Political Impact on the UK Welfare State: A Historical Overview

This presentation delves into the historical development and political perspectives that have shaped the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It begins by outlining the core concepts of a welfare state and then proceeds to examine the influence of various political parties, including the Labour Party and Conservative governments, on the evolution of social and economic policies. The presentation covers key periods such as the post-war era, the Thatcher years, and the New Labour period, highlighting the significant policy changes and their impacts on the British economy and society. The presentation examines the nationalisation of industries, the introduction of social security measures, the implementation of monetarist policies, and the efforts to reduce unemployment through public sector expansion. The presentation concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the crucial role of political perspectives in shaping the welfare state. The references provided offer additional reading for those seeking a more in-depth understanding of the topic.

Unit Title: The History
and Development of the
Welfare State

Content
Introduction
Political perspective
Labour party – 1945
New conservative government- 1970
Margaret Thatcher era- 1979- 1990
New labour- 1997- 2001
21st century
Conclusion
References

Introduction
The United Kingdom has seen the shift to welfare state over the past many decades.
The welfare state is the kind of government which works for its citizens to provide
economic security to them. In this, the government promote and protect the social
and economic well being of citizens which is based on the principles of the
equality in terms of wealth distribution and opportunity. This PPT shall cover the
impact of political perspective on the social policy and the delivery of welfare in
United Kingdom

Political Perspective
The government of any country plays a major role in delivering the welfare as it
involves coming up of such policies and strategies which promote the well being of the
citizens in terms of social and economic factors. The successive governments
squandered about billions of Marshall plans which support the world power pretensions
of Britain and also jeopardised economic future of the country.

Labour party- 1945
during general election, post the war in Europe, the labour party which was led by
Clement Attlee introduced sweeping reforms in the British economy. Industries
were nationalised and the taxes were increased which expanded social security.
The labour government came up with political programs which involved
nationalisation of the industries and the state direction rather than state ownership.
Many private owned factories were established which create employment

New conservative Government- 1970
During this period, the unemployment rate was high and the inflation rate also
exceeded. The government came up with the policy of nationalising coal mines.

Margaret Thatcher era- 1979- 1990
The new approach to economic policy was adopted by the government which
included privatisation and the deregulation and changes in tax rates. The
government applied the monetarist policies to reduce the public spending
and the inflation. In order to curb the recession, deflationary measure were
implemented.

New labour- 1997- 2001
Minimum wages was introduced so that citizens feel protected and are
promoted towards social justice. The government came up with
number of strategies to cut the unemployment which involved
expansion of the public sector.

21st century
Labour party's second term began in 2001 who increased the tax rates and the
borrowings. The economy was shifted from manufacturing to the services and
the financial sector. This helped in reducing the inflation rate and the
unemployment rates as these sectors helped in job search fpr the employed
people.

Conclusion
It is concluded from the PPT that the political perspective have contributed in the
economic development of the country. The government were successful in making
a shift to the welfare state by coming up with various policies and strategies which
helped in making the welfare state.

References
Tridico, P. and Paternesi Meloni, W., 2018. Economic growth, welfare models and
inequality in the context of globalisation. The Economic and Labour
Relations Review, 29(1), pp.118-139.
Le Grand, J. and Robinson, R. eds., 2018. Privatisation and the welfare state
(Vol. 12). Routledge.

Thank You