Chapter 11 Welfare
Poverty: Mind or Matter?
 What is mind?
 It doesn’t matter.
 What is (the) matter?
 Never mind.
Poverty: matter or mind?
 The state of being without
 Associated with need, hardship, lack of
resources
 To be denied adequate resources to
participate meaningfully in society
 A state in which a family’s income is too low
to be able to buy the quantities of food,
shelter, and clothing that are deemed
necessary
Absolute poverty
 When a human being fails to receive the
minimum amount of resources to physically
sustain themselves, ie, food, water
 The state of being without
 Associated with need, hardship, lack of
resources
 A state in which a family’s income is too low
to be able to buy the quantities of food,
shelter, and clothing that are deemed
necessary
Relative poverty
 Defined by the general living standards—
relative to how wealthy your society is
 To be denied adequate resources to
participate meaningfully in society
The government measures poverty by
 Using a “composite index”.
 A list of around 40 indicators of poverty
 Eg. Annual income, educational
achievement of an individual, employment
status, health and diet
90th percentile
75th percentile
Median
25th percentile
10th percentile
Distribution of real1 household disposable income
£ per week
The government tackles poverty by
 Collecting tax from the population
 National insurance
 Distributing the collected money fairly to…
 The needy:
 The unemployed, the sick, the young, the
elderly, the disabled
Ways of distributing the money
 Funding the essential public services, eg.
NHS
 Giving out benefits on a regular basis to
those who are eligible
The Welfare State: a History
 1601—Poor Law Act, first government
interest in public welfare
 1834—Poor Law Amendment Act: only for
those too sick or too old to work, otherwise
in workhouses (Oliver Twist, 1837)
 1848-1875—Public Health Acts: local health
authorities
 1870—Public Health Act: interest in primary
education
The Welfare State: a History
 1880—Public libraries, swimming pools,
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parks, local government charities, self help
1944—Butler Education Act, education free
and compulsory
1945—Family Allowances Act
1946—National Insurance Act
1947—National Health Service (NHS: P183,
PP186-7)
The Welfare State: a History
 1960s + 70s—More selective about benefits
 1979—Thatcher (P184)
 1979—Conservative government (P189)
Increased means testing
Benefit cuts
Privatisation
Competition between local services
Caring in the community
Encouragement of pluralism
The Beveridge Report
 1942—Sir William Beveridge
 Analysis of the state of poverty and welfare
 Government interest in social welfare affairs
The Beveridge Report
 5 things/evils
Want
Disease
Ignorance
Squalor
Idleness
 Aim: a poverty-free society
The Welfare State has
erradicated all poverty in the UK.
Do you agree?
The Welfare State: Why the Need?
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Pensions, health care, education
Should people struggle to get adequate
housing?
Should old age equal poverty?
Should everyone be entitled to a standard
of living at subsistence level?
Should people be able to cease pain and
not go bankrupt by long term of illness?
The Welfare State: Why the Need?
Should everyone be prepared by life by
having at least the secondary education?
 Should tertiary education be within reach
for everybody or should people struggle to
get that opportunity?
 Should basic rights like health care be
provided independent of socioeconomic
status?
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Can the market handle it?
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Is there universal access to any good or service?
Ability & willingness to pay
Perfect information—easily accessible and
comprehensible: consumers and suppliers must
be well informed of the nature of the product and
prices
Perfect competition—product, capital market
Individuals—price-takers with equal power
Complete markets—do markets ensure us
against inflation?
Redistribution—necessary
Problems
Bureaucracy—cost & efficiency
 In theory vs. in practice
 Unfair distribution—the rich taking
advantage of the system and milking the
government for money
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Chapter 11 Welfare
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What do you understand by the term ‘welfare state’, as
proposed by the Beveridge Report of 1942? (PP182-3)
Why do you think there have been some changes in
government’s attitudes towards the traditional Universal
Welfare Provision? (P184)
What are the main benefits and pensions available in the
UK system of social security? (PP184-6)
What are the basic principles of the National Health
Service? How are its costs met? (P186)
What is the pattern of house ownership in Britain today?
Who is responsible for the provision of housing benefits?
(PP188-190)
WELFARE IN BRITAIN —
THE PRESENT
 The three main areas of welfare provision:
health, housing and social security
 The post-war welfare structure: a
combination of public and private provision
 From the 1980s: encouragement of
provision for one’s own health and
retirement by paying into private insurance
schemes
Housing
 1950s and 1960s — Post War slum
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clearance
The 1980s: Sale of Council Houses
Many people disagreed with this policy
Local Council Responsibilities
To provide adequate housing and meet
special housing needs in its area, usually
through the local Social Services
Department
Housing
 Private Sector Housing
 Housing Benefits
 Help with housing costs: part of the
provision of the Welfare State, either for
people on low incomes or for people
unexpectedly or temporarily out of work
through illness or unemployment
(administered by local government)
Housing
 The 1961 three-
bedroomed semi-detached
house: typical of those
now standing on the
Clober estate
Semi-detached Houses
Detached House
Council Houses
Flats
 London Flat
 Lawn Road Flats
 1930s
 1933-1934
Workhouses
 Workhouse,
Winchester
 Workhouse, Andover
• Pictures of workhouse
The Poor Law in 1834
 OLIVER TWIST
 Charles Dickens
Dickens Centre, Rochester

Summer
House
Portsmouth Museum
 House he bought at his
home town
 Library
Housing Crisis in Britain
 Negative equity—house price falls
 People are losing more money on their
home than they're earning everyday at
work.
 The Telegraph
 Credit crunch—less lending, tighter mortgage
lending environment
 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/ssdata
set.asp?vlnk=7438&Pos=&ColRank=1&Ran
k=272
 http://www.saveborrowspend.co.uk/articles/f
eature/1781-uk-housing-crisis-how-is-itaffecting-you
 http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article4256.ht
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