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1、 What are the appropriate objectives of welfare policy in the modern economy and state In today s modern economy and state the public often sees welfare and in particular the Welfare State as narrowly as the National Health Service For the purpose of uncovering the modern objectives of welfare polic
2、y I believe it is important to go far beyond this interpretation to find the fundamental notions that have moulded welfare provision into its present shape and form The first question one can ask is what is really meant by welfare At the most basic level the dictionary would see it as Well doing or
3、well being in any respect the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life exemption from any evil or calamity prosperity happiness 1 According to this definition welfare is clearly a state of existence which individuals and society as a whole should aim for but as with any ideal remains sub
4、jective and individual One man s happiness cannot be measured nor can it be a reached by every other individual in society given the same set of constraints There are more important implications for this when we consider welfare provision as a duty for the government i e welfare changing from a subj
5、ective individualistic notion to a moral social obligation Most modern liberal societies place considerable value on the notions of freedom and liberty If the rights of the individual are central to liberty as defined by an editorial in the Economist that men and women are entitled to live their liv
6、es as they choose provided their choices do not harm others are government obligations always compatible with this form of liberty Such a definition of liberty inevitably fosters a moral relativism which instead of being compatible with the moral burden of welfare policy actually threatens to loosen
7、 social bonds It was this kind of laissez faire concept of liberalism that Thatcherism swore by and allowed the Conservative government to be so hostile to substantial government intervention and the Welfare State The other rival concept of liberty is also individualist but holds that individuals ne
8、ed and seek close ties with others It emphasises the bonds of mutual identification found in people and creates the possibility and the need for individuals to take the welfare of others into account This definition contrary to the previous one therefore allows the government to maintain a level of
9、welfare by relieving poverty for example while maintaining individual liberty This notion of liberty is in perfect harmony with the new government as exemplified by Tony Blair stating at a party conference I tell you a decent society is not based on rights It is based on duty Our duty to each other
10、On the other hand the downside to the definition is that it can tend towards an oppressive moral absolutism thereby damaging the running of a democracy 1 Source Webster s Revised Unabridged Dictionary 1913 web1913 The reason I think it is important to set out the basics of the notion of welfare in s
11、uch detail is that it directly affects both how the welfare state is perceived politically and how welfare policy is implemented Indeed different governments may pursue objectives according to which definition of liberty they fundamentally believe in and due to the rapidly changing socio economic en
12、vironment it is relevant to many modern states and economies Before discussing the modern objectives of welfare policy it is just as important to establish the framework and primary objectives of the Welfare State as is inherited by all British governments The Welfare State if it is to be defined is
13、 often assimilated with William Beveridge and the after war period In fact defining it with this constraint is pointless if older versions of welfare provision such as the Poor Law Act of 1601 and ancient Christian charity are taken into consideration Instead we can say that a Welfare State is just
14、a means of increasing welfare for those in need and what must be looked at are the aims and methods of improving welfare Historically though the Beveridge report was a best seller not because it offered something uniquely new but rather because it identified issues which affected most of British soc
15、iety in the after war period In the report Beveridge declared war on the five giant evils of Want Disease Ignorance Squalor and Idleness The solutions to remedy these evils where considered novel as they replaced the old and haphazard methods with a coherent strategy embracing social insurance famil
16、y allowance national assistance and the National Health Service Why was this strategy implemented and just as importantly did it embody the fundamental objectives of welfare policy There are I believe four distinct aspects we can look at to justify such a Welfare state some moral and some purely economic these are the humanitarian explanation the full employment assumption the popular and comforting nature of the package and the efficiency argument The humanitarian explanation is by far the most
