Inside the Welfare State: Foundations of Policy and Practice in Post-War Britain (British Politics and Society)

By moving beyond consideration of the welfare legislation enacted in the 1940s, this book explains how government aid was actually provided in the new British welfare state created just after World War II. Revealing dimensions of social policy that have been neglected by scholars, this study uncovers the practices of the officials who decided how welfare would be distributed. Between 1945 and 1965, social policy was in a state of flux, as officials sought to reconcile the new welfare state’s message of unqualified inclusion with deeply ingrained norms that militated against providing state aid to working-age men, to women who had even a tenuous connection to a male wage-earner, or to black and Asian immigrants who lacked an authentic "British" identity. Fusing the rationales of the poor law and the technologies of the modern bureaucratic state, various government branches tried to shape the behavior and attitudes of those seeking benefits. These mechanisms of welfare distribution created a bureaucratic language and logic that foreshadowed the more publicized, politicized anxieties that would surface as the welfare state itself came under attack later in the 20th century. According to the standard narrative of twentieth-century social policy, the early years of the post-war welfare state were an uneventful period, requiring no major legislative interventions and dominated by the political consensus that the state should be the primary guarantor of social security.This new book reveals an entirely different dimension of social policy in this period, illuminating the inner workings of government agencies that were largely disregarded by contemporary politicians and have been neglected by scholars. This book considers the welfare state of the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s from the vantage point of those who decided how welfare would be distributed.An interesting and original piece of work, this book will be of interest to scholars working in numerous disciplines including political history, public policy and British history Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 6 Copyright......Page 7 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 1 Limits and Possibilities of Social Citizenship: The Gendered Boundaries of National Insurance and Unemployment Benefit......Page 25 2 “Not the Normal Mode of Maintenance”: Bureaucratic Resistance to the Claims of Lone Women......Page 57 3 Reform and Deterrence: The National Assistance Board’s Strategies for Unemployed Men......Page 80 4 Paradoxes of Imperialism: Immigration, Welfare, and Citizenship......Page 102 5 “Dirt, Degradation, and Disorder”: Housing the Homeless in London......Page 132 Epilogue: The New Right, New Labour, and Welfare......Page 155 Notes......Page 162 Bibliography......Page 188 Index......Page 192 Humanities Book Cover 1 Title 6 Copyright 7 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 1 Limits and Possibilities of Social Citizenship: The Gendered Boundaries of National Insurance and Unemployment Benefit 25 2 “Not the Normal Mode of Maintenance”: Bureaucratic Resistance to the Claims of Lone Women 57 3 Reform and Deterrence: The National Assistance Board’s Strategies for Unemployed Men 80 4 Paradoxes of Imperialism: Immigration, Welfare, and Citizenship 102 5 “Dirt, Degradation, and Disorder”: Housing the Homeless in London 132 Epilogue: The New Right, New Labour, and Welfare 155 Notes 162 Bibliography 188 Index 192 Limits And Possibilities Of Social Citizenship : The Gendered Boundaries Of National Insurance And Unemployment Benefit -- Not The Normal Mode Of Maintenance : Bureaucratic Resistance To The Claims Of Lone Women -- Reform And Deterrence : The National Assistance Board's Strategies For Unemployed Men -- Paradoxes Of Imperialism : Immigration, Welfare, And Citizenship -- Dirt, Degradation, And Disorder : Housing The Homeless In London. Virginia A. Noble. Series Numbered Retrospectively. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [177]-180) And Index. Focusing on the politicized mechanisms of welfare distribution in post-World War Two Britain, this study demonstrates how gender and race determined the quality and quantity of benefits received by Britons seeking state aid. Scholars of public policy, law, and political history will be interested by Noble’s findings and theoretical implications. Focusing on the politicized mechanisms of welfare distribution in post-World War II Britain, this study demonstrates how gender and race determined the quality and quantity of benefits received by Britons seeking state aid. Scholars of public policy, law, and political history will be interested by Noble's findings and theoretical implications

Focusing on the politicized mechanisms of welfare distribution in post-World War II Britain, this study demonstrates how gender and race determined the quality and quantity of benefits received by Britons seeking state aid. Scholars of public policy, l