of economic decline Cut taxes to put money in people’s pockets and let them choose Prioritise wealth production over distribution: inequality good – ‘trickle down’ effect Generous benefits cause poverty: underclass theory Problem of NHS is inefficiency not underspending – managerial and market reforms

What Thatcher didn’t do Eroded and restructured, but didn’t fundamentally dismantle welfare state Didn’t introduce big cuts in Unemployment Benefit as proposed by right wing economists like Patrick Minford –Political concerns, riots of 1980s: used oil revenues and welfare state to push through Thatcherism –More conditionality - JSA Didn’t Privatise the NHS –1982 ‘The NHS is safe with us’: universal and used by middle classes –Managerial and market reforms 1990

Blair, Brown and the Third Way Political: Lost 4 elections in a row – need to appeal to expanding m/class (in SE) than shrinking working class (in north)? Economic: Reassure city and rich people in age of globalisation that Labour ‘party of business’ too Practical: Couldn’t easily undo all the things Thatcher had done

New Labour’s Political Economy Inherited a booming economy: 1 st time for a Labour government Took further deregulation: independence of the Bank of England and creation of Financial Services Authority (FSA) Embraced globalisation: London and UK as a financial centre South East Megalopolis, further deindustrialisation

New Labour Social Policy- Principles Commission on Social Justice 1994 – for wealth rather than a poorer ‘leveller’s’ Britain Giddens: Social Investment State (SIS): education and employability ‘Modernisation’ of public services ‘Welfare to work’ Supply side support not just ‘laissez-faire’

Social Security and Poverty Kept JSA and built New Deal for Employment on top, financed initially by windfall tax on privatised utilities Compulsory workfare for unemployed, initially young people Now extended to disabled and single parents, despite recession Child Poverty targets: Tax credits and statutory minimum wage

Health Policy and NHS Following Acheson Report 1998, targets health inequalities – sociologists won argument? Aims bring worst up to average, not reduce inequality per se NHS: ended GP fundholding, but kept the purchaser-provider split Significantly increased funding from 6% to 9% GDP from 2000 Also pursued ‘modernisation’, marketisation and choice Current Government’s proposed changes to funding arrangements of NHS

Successes and failures? Lives of many people improved due to sustained boom and low prices of (Chinese) commodities Inequalities remained wide and debts increased Reduced child poverty but missed target – including latest budget Only modest success in health inequalities Unemployment kept low, but due mainly to boom Forcing people into low paid work rather than improving jobs at the bottom? Heightened 2 nations Britain? Impact of current recession?

End of New Labour and New Conservatism Introduction of higher University fees Discussion on higher tax rates Universal Benefit Revival of ‘class war’? But both will cut public spending Rising costs of Unemployment and ageing population Difficult but interesting times ahead for social policy students

Education policy since 1979 Enforcing a universal curriculum Parental choice Market forces League tables Weakening of LEA control over education HE fees to £9000 Expansion of differently funded schools Abolition of EMA

ADVICE ON REVISION Check rules for Honours and 1 st level Go back and read the Module outline for each week Then work from the class discussion points Don’t under or over-revise Have a topic in reserve Do timed questions and read them critically Cite authors, statistics, dates, short quotes Follow the sandwich model in the exam Give your own perspective at the end ABOVE ALL: Don’t spend more time on the first question than others Be strong and don’t talk about the exam afterwards: