Introduction to Care Policy - Coursework Example

Running Head: Introduction to care policy Introduction to Care Policy of the of the Introduction to care policy Introduction The term welfare state is used for a country where maximum welfare services come directly from government or its agencies and where the system of government allows the state to promote economic and social well-being of citizens. A welfare state protects its citizens from a number of social problems such as poor health, lack of access to education, unemployment, discriminatory and poor housing. The basic idea is to improve quality of life, reduce inequality and achieve greater social integration. According to the views of Fulcher and Scott (2007), the provision of welfare is described by different amount of compromise between two polarized opinions – the market model and welfare-state model. In the market model, citizens need to purchase health, education and other facilities. In welfare-state model, it is the responsibility of the state to fulfil these needs of its citizens. The United Kingdom is a welfare state. The idea of the British Welfare State has been defined as the desire to care for all residents of the United Kingdom. The state takes care of its citizens from the day they are born till the day they die. The responsibilities include healthcare, education, provision of services and benefits. (Malherbe 2006) In Britain, these aims were sorely wanted after the World War II. Before the year 1906, governments in Britain had little involvement in the lives of citizens. William Ewart Gladstone in particular advocated the policies of ‘self help’. He was of the opinion that governments should have minimal interference in the lives of its citizens. The British Welfare State The British welfare state was established as a social safety net to make lives easy of most vulnerable members of the society such as pensioners, widows, elderly people and children. The almost 60-year history of British welfare state has seen many ups and downs and sociologists are disagreeing about whether or not it has been a successful model. (Richard 1998) ‘Building on New Deal: local solutions meeting individual needs’ was a report published by the New Labour government in 2004. It delivered a comprehensive examination of the progress that New Labour party had made with the New Deal. It explored how it had made the New Deal accessible to different groups and what challenges it had faced and changes it had made. The New Labour believed that for those people that could work, employment was the route out of poverty. “Employment offers opportunities and the chance for a person to fulfil there potential”. The New Deal was a vital part of the reformation of the welfare state. The Labour had argued the reformation was vital as the old social security system was doing nothing to tackle poverty. The Labour party believed that if they tackled unemployment then they were tackling poverty. “New Deal is a Government programme that aims to give unemployed people the help and support they need to get into work”. A large number of people, including disabled, ethnic minorities, old age pensioners and single parents, are affected by poverty in the United Kingdom. The New Labour government said the New Deal was an example of social justice. In the report it stated that: “Employment opportunity for all is a precondition of a fair society; social justice and full employment go hand in hand.” The New Deal was an effort to find a way for greater equality in society and this was typical of New Labours welfare ideologies. New Labour aimed to create new employment opportunities over the years. It aimed to tackle welfare dependence as that was seen as a route into poverty. Former prime minister Tony Blair stated that: “The welfare state must offer a hand up rather than a hand out” (Lavalette 1999) and that it should not be transformed. The principle of this is that people should not be dependant on the welfare state and should use it to gain an advantage to succeed in life. There are elements of New Labour welfare philosophy that could be found in earlier welfare ideologies. The 1601 Elizabethan Poor Law can be called the roots of modern social policy, “It was a centralized system through the parishes intended to help the settled poor, who found them selves out of work i.e. through illness. It was assumed that these people would accept whatever work or relief the parish offered, whether that was indoor or outdoor relief”. (Marijie 2002) At the time the state made a separation between settled and wandering poor. Houses of correction were established to give the wandering poor employment. The people without jobs were categorized into the following, deserving – unable body who can’t work i.e. age, disability and undeserving – an able body that is lazy and can not be bothered to work. However, the Victorian Poor Law 1834 was used to nationalize poor relief. Workhouses were set up to discourage welfare dependence as the Elizabethan Poor Law was criticised for undermining hard work and encouraging idleness. It had tightened eligibility to poor relief by introducing the workhouse test. The very harsh conditions in the work house built a public image that you would only go to the state for welfare if you were extremely desperate for welfare. The following are some of the aspects that are similar to the welfare principles of the New Labour Party – welfare provision was funded through tax from the rich people, eligibility of each person to welfare was reviewed on an individual basis, dependence on welfare should only be an choice if you are desperate, incapable bodies are not expected to work but capable bodies are expected to work, a centralized system of management and a penalty if an capable body relies on the state for welfare provision for a long time. “The idea that being poor and unemployed was a fault of the individual and not of the state has been an idea that has dominated history through out. This had changed for a short time during the Beveridge spell from 1940-1970 when the state realized that lack of jobs/labour market could be contributory factors.” (Malherbe 2006) The government at the time had a stress on full employment and this was considered as the government doing its bit to help people enter employment. It created a high-level of employment as this was in the favour of citizens. However, this was also a benefit to the government i.e. the economy had to be improved if United Kingdom wanted to recover from the destruction created by the World War I and II. Earlier welfare reforms can still be obvious in New Labour’s welfare philosophy i.e. the New Deal. This can be considered as using employment policy’s of the past because it acts as a instrument of social control, there is evidence of this because it adopts the suggestion that people are lazy and can not be bothered to work, a coercive policy is used where by the person has to demonstrate an interest in wanting to work i.e. attending courses planned to improve his employment and if he/she does not comply with the policy then their benefits could be blocked. The Job Seekers Allowance popularly known as JSA which was introduced in 1996 by the Tories and is still being used by Labour today can also be seen a mechanism of Social Control, it is almost indistinguishable to that of the 1992 Unemployment Insurance Act i.e. the applicant has to show that they are genuinely seeking work if they do not then there benefits could be ended. Creating skilled work force is an important strategy in getting rid of unemployment. The welfare to work reforms are taking work force to the next level by not only entering people back into reemployment, but also securing employment long-term by offering courses which give people the skills employers are seeking. This can be considered good from the point of offering people long-term and rewarding employment; but by giving people the skills employers are seeking ensures capitalism survives. The benefits are also for the government because a strong employment would mean more money is being spent by people and this helps in stabilizing and strengthening the economy. Ensuring that Capitalism survives has always been at the top of the plan for the New Right welfare reforms. Voluntary services play an important role in the provision of care. Social policy is different from administration by looking at the idea of need from a wider social perspective. Supporters for social policy are of the opinion that in contemporary society need of different people differs. They say as society is continually changing, the perception of need must be put in context with the functions of society as a whole. Social policy gets it direction from the functions of the state and its participation in providing. While social policy looks at other perceptions such as impartiality and social justice, it also raises issues of debate for example culture and immigration. Conclusion The modernization of the welfare state is an attempt both to cut government spending and cheapen labour, to reinvigorate British capital and open up the British economy to multinational capital. “The New Deal and its ideological underpinnings demonstrate a continuation of New Rights approaches to tackle poverty and unemployment via adopting a conservative moral agenda where by the poor working class are increasingly identified as a problem who must be forced to accept the values of modern capitalism”. (Lavalette 1999) Continuous attacks on welfare dependency show that the welfare ideologies of Labour are nothing new. Labour states its role is a reduced one where there role is to enable people to provide there own welfare. (Lavalette 1999) New right and Labour ideologies are identical in the sense that both parties feel the excluded must reintegrate themselves within modern society and engage with work in whatever conditions and for what ever rates of pay. References Department For Work and Pensions (2004) Building On New Deal: local solutions meeting individual needs, [Online]. Available at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2004/buildingonnewdeal/mainreport.pdf Job Centre Plus (2004) The New Deal, [Online]. Available at http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/New_Deal/ Jones, K. (1991) The Making of Social Policy in Britain, 1830-1990. London: The Athlone Press Ltd. Lavalette, M. & Mooney, G. (1999) New Labour, new moralism: the welfare politics and ideology of New Labour under Blair, International Socialism journal [Online]. Available at http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/isj85/lavalette.htm Lemert, C. (1999) Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classic Readings. Boulder, Colorado and Oxford, England: Westview Press. Malherbe, S. (2006) Welfare and The State: Dimensions Of Ideology, Luton, University Of Bedfordshire Marijie, B. (2002) The Victorian Web, [Online]. Available at http://www.victorianweb.org/history/poorlaw/elizpl.html Pascall, G. (1997) Social Policy: A New Feminist Analysis. London: Routledge. Richard, S. & Richard, M. (1998) Employment, Unemployment and the labour market. British Social Welfare In the 20th Century, Houndmills: McMillan Press LTD. Robson, C. (1993) Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Shaw, I. (2000) Just Inquiry? Research and Evaluation for Service Users. 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