Moral Argument and the Justification of Policy:New Labour’s Case for Welfare Reform

This article proposes a framework for exploring how politicians use moral arguments to win support for their policies. It proceeds from the premise that the formulation of such arguments is mediated by three factors that constitute a general context of justification - ‘ideology,’ ‘argumentation’ and ‘hegemonic competition.’ For analytical purposes, the framework reconstructs the process of justification as one in which argumentative strategies are selected, modified and utilised in the light of these factors. The framework is applied to New Labour’s case for the New Deals and Flexible New Deal. The analysis reveals that these initiatives and the moral arguments used to promote them are broadly consistent with New Labour’s ideology; the arguments are appropriate to the policies; and that New Labour succeeded in setting the agenda on welfare reform

Exclusionary employment in Britain’s broken labour market

There is growing evidence of the problematic nature of the UK’s ‘flexible labour market’ with rising levels of in-work poverty and insecurity. Yet successive Governments have stressed that paid work is the route to inclusion, focussing attention on the divide between employed and unemployed. Past efforts to measure social exclusion have tended to make the same distinction. The aim of this paper is to apply Levitas et al’s (2007) framework to assess levels of exclusionary employment, i.e. exclusion arising directly from an individual’s labour market situation. Using data from the Poverty and Social Exclusion UK survey, results show that one in three adults in paid work is in poverty, or in insecure or poor quality employment. One third of this group have not seen any progression in their labour market situation in the last five years. The policy focus needs to shift from ‘Broken Britain’ to Britain’s broken labour market

Informal community support for parents of pre-school children: A comparative study investigating the subjective experience of parents attending community-based toddler groups in different socio-economic situations

"Within the United Kingdom, the importance of the appropriate parenting of children in their early years has received significant political support. However, it has been found that positive outcomes for young children, in terms of their present experience and future life chances, are often significantly weakened by the impact of poverty. A phenomenological scoping study was undertaken to explore the reasons why parents living in poverty access informal social support networks, in the form of community-based toddler groups. The study found that engagement with these networks has value for parents in terms of their mental well-being and their peer education, both of which support their ability to parent a young child appropriately.

The Effects of Defamilisation and Familisation Measures on the Accumulation of Retirement Income for Women in the UK

This paper is concerned with the link between the effects of pro-market pension reforms on women and familisation/defamilisation measures. It aims to contribute to the study of this link in three ways. Firstly, it identifies defamilisation/familisation measures which have the potential to reduce negative effects of pro-market pension measures on women. Secondly, based on the examples from the UK, it shows that the government’s willingness to provide sufficient defamilisation/familisation measures to assist women to deal with the negative effects of the pro-market pension measures should not be taken for granted. Thirdly, it suggests ways for tackling this problem

‘Imposed unknowns’: a qualitative study into the impact of Independent Living Fund closure on users

The Independent Living Fund (ILF) was a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Work and Pensions. An efficient and popular system of support, the ILF enabled 46,000 people between 1988 and 2015; however, in 2015 the Fund closed and local authorities (LAs) assumed sole responsibility for supporting former ILF users. This paper presents the experiences of 12 former ILF users as they transition from ILF to LA support. We focus on participants’ experiences of ILF and LA support, their transition from ILF to LA support, and the emotional impact of transition. Participants were universally positive about their dealings with the ILF, whilst nearly all were worried about LA provision. For most participants, the process of transfer was not smooth; participants received insufficient information and poor communication from LAs. Participants expressed anxiety and uncertainty over the future and these feelings were exacerbated by the actions of LAs during transfer

Neoliberal paternalism and paradoxical subjects: Confusion and contradiction in UK activation policy

The twin thrusts of neoliberal paternalism have in recent decades become fused elements of diverse reform agendas across the advanced economies, yet neoliberalism and paternalism present radically divergent and even contradictory views of the subject across the four key spaces of ontology, teleology, deontology and ascetics. These internal fractures in the conceptual and resulting policy framework of neoliberal paternalism present considerable risks around unintended policy mismatch across these four spaces or, alternatively, offer significant flexibility for deliberate mismatch and ‘storying’ by policy makers. This article traces these tensions in the context of the UK Coalition government’s approach to the unemployed and outlines a current policy approach to employment activation that is filled with ambiguity, inconsistency and contradiction in its understanding of the subject, the ‘problem’ and the policy ‘solution’

Plans that work: improving employment outcomes for young people with learning disabilities

This article offers a critical reflection on the function of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) in pathways to employment for disabled young people. We consider ‘the education plan’ as an artefact of special educational needs systems. We problematise the often taken‐for‐granted assumption that such plans are always and only a ‘good’ thing in the lives of disabled young people seeking pathways to employment. At the same time, we consider the rise in demand for plans that are understood by many as a crucial mechanism for achieving support. Following the recent policy reforms in England, we describe a context in which the funding of education is shrinking and in which the promise of employment for disabled young people has yet to be delivered. We conclude by proposing some changes to policy and practice to enhance employment opportunities for disabled young people