Welfarism and Economic Prosperity Are Synonymous - Case Study Example

Introduction Welfarism is associated with the economic concept of welfare. It is based on the view that actions and policies must be evaluated basingthis on their impact. In essence, it is a set of government policies and actions that are associated with the welfare statei. What is a welfare state? A welfare state is a system where the government plays the chief role in the protection and promotion of socio-economic well being of the people that it governs and emphasis is put on equitable distribution of resources, public responsibility and equality of opportunity. Therefore, welfarism refers to actions and practices of the government in initiating policies that ensure equitable distribution of resources, public responsibility and equality of opportunity with the major goal of protecting and promoting socio-economic well being of the people. Economic prosperity is a concept that is relative. It means that the economy is generally doing well and that the people have incomes to sustain themselves and meet their basic needs and have something to saveii. However, it does not mean that everyone is doing well and is wealthyiii. Wealth is a key component of economic prosperity but it goes beyond that as it encompasses other factors that are independent of wealth such as good health and happinessiv. Economic prosperity is largely determined by welfarism whereby the government works towards protecting and promoting the people’s well being. By protecting and promoting the people’s well being, the government promotes economic prosperity by giving them equal opportunities, being accountable and responsible and equitably distributing resources which promotes economic growth and development. Hence, it is not fallacious to state that welfarism is synonymous with economic prosperity. Brief history of welfarism in Britain The impact of the Second World War greatly devastated Britain. Children left orphans and women were left widows as result of great loss of lives. The economy of Britain collapsed in the aftermath of the war and most of the infrastructure in Britain was destroyedv. Industries were destroyed, farms were burnt, child labour prevailed and millions of people were displaced. The gains of the British industrial revolution were reversed. Britain lost about 12 per cent of her productive capacity and ended up in massive debts to the United States of Americavi. One of the most notable consequences of the Second World War was the birth of modern welfare state in Britainvii. Welfarism begun in Britain prior to 19th century but it was driven into the arms of the state in 1911 when David Lloyd George came up with a suggestion that everyone who worked to contribute to the national insurance for health and unemployment benefits and this marked the beginning of the welfare state in Britainviii. It was not until 1942 when the welfare state became popular in Britain when Sir William Beveridge established the Social Insurance and Allied Services as a way of raising aid for the poor and the needy. His system worked like that of David Lloyd George whereby those who were working contributed to the national insurance package and the benefits would be paid to the poor and the needy to support themix. Schemes such as the National Health Service and the Universal Child Benefit came in handy due to the impact of the Second World War with prevalence of diseases and a major decline in the population of Britainx. Five major issues faced Britain in the post second world war period which included idleness, want, ignorance, squalor and disease and Beveridge urged the government to devise ways of dealing with them. He recommended that the government should provide adequate health care, housing, education and employment to the people and in the late 1930s, these services were provided by trade unions, societies and insurance companies all of which depended on the United Kingdom’s working majority for membershipxi. The 1942 Beveridge Report was launched and it gave birth to a modern welfare state with the 1945 family Allowance Act, the 1944 Education Act, the National Assistance Act, the 1948 National Health Service Act and the 1946 National Insurance Act coming into forcexii. Education sector reforms The education system in Britain has undergone rapid reform since the end of the Second World War. These reforms have been made in an attempt to address the problems in the education sector in Britain. Specific issues that have been targeted by reforms in the education sector include large number of individuals leaving school very early with little basic skills, low international standards and poor basic skills of the country’s populace and widening disparities in high education. Extensive education reforms have been made through policy framework whereby legislations and other policies have been adapted for the betterment of this key sector. The most notable reforms date back in 1944 with the 1944 Education Actxiii. Others followed notably the 1988 Education Reform Act which gave parents the freedom to choose the school to be attended by their childrenxiv. Other reforms include the inception of a nationally prescribed curriculum, raising participation in post compulsory schooling and the introduction of tuition fees in higher education. Market-oriented reforms were introduced in the education sector so as to address rising concerns of widening disparities in education and declining standards of education in Britain in the 1980sxv. Following these concerns, Conservative governments of the Britain in the 1980s and 1990s introduced market mechanisms in the country’s education system so as to raise education standards in schools notably through the 1988 Education Reform Actxvi. Consequently, schools were allowed to take control of their own budgets which gave them more autonomy in their operations and accountability was also enhanced through the league table system which entailed publishing of exam results and to date, the system has become more advanced with focus on other outcome measures such as success at age sixteenxvii. This served as an incentive for success and it made the schools more productive. The education curriculum was also reformed, an initiative that was motivated by poor skills amongst the country’s populace, poor participation and poor literacy. A standardised national curriculum was introduced in the 1980s for pupils aged between seven and sixteen years and in 1998, National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies were introducedxviii. In line with these strategies part of the daily curriculum was allocated to literacy and numeracy hours in all primary schools which developed pupil’s basic skills as tested in the national tests taken at various Key Stagesxix. To address the problem of low participation in post-compulsory schooling, policy makers made an attempt on qualification reform which enhanced labour market value and attractiveness of vocational qualifications through the National Vocational Qualifications and the General National Vocational Qualificationsxx. Policy makers also introduced the Education Maintenance Allowance which facilitated payments to disadvantaged students if stayed on in a full time education after the age of sixteenxxi. Consequently, the choice of full time vocational education rose from about 15 percent to 25 percent in the mid 1980sxxii. The Education Maintenance Allowance narrowed educational disparities as it encouraged education amongst the disadvantaged groups. Since the late 1960s, concerns have widened about who accessed higher education. Higher education policies were introduced with aims of further expansion of the sector and also encourage attendance by people of all walks of life without taking into account of their socio-economic background with a present target of 50 per cent of all people to attend higher education before the end of 2010xxiii. The government introduced the payment of tuition fees in 1998 with poor students being exempted. Students’ loans were also introduced to be repaid on an income contingent basis. This has served as an incentive for many people to acquire higher education which has strengthened the skills base of Britain’s workforce hence making it more prosperous. Health sector reforms Various attempts to reform the health care sector in Britain have been made with an aim to broaden health care coverage to the population; improve access to health care specialists; improve the quality of health care and to decrease the costs of health and other related costs. Major reforms in the health care sector in Britain begun in 1948 with the establishment of the National Health Service which was created as an integral part of a wider reform agenda aimed at reforming social service provision in the countryxxiv. It was financed through the National Insurance Fund though benefits of the system were not determined by a person’s contribution. Workers contributed to the scheme but even the unemployed benefited from it even without contributingxxv. Although this made people lazy and dependent, the bottom line is that it improved access to health care which improved standards of living amongst the citizens of Britain which improved their welfare. In later years, other reforms were carried out notably by the Conservative Thatcher administration which established the market forces into the health care sector with the hospitals being suppliers and health authorities being buyersxxvi. This aimed at creating competition in the sector so as to better service provision. The Labour Party objected to the changes. However, in later years when the Labour Party took over power, the Blair government retained elements of competition and extended it by allowing private health care companies to bid for work by National Health Service such that even to date some centres are run by private firms. However, privatisation of health in Britain remains low and controversial. Funding for the health care sector was massive during Tony Blair’s government with vast expansion and modernisation programmexxvii. This has made access to health care services easier to majority of citizens which has improved their well being. The government of Gordon Brown undertook a number of reforms in the health care sector. They included taking the National Health Service back to prevention by tackling issues related with cause of long term poor health such as obesity, diabetes and cardio-vascular diseasexxviii. It also made attempts to convince doctors to serve consumers at regular intervals in the evenings and on weekends so as to allow regular for regular check-ups. The National Health Service made sure that from 2008, waiting time in health centres was reducedxxix. More reforms in the health care sector include publication of an NHS Constitution which stipulates legal rights of patients. This has served to improve people’s lives by granting them more access to improved health services. Political reforms Britain is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy with two houses namely House of Lords and House of Commons. Sir Winston Churchill led Britain through most of the Second World War until 8th May 1945 when he resignedxxx. He formed a temporary government that took over office until the July parliamentary elections when Labour Party won with a landslide victory. Clement Atlee was the leader of the new government that started a moderate socialist programxxxi. Political reforms have taken place in Britain since end of the Second World War. Britain had a mixed system of local government with some areas being covered by county councils and others by local district councils while large towns had a single tier of authorityxxxii. Prior to 1970s, various Acts of parliament abolished counties of cities and established a uniform two-tier system of government with counties and districts. The Local Government Act of 1972 introduced the two-tier local government in the 1970sxxxiii. This followed the abolition of the 1973 Local Government (Scotland) Act in Scotland and Wales in 1996 and replaced with unitary authoritiesxxxiv. Many unitary authorities were created in England though some areas remained two-tier. The local government in Northern Ireland did not experience any change. The government of Margaret Thatcher abolished the county councils of the six counties that had been established in 1974 and created sixty eight new single-tier authorities. Further reforms were carried out in 1991 and 1992 with the structure of local government was reviewed throughout Britainxxxv. Voting reforms have also taken place in Britain. Major reforms in the electoral process in Britain are spearheaded by the Electoral Reform Society which is a political pressure group formed in 1884xxxvi. The organization has promoted the use of the single transferable vote in general elections. The single transferable vote was used in British university constituencies from 1918 until 1950 when the university seats were abolishedxxxvii. Other organisations that have championed electoral reform include the Electoral Reform Services Limited, the Electoral Reform International Services and the McDougall Trust. Reforms championed by these organisations and individuals have given effective representation to all views of the electorate, ensured accountability of individual representatives to the electorates, given more voting rights to the people of Britain and given all votes an equal valuexxxviii. Proposals are in place to empower voters to recall their member of parliament for wrongdoing. This has promoted democracy in Britain which has given the people power to elect their own leaders and given them a bigger voice and participation in the governance processes. Other reforms Other reforms in employment, labour, taxation, pension among others have taken place since end of the Second World War. The 1997 New Deal Program by the Labour Party which focused on increasing employment opportunities by urging the beneficiaries of aid to seek employmentxxxix. As a result, there was an introduction of tax credits, a system for workers earning low income. In addition, the welfare system has faced reform with the inception of the Welfare Act of 2007 in Britain which provides for employment opportunities and support allowance, contributory allowance and an income-based allowance. These and other reforms have been taken up in Britain to address various issues with a major goal of bettering the people’s well being. Conclusion In a nutshell, although there are various shortcomings associated with welfarism, it has been seen to cause economic prosperity as discussed above. Various reforms have been instituted in Britain since end of the Second World War with the major ones being in the economic and political spheres, specifically in education and health care since these are key public sectors. These reforms have been geared towards the betterment of the lives of the people of Britain through improving access to health and education and creating a favourable political environment necessary for promoting economic prosperity. References Childs, D, Britain since 1945: A political history, Routledge, 2001, pp. 134-176. Clark, D., Conlon, G & Galindo-Rueda, Post-compulsory education and qualification attainment, Princeton University Press: Princeton, 2005, pp. 34-56. Coakley, J & Gallagher, M, Politics in the republic of Ireland, 3rd ed., Routledge: London, 1999. Dunford, J & Paul, S, The education system in England and Wales, Longman: London, 1990, pp. 19-26. Keller, S, Welfarism, University of Melbourne, 2008, pp. 24-58. Kinsley, M, Sustainable growth: Prosperity without development, Rocky Mountain Institute, 1997, pp 13-34. Lowe, R, The welfare state in Britain since 1945, 3rd ed., Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, pp. 35-57. Machin, S & Anna, V, Education policy in the UK, Centre for the Economics of Education, London School of Economics: London, 2006, pp. 3-20. Machin, S & McNally, S, The literacy hour, Centre for the Economics of Education, Discussion Paper No. 43, 2004. Marwick, A, British society since 1945, Penguin, 2003. Marwick, A, Class: Image and reality in Britain, France and theUSA since 1930, HarperCollins Publishers, 1983. Marwick, A, The new nature of history: Knowledge, evidence, language, Palgrave Macmillan, 2001. Office of Public Sector Performance, Public Acts 1996, 1996. Sinnot, R, The electoral system, Routledge: London, 1999, pp. 99-126. Stein, K, Survival of the European welfare state, Routledge, 2000, pp. 46-68. Verstegen, S & Hanekamp, J, ‘The sustainability debate: Idealism versus conformism-the controversy over economic growth’ Globalisations, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2005, pp. 349-355. West, J & Steedman, H, Finding our way: Vocational education in England, Centre for Economic Performance Occasional Paper, 2003, pp. 45-55. World Health Organisation, World health statistics, 2009, World Health Organisation, 2009. Read More