The Student's Companion to Social Policy

Pete Alcock is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy and Administration at the University of Birmingham, UK. He retired in 2016 after teaching and researching in the field for over forty years, and his research covered the fields of poverty and anti-poverty policy, social security, and the role of the UK third sector. He is author and editor of a number of leading books on social policy including Why we need Welfare: Collective Action for the Common Good, (2016), Social Policy in Britain (5th edition, with L. Gregory, due 2022), International Social Policy: Welfare Regimes in the Developed World (2nd edition, 2009, with G. Craig), and Understanding Poverty (3rd edition, 2006). Tina Haux is Director of the Centre for Children and Families at The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) in London, UK. She is author of The Impact of Social Policy Scholars (2017), and has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Social Policy (2015-2017) and Social Policy & Society (2011-2014). Her main research interests are family policy, welfare-to-work, social justice, evidence-based policy-making and, increasingly, longitudinal research methods. Vikki McCall is Senior Lecturer in Social Policy and Housing at the University of Stirling, UK. She is co-author of the book The Role of Today’s Museum (2020, with C. Gray), and serves on the editorial board of Social Policy & Society and on the Social Policy Association Executive Committee. Her research interests include housing, ageing, volunteers, devolution, poverty, inequality, gender, social problems, urban society, museums and the cultural sector. Margaret May is External Associate at the Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM) at the University of Birmingham, UK. With over forty years of experience in teaching, examining and researching in social policy, she has edited a number of books in the field, including The Blackwell Dictionary of Social Policy (2002) and Taxation and Social Policy, (with A. Lymer and A. Sinfield, due 2023). Her research interests include occupational and private welfare, employment policy, human resource management and taxation.

Notes on Contributors xi

Introduction 1

Part I Concepts and Approaches 3

1 What is Social Policy? 5
Pete Alcock

2 Researching Social Policy 11
Vikki McCall

3 Social Needs, Social Problems, Social Welfare and Well-being 18
Nick Manning

4 Equality, Rights and Social Justice 24
Peter Taylor-Gooby

5 Human Rights and Equality 31
Deirdre Flanigan and Alison Hosie

6 Efficiency, Equity and Choice 38
Carol Propper

7 Citizenship 45
Peter Dwyer

8 Changing Behaviour 52
Jessica Pykett

Part II Key Perspectives 59

9 Neoliberalism 61
Nick Ellison

10 The Conservative Tradition 67
Hugh Bochel

11 Social Democracy 73
Robert M. Page

12 The Socialist Perspective 79
Hartley Dean

13 Feminist Perspectives 86
Shona Hunter

14 Social Movements 92
Louisa Parks

15 Postmodernist Perspectives 98
Enrico Reuter

Part III Historical Context 105

16 Nineteenth-century Beginnings 107
Bernard Harris

17 The Liberal Era and the Growth of State Welfare 113
Lee Gregory

18 The Modern Welfare State, 1940–1974 119
Robert M. Page

19 Crisis, Retrenchment and the Impact of Neoliberalism, 1976–1997 125
Howard Glennerster

20 Modernisation and the Third Way, 1997–2010 131
Martin Powell

21 Austerity Politics and Beyond 137
Martin Powell

Part IV Devolution and Social Policy in the United Kingdom 143

22 Social Policy and Devolution 145
Richard Parry

23 Social Policy in Northern Ireland 152
Ann Marie Gray and Derek Birrell

24 Social Policy in Scotland 159
Lynne Poole

25 Social Policy in Wales 166
Paul Chaney

Part V Contemporary Context and Challenges 173

26 The Climate Change and Sustainability Challenge 175
Adeline Otto

27 The Demographic Challenge 182
Jane Falkingham and Athina Vlachantoni

28 The Economic Context 190
Kevin Farnsworth and Zoë Irving

29 The Role of Religion 197
Rana Jawad

30 Divisions and Difference 203
Peter Matthews and Sharon Wright

31 ‘Race’, Minority Ethnic Groups and Social Welfare 209
Steve Iafrati

32 Poverty and Social Exclusion 216
Simon Pemberton and Gerardo Javier Arriaga-García

33 The Distribution of Welfare 222
John Hills

Part VI Welfare Production and Provision 229

34 State Welfare 231
Catherine Bochel

35 Paying for Welfare 237
Howard Glennerster

36 Taxation and Social Policy 244
Micheál L. Collins, Sally Ruane and Adrian Sinfield

37 Commercial Welfare 252
Chris Holden

38 Occupational Welfare 258
Margaret May

39 Civil Society Organisations and Welfare 266
Rob Macmillan

40 Informal Welfare 272
Stacey Rand

41 Welfare Users and Social Policy 280
Catherine Needham

Part VII Welfare Governance 287

42 The Policy Process 289
Hugh Bochel

43 Managing and Delivering Welfare 295
Ian Greener

44 Accountability for Welfare 301
Jackie Gulland

45 Local and Regional Governance 308
Guy Daly and Howard Davis

Part VIII Welfare Domains 315

46 Income Maintenance and Social Security 317
Stephen McKay and Karen Rowlingson

47 Employment 324
Adam Whitworth and Eleanor Carter

48 Healthcare 331
Catherine Marchand

49 Public Health 338
Tina Haux

50 Education in Schools 345
Elizabeth Cookingham Bailey

51 Lifelong Learning and Training 352
Claire Callender

52 Housing 359
David Mullins and Halima Sacranie

53 Social Care 366
Jon Glasby

54 Criminal Justice 373
Tim Newburn

Part IX Experiencing Welfare 381

55 Experiences of Working-age Benefits 383
Ruth Patrick

56 Family Policy 389
Tina Haux

57 Children 395
Kitty Stewart

58 Young People 401
Aniela Wenham and Bob Coles

59 Older People 408
Kate Hamblin

60 Disability 414
Mark Priestley

61 Migrants 420
Rebecca E. Murray

Part X International and Comparative Context 427

62 Comparative and International Analysis 429
Margaret May

63 Policy Learning and Transfer 436
Laura Bainbridge and John Hudson

64 The European Union and Social Policy 442
Linda Hantrais

65 Social Policy in Europe 449
Daniel Clegg

66 Social Policy in the United States 455
Phillip M. Singer and Scott L. Greer

67 Social Policy in East Asia 462
Misa Izuhara and Wenjing Zhang

68 Social Policy in the BRICS countries 469
Rebecca Surender and Amrit Virk

69 Social Policy in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) 476
Rana Jawad

70 Social Policy in Low-income Countries 485
Patricia Kennett and Angelique Retief

71 Globalisation, International Organisations and Social Policy 494
Nicola Yeates

Appendix: The Social Policy Association (SPA) 501

Index 503