05 英文 文学 5 班
李穗
Topic: To what extent does Britain’s welfare system provide for the needs
of its citizens?
Outline
Thesis Statement:
The welfare system in Britain is considered to be one of the best and earliest welfare
systems in the world. But in recent years, the quality and efficiency reduction, and the
welfare culture have been big problems for fulfilling the need of the British people.
1. Introductions:
A. The history, scale, functions and targets of the welfare system;
B. The reform of the system in 1998;
2. Both aspects of the welfare system in Britain;
The advantages of the welfare system:
A. The system provides great benefits for all the citizens in various kinds of
services.
B. The new system emphasizes self reliance;
The disadvantages of the welfare system:
A. The quality and efficiency reduction of the services;
B. The "dependency ratio";
3. Conclusion:
The welfare system still has a long way to go to meet the need of the British citizens.
A Long Way, for Welfare System in Britain to Go
The welfare system of Britain since 1940s, the earliest one in the world, has been
part of everyone' life in Britain. It provides help for anyone who is raising a family or
who is elderly, sick, disabled, unemployed, widowed or disadvantaged.1 And all the
citizens at some point in their lives will receive help from its varied services.
Though the welfare system is considered to be one of the best in the world by the
World Health Organization, the expense for it has taken up more and more largely in
the financial expenses of the British government, varying from 12.5% in 1949 to 32%
in 1997 with an average increasing rate of 4% annually.2 Recognizing this, the Labor
government in 1998 announced a new welfare system for Britain, emphasizing self
reliance. The reforms, to be implemented over 10 to 20 years, are to be based on the
twin pillars of work and security--work for those who can, and security for those who
cannot.
3
Now nearly 10 years has passed, to what extend does Britain’s welfare
system provide for the needs of its citizens?
Firstly, the system provides great benefits for all the citizens in various kinds of
services. From the time when a mother is pregnant, she can receive Statutory
Maternity Pay from her employer if she is employed; Maternity Allowance from the
social welfare, if she is a housewife; Social Fund Maternity Payments if she has
received one of the following — Income Support ， Income-based Jobseeker's
Allowance，Working Families' Tax Credit or Disabled Person's Tax Credit; then if the
child was born, he or she will receive Child Benefit; if you are unfortunately disabled,
Statutory Sick Pay or Incapacity Benefit Severe Disablement Allowance or Disability
Living Allowance etc; when you get retired, Basic Retirement Pension or Over 80
Pension, and maybe Additional Pension (one can receive if she/he is an employee and
have been handing in the national insurance of Class 1 since 1978).4 And one can
receive kinds of allowance according to different professions in varied services. The
following are some detailed data, from which one can learn how comprehensive the
system is and how much one citizen can get from the system.
In a typical week:
1.
1.4 million people will receive help in their home from the welfare
system;
2.
more than 800,000 people will be treated in the NHS (National Health
Service )hospital outpatient clinics;
3.
700,000 will visit a NHS dentist for a check-up;
4.
NHS district nurses will make more than 700,000 visits;
5.
over 10,000 babies will be delivered by the NHS;
6.
NHS chiropodists will inspect over 150,000 pairs of feet;
7.
NHS ambulances will make over 50,000 emergency journeys;
8.
NHS Direct nurses will receive around 25,000 calls from people seeking
medical advice ;
9.
pharmacists will dispense approximately 8.5 million items on NHS
prescriptions ;
10. NHS surgeons will perform around 1,200 hip operations, 3,000 heart
operations and 1,050 kidney operations. 5
Secondly, the new system emphasizes self reliance. The system put in place after
the Second World War has created a dependency culture that is damaging to society
and cannot be sustained financially. The government says in a green paper that it
wants to spend more on health and on helping severely disabled people, while
spending less on "social and economic failure" by cutting unemployment, rooting out
fraud, and encouraging greater self provision.
Though there are so much help that one citizen can receive from the welfare system,
it still has a long way to go.
The quality and efficiency reduction of the services remains a big problem in the
welfare system in Britain. As regards the quality, for example, the welfare system still
lacks a balance between the children and the adults. Though Britain has one of
Europe's lowest unemployment rates at 6.5 percent, the rate among young people
stands at 10 percent.6 And the rate for children who are aged 16 or below and living
in poor households is 32% in Britain. What’s more, the quality of some of the services
from the NHS has reduced. It’s before the outbreak of the winter flu epidemic that
(The Times newspaper of October 18th, 2003)Professor Michael Joy in, consultant
cardiologist at St Peter's hospital, Chertsey, wrote to complain that he could not admit
very ill patients from his Accident Department due to the unavailability of beds in the
main hospital. He said, "If nothing is done, I guarantee within the next weeks there
will be a mighty crash. Everybody in the Health Service is totally demoralized. I have
never seen morale at such a low level in my 35 year career. The NHS is a Third World
health service.”
As regards efficiency, the myriad benefits, and the confusing claim forms and
entitlements that underpin them, create 'disincentives to work' and lead to inaccuracies
in the amount of benefits claimants receive. The complexity of the benefits and tax
credits also contributes to billions of pounds in benefit cash going unclaimed each
year.
“How come all these foreign workers can find jobs in the British economy when
so many British people seem stuck on welfare?” questioned by the citizens in Britain
when the numbers of foreign workers employed in the UK over the past decade have
been revealed recently. The current official estimate for it is 1.5 million,7 which
proves the presence of “dependency ratio” of its citizens.
The "dependency ratio”, beginning in the 1960s, has increased substantially: in
1950 about 4 percent relied on national assistance, the chief means-tested benefit. In
spite of the welfare reform in 1998, today nearly 17 percent of the population relies on
its successor, called income support.8 Including some other means-tested benefits -housing and council tax benefits -- 27 percent of the British people are
welfare-dependent. The reason may lies in a dependency culture created by the
welfare system put in place after the Second World War. The aim of the welfare
system was supposed to support those who cannot work in society. Ironically, the
effect has been to make those who can work more dependent.
Then what prevents the welfare system in Britain from fulfilling the needs of the
citizens? From the examples above, one can learn that it is the quality and efficiency
reduction in the welfare system that prevents the welfare system from fulfilling the
need of the British people. What’s more, a dependency culture is damaging to society
and cannot be sustained financially. As a result, it can be concluded that the welfare
system in Britain still has a long way to go to meet the need of the citizens,
demanding reforms from the composition of the system to its inner culture.
Works Cited:
1. “The British Health and Welfare System” (2003):15 Dec.2007<
http://elt.britcoun.org.pl/elt/h_what.htm#INT>
2.黄婧,《英国福利制度改革》丹东经济信息网 (2006-08-09)：第二段;15,Dec.2007<
http://www.ddcei.gov.cn/html/2006080916141113262.html>
3. John Warden, Britain's new welfare system emphasises self reliance. London
(1993)
4.
《
英
国
福
利
》 （
2006-7-27
）
:15,Dec.2007<
http://www.for68.com/new/2006/7/fe00121272760020-0.htm>
5. 同 1
6. Helen Cooper, "All of Europe Watches As Britain's Tony Blair Hacks Away at
Welfare," Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2003
7. David Grossman. “Welfare - The British Position” (07-11-7): 15,
Dec.2007<http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2007/11/welfare_the_british_positi
on.html>
8. David G. Green, "Benefit Dependency: How Welfare Undermines
Independence," Choice in Welfare No. 41, IEA Health and Welfare Unit, Institute of
Economic Affairs, 2 Lord North Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3LB, (0171)
799-3745.