Two Slaying idleness without killing care: a challenge for the British welfare state
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Hilary Land
Abstract
This chapter provides a useful counterpoint, drawing on feminist scholarship to highlight the gendered nature of policy designed to tackle the evil of ‘idleness’. It points to the dilemma, unarticulated in the Beveridge reforms but an increasingly important one for policy makers, of how to treat women’s paid and unpaid ‘work’ and contribution to the economy and well-being. It focuses particularly on the challenges posited by the rise in part-time working and lone parenthood, both notable by their absence from serious consideration in the Beveridge model but an increasingly salient feature of the contemporary social and economic organisation of society. It notes that the review of the limitations of the current welfare-to-work policies in tackling ‘idleness’ points to the continuing challenges facing policy makers.
Abstract
This chapter provides a useful counterpoint, drawing on feminist scholarship to highlight the gendered nature of policy designed to tackle the evil of ‘idleness’. It points to the dilemma, unarticulated in the Beveridge reforms but an increasingly important one for policy makers, of how to treat women’s paid and unpaid ‘work’ and contribution to the economy and well-being. It focuses particularly on the challenges posited by the rise in part-time working and lone parenthood, both notable by their absence from serious consideration in the Beveridge model but an increasingly salient feature of the contemporary social and economic organisation of society. It notes that the review of the limitations of the current welfare-to-work policies in tackling ‘idleness’ points to the continuing challenges facing policy makers.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- List of contributors vii
- Overview 1
-
Tackling Beveridge’s ‘five evils’, 60 years on
- Freedom from want: 60 years on 11
- Slaying idleness without killing care: a challenge for the British welfare state 29
- Tackling ignorance, promoting social mobility: education policy 1948 and 2008 49
- Beveridge’s giant of disease: from negative to positive welfare? 67
- Tackling squalor? Housing’s contribution to the welfare state 87
- The Poor Law Commission of 1905–09: a view from a century on 109
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Contemporary childcare policy
- Intercountry adoption in Europe 1998–2007: patterns, trends and issues 133
- Family income as a protective factor for child outcomes 167
- Managing shared residence in Britain and France: questioning a default ‘primary carer’ model 197
- Strategic challenges in child welfare services: a comparative study of Australia, England and Sweden 215
-
Rescaling social policy
- Governance at a distance? The turn to the local in UK social policy 245
- Spatial rescaling, devolution and the future of social welfare 267
- Rescaling emergent social policies in South East Europe 283
- Index 307
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures v
- List of contributors vii
- Overview 1
-
Tackling Beveridge’s ‘five evils’, 60 years on
- Freedom from want: 60 years on 11
- Slaying idleness without killing care: a challenge for the British welfare state 29
- Tackling ignorance, promoting social mobility: education policy 1948 and 2008 49
- Beveridge’s giant of disease: from negative to positive welfare? 67
- Tackling squalor? Housing’s contribution to the welfare state 87
- The Poor Law Commission of 1905–09: a view from a century on 109
-
Contemporary childcare policy
- Intercountry adoption in Europe 1998–2007: patterns, trends and issues 133
- Family income as a protective factor for child outcomes 167
- Managing shared residence in Britain and France: questioning a default ‘primary carer’ model 197
- Strategic challenges in child welfare services: a comparative study of Australia, England and Sweden 215
-
Rescaling social policy
- Governance at a distance? The turn to the local in UK social policy 245
- Spatial rescaling, devolution and the future of social welfare 267
- Rescaling emergent social policies in South East Europe 283
- Index 307
