Section B: Social issues in the uk

1. 3. Section B: Social issues in the uk Study Theme 2: Wealth and Health in the UK

2. CONNECT In this lesson cycle we will be studying what the government’s response to inequality has been and assessing the impact of this response…. If David Cameron and Nick Clegg were here what would you ask them?

3. Learning Intentions: • Understand what the welfare state is and why it came about • Be able to form a coherent argument about why or why not you believe it continues to exist • Be able to give specific examples of government responses to inequality • Be able to explain, using evidence, how effective you believe these responses to be

4. How the Welfare State Came about -Beveridge Report In 1941, the government commissioned a report into the ways that Britain should be rebuilt after World War Two, it was written by a man called Beveridge. He published his report in 1942 and recommended that the government should find ways of fighting the five 'Giant Evils' of 'Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness'. This included the establishment of a National Health Service in 1948 with free medical treatment for all. A national system of benefits was also introduced to provide 'social security' so that the population would be protected from the 'cradle to the grave'. The new system was partly built on the national insurance scheme set up by Lloyd George in 1911. People in work still had to make contributions each week, as did employers, but the benefits provided were now much greater.

5. Welfare State • The state would defeat the 5 Giant Evils through a universal welfare state which would provide a comprehensive health service, vastly expanded public housing, free and universal secondary education, and full employment, as well as benefits for the poor and family allowances. Full employment - and the relative prosperity that went with it - was the key to Beveridge's plan. • His vision was enormously popular with the public, and still forms the blueprint for the UK's welfare state. Five Giant Evils

6. List –O-Mania List the 5 Giant Evils as described by Beveridge

7. Cradle to the Grave A welfare state is where the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity,equal distribution of wealth, and public responsibility.

8. Welfare State Founding Principles • Collectivist Approach: State provision of public sector services - healthcare, education, housing, help to get work, benefits.... • Free to all at the point of use (Universal) • Equal Access/ Opportunity for all – achievement in education, access to quality healthcare, decent housing conditions and minimum income should be EVERYONE'S right in a Welfare State. • Addressing the 5 Giant Evils of 'Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness'.

9. What are the founding principles of the welfare state?Do you think the current government stays true to these founding principles? Take a debate position in the room.

10. Collectivism Collectivism is an outlook that emphasises the interdependence of every human being. In other words all citizens contribute to the well being of the community. http://www.new.solidarityscotland.org/

11. Individualism Individualism is the social outlook that stresses worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing external interference upon one's own interests by society or institutions such as the government. http://www.conservatives.com/

12. Debate about the Welfare State The debate about the provision of welfare and healthcare splits between arguments of the individualists and the collectivists. Individualists argue for greater self-sufficiency on the part of the individual while the collectivists argue it is the state's responsibility to provide necessary help. Traditionally Labour are collectivists and Conservatives are individualists. The Conservatives under Thatcher saw society divided into the deserving poor such as the elderly and the disabled and the undeserving poor such as unmarried mothers and young people who should be looking for work rather than living off benefits.

13. Are you a collectivist, or an individualist?Be able to explain why… and get ready to defend your position.

14. Effectiveness of the Welfare State Even Labour acknowledged a radical rethink of the welfare state was necessary, arguing that the benefits system has betrayed its founding principles and "skewed social behaviour". The spiralling housing benefit budget, benefits for long-term unemployment, and the lack of proper incentives to reward responsible long-term savers as three key flaws in the current welfare state.

15. Broken Society During the 2010 General Election Campaign – David Cameron focused on the idea that British society had become broken. This was evident through poverty, inequality, anti-social behaviour and laziness. According to Alan Milburn, the previous Government’s independent adviser on social mobility, a host of professions – medicine, the law, politics, the media – are increasingly dominated by the wealthy, who have marched their way through the private school system, via Oxbridge, to seize the commanding heights of British society. Broken Society

16. 2011 saw the explosion of the London Riots – proof of the damage caused by inequality? What do you think? London Riots 2011

17. Current Government Strategies - UK • The changes to the welfare system are contained in the Welfare Reform Act 2012. The main elements of the act are: • the introduction of Universal Credit to provide a single payment that will encourage people to work • tougher penalties for the most serious offences to reduce fraud and error • a new ‘claimant commitment’ showing clearly what is expected of claimants while giving protection to those with the greatest needs • reforms to Disability Living Allowance, through the introduction of Personal Independence Payment to meet the needs of disabled people today • creating a fairer approach to Housing Benefit (Benefit Cap and ‘Bedroom Tax’) • reforming ESA (Employment Support Allowance) to make the benefit fairer and to ensure that help goes to those with the greatest need • changes to support a new system of child support which puts the interest of the child first Government Strategies

18. IMPACT • JRF response - Three new food banks open every week, homelessness could hit 81,000 among under 25s by 2020 – but many more will simply be much poorer. As incomes fall and costs rise for people – whether they are in or out of work – we are seeing an unprecedented decline in living standards. • Guardian Newspaper -Finally, there was a feeling that part of the battle in creating a well-functioning welfare system will be "rebranding" or "detoxifying" social housing. It is seen by many as a last resort and as the reaction to programmes such as Benefits Street and How To Get A Council House has made clear, the public perception of the system is dire. • CPAG -The Coalition Government has targeted the social security budget with unprecedented cuts in expenditure totalling £22 billion a year by 2014-15. Benefit Street

20. Scotland Specific Strategies: ECONOMY Wealthier and Fairer Strategic Objective – Part of this is the Business Gateway (BG) provides support including start-up training, business advice and details of financial support available. It maintains the number of businesses achieved in 2012, which improved on a previously declining trend between 2008 and 2011.

21. EDUCATION The Skills Strategy and the Curriculum for Excellence,has decreased the proportion of adults aged 16-64 with low or no qualifications (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Level 4 or below since 2001.

22. HOUSING The Scottish Government's aim is to deliver 30,000 affordable homes over the lifetime of this Parliament (2011-12 to 2015-16). The reduction in housing supply since 2011-12 is mainly due to a fall in the number of new housing association houses built in the past year from 4,776 to 3,244 in 2012-13 (a 32% decrease).

23. FAMILIES The Sure Start centres were set up to give more deprived children a better chance in life. A £500 maternity grant is available to those on benefits. A study published in December 2010, comparing five year-olds in Sure Start areas with others in non-Sure Start areas, found there were fewer obese children in the areas where the programme had run. And parents felt there had been a number of benefits - they said their children were healthier and better behaved. But the study found no measurable improvement in Sure Start children's assessment scores when they started school.

24. Summary of Impact Of Scottish Government strategies • Efforts have been made to reduce inequality in Scotland, through Sure Start and Curriculum for Excellence. • Falling levels of overall child poverty in the decade up to 2010/2011. • Growing health inequalities • Despite the reduction in young people leaving school with no qualifications there has been a rise in unemployment among under-25s – it almost doubled between 2008 and 2012 to over 90,000. • The number of people wanting to work full-time rather than part-time has been rising significantly in Scotland (up from 70,000 in 2008 to 120,000 in 2012). • Reduction in affordable housing

25. Summary of Impact of 2012 Welfare Reform Bill • 3 New Food Banks open every week (JRF) • Lack of public confidence in the system (Guardian) • Cuts to Welfare totalling £22bn (CPAG) • Austerity policies are massively increasing poverty and inequality in the UK - damage that could take two decades or more to reverse. Our research suggests 800,000 children and an extra 1.9 million adults in the UK could be pushed into poverty by 2020. The unprecedented rise of over 500,000 Britons needing emergency aid from food banks is just one example among many of what poverty looks like in the UK. (Oxfam) • Concerns that areas like Easterhouse which have been regenerated and had seen falls in child poverty in the last decade, will see these improvements reversed. • Concerns that the Benefit CAP will create ghettos - The homeless charity, Shelter, said that some households in London currently receiving housing benefit will have to find a shortfall of up to £1,548 a month to meet their housing costs. The result, say opposition MPs, will be "social cleansing" of poorer tenants from richer areas.*

26. Case Study Easterhouse, a large expanse to the east of the city, with a population of around 26,000. It has long been near the top of indicators for social deprivation but in the decade prior to the financial crisis had seen some marked improvements, ranging from regeneration to falls in child poverty. So it is perhaps not surprising that benefits changes, strains on local authority budgets, and other financial issues are having an impact on local people.

27. Reflect • Create a Grid detailing government strategies and their impact • Include a summary comment – do you think the government has successfully managed poverty and, or inequality.