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

Beyond Continuity? Understanding Change in the UK Welfare State since 2010

One approach to identifying policy change stresses policy instruments, settings and policy paradigms, while another also considers the process and culmination of various shifts and consequent outcomes. This article illustrates the debate through an examination of how far developments in social security policy between the 1997–2010 New Labour and 2010–15 Coalition Governments in the UK constituted real policy shifts. It shows that, despite continuities in instruments and approach, there have been substantial changes in the impact of welfare state policies related to short-term benefits, employment and housing. The article identifies new policy directions leading to a different kind of welfare state, concerned less with living standards and equality and more with individual responsibility and paid work. It suggests that this has been achieved without the need for radical changes in instruments and their settings

A 'third way' in welfare reform? Evidence from the United Kingdom

U.S. welfare reforms, whether promoting work first or human capital development, have had in common an emphasis on employment as the key to improving the life chances of children living in single-mother families. We describe in this article a different type of reform-a “third way” in welfare reform. The welfare reforms carried out in the United Kingdom since the “New Labour” government of Tony Blair was elected in 1997 have included promotion of paid work, but alongside two other components-an explicit commitment to reduce and eventually eliminate child poverty, and a campaign against long-term disadvantage under the label of tackling “social exclusion.” Welfare-to-work reforms promoting employment for single mothers have been active but not as punitive as in the United States. At the same time, the tax credit and cash benefit system has been radically overhauled, benefiting low-income families with children, whether or not parents are working. Early indications suggest a more rapid fall in child poverty in the United Kingdom since its reforms began than in the United States since its reforms, and a faster rise in single-mother employment. © 2004 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

Can child poverty be abolished? Promises and policies in the UK

In 1999 Tony Blair, the UK Prime Minister, promised to end child poverty within a generation. What does this mean? Can it be achieved? What progress has been made so far? The paper starts by placing UK child poverty at the end of the 20th Century in historical and international context. It reviews the policies that have been introduced in order to meet specific interim targets - of reducing child poverty by one quarter by 2004/5 and halving it in ten years - and discusses the prospects for success in meeting these targets. The second part takes a step back and reflects on why child poverty - rather than poverty more generally - has become the political and policy focus. It then considers whether such an emphasis - together with the particular policy directions that have been taken - may be counter-productive in meeting the eventual goal of ending child poverty. The ?end to child poverty? has now been translated as meaning having achieved a relative child poverty rate that is ?among the best (i.e. lowest) in Europe?. The final part of the paper considers what this might involve. To what extent can the policy approaches taken by the current ?best in Europe? countries be seen as recipes for success for the UK, or indeed elsewhere

Economic recession and recovery in the UK: what's gender got to do with it?

This study argues that a feminist economics perspective is essential in order to fully understand the gender consequences of the recent recession and the ongoing economic crisis in the United Kingdom. Unemployment and redundancy rates have been used to highlight the fact that male workers suffered the greatest impact in terms of job losses in the initial phases of the recession. However, this situation appears to have reversed with an associated program of spending cuts in public sector employment and welfare that will likely be borne by women. While accurate data are crucial in the analytical process, the exclusive use of statistics relating to paid work only gives a partial analysis. A more inclusive understanding of the range of impacts on both men and women is more useful in the formulation of gender-aware, as opposed to gender-blind, policy responses to recession and recovery

Social Inclusion and the `Get Heard' Process Implications for the Horizontal and Vertical Integration of Governance and Policy in the UK

Since 1997, there has arguably been a 'rediscovery' of those most at risk of poverty and social exclusion by New Labour. Within this context, it is important to consider the European, national and sub-national policy frameworks within which interventions are being developed. The European Union's 'Open Method of Co-ordination' is of relevance given its emphasis on making a decisive impact on poverty and social exclusion by 2010 through stimulating domestic policy processes in the form of National Action Plans on Inclusion (NAPSI). It also attempts to provide a coordinating framework for member states to exchange policy ideas and practices. As part of the development of the 2006-8 UK NAPSI, a Social Policy Task Force worked jointly with the Department of Work and Pensions to take forward the 'Get Heard' process — a mechanism to ensure that the views of those at the 'grassroots' could be fed into the process of developing the plan. This article presents key findings from one case study area (Merseyside). There is a subsequent consideration of the degree to which either informal or more formalized arrangements are conducive to securing enhanced horizontal and vertical integration in governance frameworks, policy making and service delivery for those most marginalized