Introduction
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Ian Greener
Abstract
This section presents the central theme of this book in four key policy areas, and asks what Labour have achieved since 1997, and then looks forward to what might happen next. It notes that the four areas chosen are those of education, because of former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s claim before Labour came to power that his top three priorities would be ‘education, education, education’; children’s social care, because of the increased emphasis Labour have placed on the child, especially in respect of attempting to intervene early to equalize opportunity for children; healthcare because of the continued importance of the National Health Service (NHS) in debates leading up to and beyond the next general election; and pensions, where there is now almost universally recognized to be a crisis of policy which Labour have periodically attempted to address, although arguably without noticeable success.
Abstract
This section presents the central theme of this book in four key policy areas, and asks what Labour have achieved since 1997, and then looks forward to what might happen next. It notes that the four areas chosen are those of education, because of former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s claim before Labour came to power that his top three priorities would be ‘education, education, education’; children’s social care, because of the increased emphasis Labour have placed on the child, especially in respect of attempting to intervene early to equalize opportunity for children; healthcare because of the continued importance of the National Health Service (NHS) in debates leading up to and beyond the next general election; and pensions, where there is now almost universally recognized to be a crisis of policy which Labour have periodically attempted to address, although arguably without noticeable success.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- List on contributors vii
- Introduction 1
-
Current developments
- Education policy and policy making, 1997–2009 13
- Children’s social care under New Labour 31
- Health policy under New Labour: not what it seems? 51
- Towards a social democratic pension system? Assessing the significance of the 2007 and 2008 Pensions Acts1 71
- Minimum income standards and household budgets 97
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Current issues and debates
- Re-connecting with ‘what unemployment means’: employability, the experience of unemployment and priorities for policy in an era of crisis 121
- Facing the ‘dark side’ of deregulation? The politics of two-tier labour markets in Germany and Japan after the global financial crisis 149
- ‘Flexibility’, xenophobia and exploitation: modern slavery in the UK 173
- Mi Familia Progresa: change and continuity in Guatemala’s social policy 199
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Service user involvement
- Service users and social policy: developing different discussions, challenging dominant discourses 227
- Participation and social justice 253
- Involving disabled children and young people in research and consultations: issues, challenges and opportunities 275
- Responding to unhappy childhoods in the UK: enhancing young people’s ‘well-being’ through participatory action research 291
- Service users as peer research interviewers: why bother? 317
- Index 337
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- List on contributors vii
- Introduction 1
-
Current developments
- Education policy and policy making, 1997–2009 13
- Children’s social care under New Labour 31
- Health policy under New Labour: not what it seems? 51
- Towards a social democratic pension system? Assessing the significance of the 2007 and 2008 Pensions Acts1 71
- Minimum income standards and household budgets 97
-
Current issues and debates
- Re-connecting with ‘what unemployment means’: employability, the experience of unemployment and priorities for policy in an era of crisis 121
- Facing the ‘dark side’ of deregulation? The politics of two-tier labour markets in Germany and Japan after the global financial crisis 149
- ‘Flexibility’, xenophobia and exploitation: modern slavery in the UK 173
- Mi Familia Progresa: change and continuity in Guatemala’s social policy 199
-
Service user involvement
- Service users and social policy: developing different discussions, challenging dominant discourses 227
- Participation and social justice 253
- Involving disabled children and young people in research and consultations: issues, challenges and opportunities 275
- Responding to unhappy childhoods in the UK: enhancing young people’s ‘well-being’ through participatory action research 291
- Service users as peer research interviewers: why bother? 317
- Index 337
