The changing nature and significance of housing provision within welfare states is considered in this timely book. With housing playing an increasingly important role in welfare provision, the new welfare state emerging in different parts of the world is being developed in the context of individual asset accumulation and the private ownership of housing. Housing and the New Welfare State shows that housing is becoming critical to asset-based welfare not only in Western Europe but also in the six East Asian housing systems that are a major focus of the book. Chapters by leading East Asian scholars provide analysis of housing policies in Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. Also examined are the 'four worlds' of welfare and housing; the causes and consequences of the shift from tenants to home owners in the old welfare states of Britain and other parts of Western Europe; and the growth of the property-owning welfare state as a theme running through contemporary policy in both East Asia and Europe.

During the 1960s and 1970s, while no one was watching, France created one of most generous welfare systems in the world. Political scientists contribute seven essays on such aspects as social insurance, health care, family policy, and housing. An underlying theme is the concept of unity overriding partisan ideology. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Originally published in 1988, this book offers the first comprehensive and critical analysis of the privatisation of public housing in Britain. It outlines the historical background to the growth of public housing and the developing political debatea surrounding its disposal. The main emphasis in the book, however, is on the ways in which privatisation in housing links to other key changes in British society. The long trend for British social housing to become a welfare housing sector is related to evidence of growing social polarisation and segregation. Within this overall context, the book explores the uneven spatial and social consequences of the policy.

This new analysis of housing policy in Britain since 1945 challenges conventional notions of the relationship between housing and the welfare state. It argues that housing policy in the years after the Second World War is better understood in terms of market restructuring. However, in more recent years housing has been at the forefront of changes that have drawn it closer to other welfare state services, and the modernisation of public services is continuing the trend.

The New Labour government elected in May 1997 claimed that it would modernise the welfare state, by rejecting the solutions of both the Old Left and the New Right. New Labour, new welfare state? provides the first comprehensive examination of the social policy of New Labour; compares and contrasts current policy areas with both the Old Left and the New Right and applies the concept of the 'third way' to individual policy areas and to broader themes which cut across policy areas. The contributors provide a comprehensive account of developments in the main policy areas and in the themes of citizenship and accountability, placing these within a wider framework of the 'third way'. They find a complex picture. Although the exact shape of the new welfare state is difficult to detect, it is clear that there have been major changes in areas such as citizenship, the mixed economy of welfare, the centrality of work in an active welfare state, and the appearance of new elements such as joined up government at the centre and new partnerships of governance at the periphery. New Labour, new welfare state? provides topical information on the debate on the future of the welfare state and is essential reading for students and researchers in social policy, politics and sociology.

This book examines the long-term development of the Irish welfare state since the late nineteenth century. It contests the consensus view that Ireland, like other Anglophone countries, has historically operated a liberal welfare regime which forces households to rely mainly on the market to maintain their standard of living. Drawing on case studies and key statistical data, this book argues that the Irish welfare state developed differently from most other Western European countries until recent decades. Norris's original line of argument makes the case that Ireland’s regime was distinctive in terms of both focus and purpose in that Ireland’s welfare state was shaped by the power of small farmers and moral teaching and intended to support a rural, agrarian and familist social order rather than an urban working class and industrialised economy. A well-researched and methodical study, this book will be of great interest to scholars of social policy, sociology and Irish history.

This book offers a careful examination of the politics of social policy in an era of austerity and conservative governance. Focusing on the administrations of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, Pierson provides a compelling explanation for the welfare state's durability and for the few occasions where each government was able to achieve significant cutbacks. The programmes of the modern welfare state - the 'policy legacies' of previous governments - generally proved resistant to reform. Hemmed in by the political supports that have developed around mature social programmes, conservative opponents of the welfare state were successful only when they were able to divide the supporters of social programmes, compensate those negatively affected, or hide what they were doing from potential critics. The book will appeal to those interested in the politics of neo-conservatism as well as those concerned about the development of the modern welfare state. It will attract readers in the fields of comparative politics, public policy, and political economy.

Monograph on the determinants of public expenditure for social security and welfare in affluent societys - explores the interplay of affluence, economic system, political system and welfare state ideology, and considers the effect of social structure on divergent spending patterns, particularly in the OECD countries. Bibliography pp. 139 to 147.

How should we live: how should we care for one another; grow our capabilities to work, to learn, to love and fully realise our potential? This exciting and ambitious book shows how we can re-design the welfare state for this century. The welfare state was revolutionary: it lifted thousands out of poverty, provided decent homes, good education and security. But it is out of kilter now: an elaborate and expensive system of managing needs and risks. Today we face new challenges. Our resources have changed. Hilary Cottam takes us through five 'Experiments' to show us a new design. We start on a Swindon housing estate where families who have spent years revolving within our current welfare systems are supported to design their own way out. We spend time with young people who are helped to make new connections - with radical results. We turn to the question of good health care and then to the world of work and see what happens when people are given different tools to make change. Then we see those over sixty design a new and affordable system of support. At the heart of this way of working is human connection. Upending the current crisis of managing scarcity, we see instead that our capacities for the relationships that can make the changes are abundant. We must work with individuals, families and communities to grow the core capabilities we all need to flourish. Radical Help describes the principles behind the approach, the design process that makes the work possible and the challenges of transition. It is bold - and above all, practical. It is not a book of dreams. It is about concrete new ways of organising that already have been developing across Britain. Radical Help creates a new vision and a radically different approach that can take care of us once more, from cradle to grave.