Radical
Statistics
ADVERTISEMENT: 10% DISCOUNT FOR RADSTATS MEMBERS
Ending child poverty Popular welfare for the 21st century?
Edited by Robert Walker
September 1999, Paperback, 180 Pages, 1 86134 199 7, £15.99 (£14.39 for Radstats members), The Policy Press: Bristol
On 18 March 1999, Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, delivered the Beveridge Lecture which committed his government to abolishing child poverty within 20 years and laid out his vision of a welfare state for the 21st century. The present-day welfare state, he concluded, is not fitted for the modern world. Indeed, it is seen by some to be the social problem rather than a solution to social needs. Blair's vision, grounded in a particular conception of social justice, is perhaps as challenging as the blueprint laid down by Beveridge.
This publication of Blair's Beveridge Lecture, alongside the views of some of Britain's foremost policy analysts and commentators on welfare reform, is a stimulus to critical debate about the future of welfare.
It is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of modern society and politics and provides an accessible handbook for undergraduate students of politics, social policy and sociology.
Contents: Forward: Lord Butler;
Section 1: Welfare for the 21st century; Introduction Robert Walker; Beveridge revisited: a welfare state for the 21 century Tony Blair;
Section 2: Contributions; Beveridge and his legacy; Beveridge and the Beveridge report - life, ideas, influence Jose Harris; Beveridge and the 21st century Tony Atkinson; Beveridge and New Labour: poverty then and now John Hills; Modern social justice; Notes on social justice and the welfare state Anthony Giddens; Social Justice Raymond Plant: Conceptions of social justice Julian Le Grand: Equality of access Peter Kellner; The balance of rights and responsibilities within welfare reform Alan Deacon; Social justice into practice; The New Right and New Labour David Piachaud; A modern party of social justice: achievements and missed opportunities Ruth Lister; Social security: a cornerstone of modern justice Robert Walker; Making welfare work Polly Toynbee; The new welfare Bob Holman;
Section 3: Responses; A poor press? Media reception of the Beveridge Lecture Simon Cross and Peter Golding; Dimensions of the debate: reflections on the Beveridge Lecture Robert Walker
