Poverty and Social Justice Policy in the United Kingdom - Essay Example

Poverty and Social Justice Policy in the United Kingdom Poverty and Social Justice Policy in the United Kingdom A policy refers to the basic principles that facilitate operations of the government or relevant authorities seeking to achieve improved societal welfare. In most cases, governments focus on the integration of policies to address or handle diverse social issues and problems affecting the society members. From that perspective, social policies concentrate on addressing issues affecting the living conditions and welfare of the community members. The aspect of social policy contributes to covering all provisions, as well as measures aiming at removal or alleviation of situations of social issues and distress at collective and individual level. Moreover, social policies focus on the improvement or enhancement of the welfare of the most vulnerable groups within the society. Some of the objectives of social policies include realization of social justice: equality and equal opportunities, achievement of social peace, attainment of social security and accomplishment of the universal prosperity shared by the greatest number of the population. According to the BBC (2015), the World Economic Forum highlighted eminent dangers of an increase in inequality in the UK that may hinder social cohesion and economic progress. The purpose of this review is to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the poverty and social justice policy in the UK. In the UK, policymakers and authority tend to use household’s income relative to the national average in the course of measuring poverty. Poverty comes out as a symptom of deeper or more complicated issues within the society. According to diverse researchers, most of these problems experience transmission from one generation to the next. Remarkably, there are 300,000 households, in the UK, where none of the adults has had opportunity to work. In addition, 300,000 children tend to have parents with significant drug issues or problems (Gov.UK, 2014). It is essential to note that children in such conditions and families face limitations in relation to reduced chances of attainment of success in their lives. Integration of the poverty and social justice policy has focused on the provision of a real and lasting difference with the intention of helping people to change the course of the lives (Alcock, 2014). The policy provides the perfect platform to address the problems, which cause people to live in poverty. Moreover, the policy has been effective and efficient because it does not concentrate on dealing with the people’s incomes in isolation. One of the essential tools illustrating the effectiveness and proficiency of the policy is the ability and potentiality of policymakers and implementers to adopt and implement diverse documentation under the influence of the media outlets (Yeates, 2014). For instance, the policy implementers focused on publishing Social Justice: transforming lives, to illustrate the plans by government to offer substantial support and equipment for the individuals, as well as families encountering diverse disadvantages to improve their living conditions. In addition, researchers note the influence of Social justice outcomes framework in illustrating or elaborating on what the government wants to achieve, as well as appropriate mechanisms to measure the success of the plans. These attributes have been essential in the achievement of the goals and targets or objectives of the policy seeking to enable vulnerable society members improve their living conditions within the UK. The policy integrates significant strategies in the course of handling the demands and expectations of the vulnerable or disadvantaged society members. In the first instance, the policy has been efficient in helping the troubled families overcome their complex social problems issues, thus the perfect platform for such entities to improve their conditions. Similarly, researchers note the influence of the policy in the improvement of the mental health among the target audience. In addition, it is critical to note the importance and effectiveness of the policy in reducing child poverty (Mooney & Scott, 2012). One of the most effective techniques or mechanisms by the policy is to make sure that children obtain significant support in pursuit of their educational goals, thus the opportunity to facilitate the reduction of child poverty. The policy has been crucial in ensuring that work pays substantially. Furthermore, researchers cite the implications of the policy in ensuring that people find employment, as well as stay in their employment positions to obtain significant income to address their social and basic demands or needs. The policies have been at the forefront of the implementation of different mechanisms and approaches to help people recover, should they face unexpected events (ONeill & Williamson, 2012). The policy has been effective and efficient in handling social issue in the United Kingdom through voluntary transactions, as well as engagement of the public and private sectors in the course of addressing the complex issues within the society. Remarkably, poverty and social justice policy prioritizes improvement of the family stability through the integration of different mechanisms. In that context, the policy has been ideal for providing safe, stable, and nurturing environment under the influence of effective and appropriate relationships regardless of the geographical distance between the parents. The mechanisms provide the platform for the troubled families and other institutions to improve their living conditions. Similarly, the objective of the policy is to improve or enhance the concept of social mobility (Hick, 2012). The government aims at creating a socially mobile society, which enable all community members to achieve and maximize their potentialities while exploiting and utilizing the resources equally. The level of effectiveness in this context has been essential in the significant reduction of poverty within the case of the UK. It is critical to assess the inclusivity of social policies in the course of addressing the problems and expectations of the target audiences. From that perspective, the policy continues to integrate diverse stakeholders in execution of strategic plans to address the issue of poverty and social justice among the society members (Ghimire & Pimbert, 2013). For instance, the policy continues to be effective in encouraging service providers to demonstrate significant innovation through the specification of the outcomes while paying for efficient results or outcomes. In addition, the policy has the tendency to promote the local agencies and services, as well as the service users to work collectively on different services while taking into consideration the local needs and communal budgets. There is substantial need for the expansion of the social investment market, as well as philanthropy, which might be ideal for addressing the issue of poverty while alleviating the living conditions of the vulnerable society members. From an economic perspective, social justice demands new, as well as imaginative and innovative approaches or mechanisms in the course of designing and funding services. In addition, social justice requires the close partnership between the public and private sectors while incorporating the roles and responsibilities of the charitable institutions and organizations. In this context, the policy has focused on working closely with diverse or different entities to attain the goals and objectives set for the strategic period (Minujin & Nandy, 2012). For instance, the government tends to implement the policy in a manner to engage national and local government, voluntary and community sector, mutual and private entities, and investors, as well as philanthropists. The ability and tendency of the policy to integrate and incorporate diverse entities in the operations have been critical towards expansion of the coverage of the poverty and social justice policy in an attempt to address or alleviate the living conditions of the society members. From this perspective, it is critical for the policymakers and implementers to integrate different institutions and entities to enhance the effectiveness and proficiency of the policy. The policy provides employment opportunities to the vulnerable society members with the intention or objective of developing appropriate rapport. The outcome is the perfect platform for initiation and maintenance of the relationship between the target audiences and the policy implementers, thus the opportunity to achieve the goals and targets of the government plans and guidelines. Additionally, the relationship between the implementers and the target audiences is critical to the improvement of the image and reputation of the authority and other stakeholders in seeking to improve the living conditions of the vulnerable and disadvantage society members. On the contrary, some researchers seem to criticize the effectiveness and efficiency of the policy in addressing the societal concerns of poverty and social justice in the case of the United Kingdom. It is critical to note that the implementation of the policy tends to be in isolation rather than in collectivity. According to such researchers, the policy fails in attempts to handle the issue of drugs and improvement of the living conditions of the society members, especially the vulnerable groups. In addition, the target audiences tend to lack significant information or awareness of the aspects of the policy, thus limiting their attempts to exploit and utilize such mechanisms to address their conditions. Based on that context, it is necessary for the implementers to organize and execute substantial campaigns and seminars with the intention of enhancing the awareness of the target audiences concerning the concepts and aspects, as well as facets of the policy. Similarly, the researchers call for the implementation of appropriate measures and penalties for the aspects of corruption, which might hinder the effectiveness and efficiency of the policy in addressing the issues affecting the vulnerable and disadvantaged society members (Becker, Bryman & Ferguson, 2012). These perceptions are essential towards the achievement of favorable societal conditions with reference to improved social welfare, as well as the reduction in the poverty levels in the case of the UK. Conclusively, there are diverse gaps in relation to the examination of the influence and implications of the poverty and social justice policy in the case of the UK. That is because of the increased concentration of the researchers on examination of the positive and negative implications of the policy in accordance with the objectives and expectations. From this perspective, it is essential for the relevant practitioners and researchers to consider appropriate mechanisms on improving performance of the policy to contribute to the maximum reduction of the child poverty. These perceptions will be critical to the achievement of the goals and targets of the policy while incorporating different practitioners and stakeholders in pursuit of improved or enhanced living conditions among the vulnerable groups in the UK. References Alcock, P. (2014). Social policy in Britain. Palgrave Macmillan. Becker, S., Bryman, A., & Ferguson, H. (Eds.). (2012). Understanding research for social policy and social work: Themes, methods and approaches. Policy Press. Ghimire, K. B., & Pimbert, M. P. (Eds.). (2013). Social change and conservation. Routledge. Gov.UK. (2014, October 22). Poverty and Social Justice. Retrieved May 4, 2015 from https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/helping-to-reduce-poverty-and-improve-social-justice Hick, R. (2012). The capability approach: insights for a new poverty focus. Journal of Social Policy, 41(02), 291-308. Minujin, A., & Nandy, S. (Eds.). (2012). Global child poverty and well-being: measurement, concepts, policy, and action. Policy Press. Mooney, G., & Scott, G. (Eds.). (2012). Social justice and social policy in Scotland. Policy Press. ONeill, M., & Williamson, T. (Eds.). (2012). Property-owning democracy: Rawls and beyond. John Wiley & Sons. The BBC. (2015). Social inequality in the United Kingdom. BBC. Retrieved May 4, 2015 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zspttfr/revision Yeates, N. (Ed.). (2014). Understanding global social policy. Policy Press. Read More