The Welfare State is a key policy issue of the 1990s. The essays in this book depart from much of the recent economic debate in emphasising the positive contributions of the Welfare State, and in assessing its efficiency in relation to the objectives which it is intended to achieve. These objectives are not just the alleviation of poverty but more broadly the provision of security and the redistribution of income. Part A of the book sets the current debate in the context of the current evidence about income inequality and poverty in Europe. Part B analyses the existing role of the Welfare State, with particular reference to retirement pensions and unemployment benefit. Part C investigates proposals for reform and security. What is the case for greater targeting? How can we design a social safety net? What is the future of European social protection policy?
Part A. Income Inequality and Poverty in Britain and Europe: 1. What is happening to the distribution of income in the UK?; 2. Income distribution in European countries with L. Rainwater and T. Smeeding; 3. Poverty statistics and progress in Europe; 4. Comparing poverty rates internationally: recent studies in OECD countries; 5. Two nations in early retirement? The case of Britain with H. Sutherland; Part B. Analysis of the Welfare State: 6. Is the Welfare State necessarily a barrier to economic growth?; 7. A national minimum? A history of ambiguity in the determination of benefit scales in Britain; 8. The development of state pensions in the United Kingdom; 9. Income maintenance for the unemployed in Britain and the response to high unemployment; 10. Institutional features of unemployment insurance and the working of the labour market; 11. Social insurance; Part C. Targeting and the Future of Social Security Policy: 12. On targeting and family benefits; 13. The Western experience with social safety nets; 14. Towards a European safety net? 15. Beveridge, the national minimum and its future in a European context; 16. State pensions for today and tomorrow; Bibliography.
