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Overview: resisting welfare state restructuring in the UK
- Author:
- TAYLOR-GOOBY Peter
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 20(2), June 2012, pp.119-132.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
This article suggests that the UK government's cut-backs and restructuring of the welfare state imply considerable risks for citizens and for its own economic legacy and re-election prospects. They form part of a larger strategy to set the UK political economy on an entirely new path. The article reviews current proposals and shows that any viable alternative programme must be eclectic and must accept that some parts of a good welfare state cannot be justified on practical economic or human capital grounds, but must be included because they are “good in themselves”.
The local dimension of active inclusion policy
- Author:
- KÜNZEL Sebastian
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 22(1), February 2012, pp.3-16.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The introduction of active inclusion policies is radically transforming welfare states throughout Europe, and the welfare state is changing from a social citizenship approach based on uniform benefits and services towards a system of individualised, targeted welfare intervention. Reforms therefore involve a fundamental re-organisation of welfare provision. This transformation is usually discussed as a matter of national regimes for active inclusion and European diffusion of good governance. However, active inclusion policies rely on a different social policy approach implying differentiated implementation processes. The implementation of active inclusion reforms can therefore only be understood by taking into account the local level. A series of local studies on French and German minimum income schemes raises questions about national accounts of these schemes, which depict a shift towards workfare. This article reveals local variation between market-oriented, bureaucratic and participatory active inclusion strategies dependent on local governance arrangements.
Immigration and the categorical welfare state in Israel
- Author:
- GAL John
- Journal article citation:
- Social Service Review, 82(4), December 2008, pp.639-661.
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
Immigration is an issue of growing relevance in welfare states. This article seeks to better understand the link between social welfare and immigration in Israel, a welfare state that has absorbed a greater proportion of immigrants than any other. Employing a conceptual framework that looks at both immigration policy and the structuring of the social welfare system, the article examines the impact of the Israeli system on the welfare of immigrants and members of other groups in society. The unique structuring of the social welfare system in Israel, described as categorical universalism, and its immigration policy are linked to what Sammy Smooha calls an “ethnic democracy.”
The Korean welfare state: a paradox of expansion in an era of globalisation and economic crisis
- Authors:
- KWON Soonman, HOLLIDAY Ian
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 16(3), July 2007, pp.242-248.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
When the Asian financial crisis took a heavy toll on Korea in the late 1990s, policy makers responded by extending welfare policy. For many analysts, this was a paradoxical move, marking a fundamental reconfiguration of the social policy system. This article contests that interpretation. It examines the changes made to Korean social policy in recent years, and considers their impact on the Korean welfare state. It notes both that welfare extensions have been comparatively limited, and that they have often formed part of wider attempts to boost labour market flexibility. It thus concludes that limited expansion of the Korean welfare state is chiefly an attempt to bolster industrial competitiveness and economic growth. For now, Korea retains the productivist social policy orientation that has long characterised it. It also concedes, however, that in the future underlying social change, notably a rapidly ageing population, may prompt policy makers to make significant changes to the Korean welfare state.
Marketization in higher education policy: an analysis of higher education funding policy reforms in Western Europe between 1980 and 2000
- Author:
- DOLENEC Danijela
- Journal article citation:
- Revija Za Socijalnu Politiku Journal of Social Policy, 13(1), 2006, pp.15-34.
- Publisher:
- University of Zagreb
The main objective of this study is establishing patterns of higher education funding policy change in seven countries of Western Europe (Sweden, Norway, the UK, Ireland, France, and Germany) in the period from 1980's to 2000. Patterns of change are traced using the typology of welfare state regimes developed by Esping-Andersen (1990). The main assumption is that key institutional features of welfare regime govern reform trajectories in higher education funding policies. The study shows that regularities within regimes do exist, and they broadly conform to the welfare regime typology. However countries do not completely conform to the types. This is partly due to the deficiency of an ideal-type classification, but more importantly it seems due to the fact that higher education funding policy cannot be fully explained by using the social policy lens. [Article in Croatian].
“It’s a £20 sort of thing”: the dehumanizing impacts of Universal Credit and the end of the ‘uplift’
- Author:
- NEGUS Sophie
- Journal article citation:
- People Place and Policy Online, 15(2), 2021, pp.85-90. Online only
- Publisher:
- Sheffield Hallam University
- Place of publication:
- Sheffield
In early October 2021, Universal Credit (UC) payments were cut by £20 a week, as the temporary ‘uplift’ in response to the Covid-19 pandemic was removed. The ‘uplift’ was introduced by the Government in April 2020 for a year, which was later extended until October 2021. UC is a distinctive form of working-age means-tested social security which replaces the Legacy system encompassing Income Support (IS), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA), Housing Benefit (HB), Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Working Tax Credit (WTC). Thus, UC is accessed by people in and out of work (including those seeking work or not fit for work) at any working age. The £20 a week increase applied to the standard allowance of UC and Working Tax Credits (WTC), therefore excluding those still accessing the Legacy system. (Edited publisher abstract)
Social policy in the face of a global pandemic: policy responses to the COVID‐19 crisis
- Authors:
- BELAND Daniel, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 55(2), 2021, pp.249-260.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
How have welfare states responded to the coronavirus pandemic? In this introductory article, we provide a synopsis of papers that comprise this special issue on social policy responses to COVID‐19, an overview of some of the key questions they raise, and some provisional answers to these questions. Our conclusions are threefold: first, these social policy responses, while entailing new developments in many countries, nonetheless reflect, at least in part, existing national policy legacies. Second, these responses can be understood as a form of “emergency Keynesianism,” which is characterized by the massive use of deficit spending during economic crises, with the aim of to supporting rather than challenging core capitalist institutions. Third, there are clear differences in terms of the nature of the reforms enacted during the initial phase of the COVID‐19 crisis as compared to reforms enacted as a response to the 2008 financial crisis. (Edited publisher abstract)
Homelessness and Universal Credit
- Author:
- SCOTLAND. Scottish Government
- Publisher:
- Scotland. Scottish Government
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 19
- Place of publication:
- Edinburgh
This report investigates the links between Universal Credit (UC) and homelessness. It follows from two reports on housing and social security published by the Scottish Government in May 2018 and January 2020 respectively. The report focuses on two aspects of UC which have been highlighted as being particularly detrimental, namely benefit sanctions and the five-week wait for the first payment. Isolating the impact of Universal Credit on homelessness is challenging. The causes of homelessness are complex, and data which could link homelessness and Universal Credit is limited. However, a number of correlations between homelessness and Universal Credit can be observed in the data. For example, homelessness rates in Scotland have slightly increased since 2015, coinciding with the rollout of Universal Credit since 2013. Mental health in particular has grown as a reason for homelessness since 2013, after declining for five years. Furthermore, homeless households and households affected by the five-week wait tend to be similar in composition, and there is a statistically significant correlation between Universal Credit sanctions and homelessness across Local Authorities. We estimate that the five-week wait reduced expenditure on Universal Credit in Scotland by £144 million in 2019/20, increasing to a projected £205 million in 2020/21. We also estimate that the freeze in Local Housing Allowance rates, the Benefit Cap, and the Bedroom Tax will cumulatively reduce expenditure on housing-related reserved benefits by around £115 million each year in Scotland by 2024/25. A range of evidence from charities and other organisations demonstrates that certain features of Universal Credit have directly contributed to homelessness, particularly sanctions and the five-week wait. The channels through which Universal Credit leads to homelessness include forcing tenants into rent arrears and evictions, and contributing to relationship issues and mental health problems. The impact of Universal Credit on homelessness has become increasingly important during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Edited publisher abstract)
Universal Credit: getting to first payment
- Author:
- NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE
- Publisher:
- National Audit Office
- Publication year:
- 2020
- Pagination:
- 68
- Place of publication:
- London
This report focuses on Universal Credit, which has been rolled out to replace six means-tested benefits for working-age households. The report explains how the process of getting to first payment works for Universal Credit, and considers its impact on claimants; assesses the Department for Work and Pensions’ performance in paying first payments on time, cost-efficiently and without fraud and error, in the period before COVID-19; and assesses whether the Department supports claimants effectively through the initial claim process. The report finds that many people claim Universal Credit at a challenging time in their lives. As such, the initial wait, which is an inherent part of Universal Credit’s design and operational processes, does not cause all the issues that claimants may face but, in the context of many claimants’ existing financial difficulties, can exacerbate their problems. It suggests that the Department has improved the proportion of people getting their first Universal Credit payment on time and in full to around 90% and has demonstrated an ability to gradually make Universal Credit claims more cost-efficient by automating and improving processes. However, as the Universal Credit caseload has grown, a large number of people still do not receive their full payment on time. Vulnerable people may be particularly likely to struggle with their claim. The report calls on the Government to better understand and address the needs of vulnerable people and those with more complex claims, who may be at greater risk of struggling under the Universal Credit regime. (Edited publisher abstract)
Rolling out Universal Credit
- Author:
- NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE
- Publisher:
- National Audit Office
- Publication year:
- 2018
- Pagination:
- 79
- Place of publication:
- London
This report examines the Department for Work and Pensions’ progress in implementing Universal Credit, describing the evolution of the programme since the reset and evaluating the Department’s future plans. Replacing six means-tested benefits for working-age households, Universal Credit aims to: encourage more people into work by introducing better financial incentives, simpler processes and increasing requirements on claimants to search for jobs; reduce fraud and error; and reduce the costs of administering benefits. In order to assess the value for money of the Department’s introduction of the programme, the report considers: how the Department’s plans for Universal Credit have evolved (Part One); whether its adaptive and incremental approach is ensuring Universal Credit works for claimants and the organisations supporting them (Part Two); and ultimately, the prospects for Universal Credit achieving its aims (Part Three). The report finds that some elements of the programme are working well. However, some claimants have struggled to adjust to Universal Credit; one in five claimants do not receive their full payment on time; the programme is creating additional costs for local organisations that help administer Universal Credit and support claimants; organisations report that the Department has been unresponsive to issues they raise. The Department expects Universal Credit eventually to deliver £8 billion of net benefits a year, but the report notes that this depends on some unproven assumptions: it is not known whether the employment impact identified by early evaluation can be replicated across the programme; it is not clear that Universal Credit will cost less to administer; the Department does not know whether Universal Credit is reducing fraud and error. The report concludes that there is no practical alternative to continuing with Universal Credit but makes recommendations for improvement, calling on the Government to heed the lessons from its own experiences, those of claimants, and those who support them. (Edited publisher abstract)