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The author of this book was a pioneer in the field of social administration (now social policy) and this reissued classic contains a selection of his most famous writing on social issues. It covers subjects ranging from the position of women in society, changes in family life, and the social effects of industrialisation, to the problems of an ageing population, pensions, social security and taxation policy, and the development of the national health service. This collection contains one of the author's most original contributions to the analysis of welfare policy — his reflections on ‘The social division of welfare’. The book stands the test of time as representative of his thinking, and as an inspiration to those who wrestle with the complex issues of our welfare state.

This book's author was a pioneer in the field of social administration (now social policy). In this reissued classic, listed by the New York Times as one of the 10 most important books of the year when it was first published in 1970, the author compares blood donation in the US and UK, contrasting the British system of reliance on voluntary donors to the American one in which the blood supply is in the hands of for-profit enterprises, concluding that a system based on altruism is both safer and more economically efficient. The argument about how altruism binds societies together has proved a powerful tool in the analysis of welfare provision. This analysis is even more topical now in an age of ever-changing health care policy and at a time when health and welfare systems are under sustained attack from many quarters.

The book contains invaluable research, including discussions on modern slavery, childcare and social justice and welfare chauvinism, as well as a chapter centred on the Grenfell Tower fire. Bringing together the insights of a diverse group of experts in social policy, this book examines critical debates in the field in order to offer an informed review of the best in social policy scholarship over the past year. Published in association with the SPA, the volume will be of interest to students and academics in social policy, social welfare and related disciplines.

This book provides an introduction to the concept of Social Innovation for readers interested in social and public policy. It explains why social and public policy analysts, policy makers and practitioners should become familiar with this idea, and explores how social innovation relates to key debates and core issues in public welfare. The book explains how social innovation relates to more familiar concepts, such as entrepreneurship, technological and business innovation and social enterprise. It discusses the social and economic challenges behind the growing interest in social innovation across the world. It illustrates the distinctive characteristics of social innovations through case studies which demonstrate how they address such issues as social isolation and mental health, childcare, education, homelessness, integrating migrant communities and financial exclusion. The book discusses in detail how social innovations address social problems in three substantive areas: food poverty, care provision and employment. It draws upon comparative research evidence to outline and analyse how social innovations have developed inventive responses to these complex challenges, and assesses their respective impact on well being. The book concludes by discussing the implications of social innovation for existing social welfare systems and social citizenship rights. It highlights some of the questions raised by social innovation for social and public policy reform and identifies potential limitations and concerns. It argues that those with an interest in social welfare policy should critically engage with the arguments for and evidence relating to social innovation.

This book is concerned with ‘Social Investment’, in terms of a supply-side strategy complementing the demand-side emphasis of ‘Inclusive Growth’. Our aim is to show the logic of integrating and unifying these new strategies – and some of the challenges ahead - as we move decisively towards forging a new consensus in global policymaking for the twenty-first century based on this new policy perspective: Social Investment for Inclusive Growth.

Most current social welfare policies aim to ameliorate immediate problems or injustices, but they do little to foster human development or support the potential of people within marginalized communities. How can we more effectively use public policy to foster human development? How can we overcome the injustice of contemporary society and give people across the social and class spectrum equal opportunities to flourish? This book offers case studies and analyses of a number of different existing approaches to these questions, presenting newly conceptualised strategies for developing and implementing effective policies for fostering human development at the local, national, and international levels. It examines the discrepancies and obstacles that actual policies present to what a capability approach can do in social policy practice. The goal is to stimulate debate on how to overcome barriers in a variety of existing social policy scenarios.

This book presents a thematic selection of writings by eminent sociologist Robert Pinker on social policy and welfare pluralism, bringing together for the first time many articles that have either never before been published or are difficult to access today. Pinker began writing on social policy in the 1960s, undertaking research work on issues such as the development of health care within the poor law. He published books devoted to social policy, along with various articles on complementary topics. Pinker's main concern was to rethink the study of social policy. His ideas were primarily built around such themes as stigma, conditional altruism, access to land and property, giving and receiving, and migration and civil war. Organized by theme, the articles and chapters in this book cover such key topics as how families and communities act in defining and providing their own welfare, how attitudes to social services differ among users and nonusers, how social and political theories relate to actual policies, stigma and social welfare, the welfare state, and much more. In doing so, the volume brings to the fore the importance and continuing relevance of Pinker's work.

This book analyzes the changing shape of Irish society over the hundred years since the 1916 rising, arguing that there are distinctive master patterns that characterize its development of a welfare state that triangulates among church, state, and capital. The book charts the influence of social movements that resisted oppressive power structures, including the labour and feminist movements, organizations working for the rights of tenants and the homeless, survivors of institutional abuse, groups of asylum seekers and refugees, and activists for gay rights and minority and ethnic cultural rights. The tension between these groups and the more conservative institutions that have dominated Ireland raises major questions about whether an inclusive welfare state is possible in a quasi-religious society.

This book examines local responses to political and economic crises in Germany and the UK. In Germany, the influx of refugees has thrown into question state capacity to cope with crisis and the acceptability of religious diversity. In the UK, policymakers have framed austerity measures as the most appropriate response to economic crisis, instigated initially by the financial crisis in 2007-8. However, in contrast to the far more visible, often rightwing, protests against the political establishment, local social activists have worked across different ethnic and religious groups to address social problems. The initiatives range from food banks to debt advice to helping some of the most vulnerable families and individuals overcome challenging life situations. Some are secular and others faith-based, though often, faith is related to individual motivation and possesses very little influence on the service itself. The emphasis instead is on collaborative activism, where organisations and individuals come to depend upon each other for mobilising resources and overcoming problems, an effort that in turn promotes trust and understanding across the diverse participants. This activism suggests new engagement with citizenship, which refers as much to participation in community-based, inclusive action to improve local quality of life as it does to individual rights. The volume brings together German and British academics to show how in both countries, concepts of individual, community, and citizenship are changing in an era of political and social division and persistent economic inequality.

Drawing together a mix of internationally renowned contributors, Social Policy Review 28 provides an up-to-date and diverse review of the best in social policy scholarship. This book contains three parts. The first part focuses on the state of affairs in each of the pillars of the welfare state. It assesses to what extent the traditional ‘evil giants’ have been defeated, which new problems and unintended consequences have emerged and how this affects the policies. The focus on four policy areas are: pension policies, health care, income benefits and housing. The second part draws together a selection of papers from the Social Policy Association’s Annual Conference. The social policy implications of the outcome of the 2015 UK General Election was a major issue facing delegates. Indeed, the final day of the conference coincided with the new government’s first budget, during which details of the £12 billion of ‘welfare’ cuts promised during the election campaign were outlined. The four chapters in Section Two offer insights into what this agenda might hold and how scholars might best interrogate it. The third part explores the shift to individualised funding in different international settings, and also explores the validity of the underlying assumptions, which have driven the shift towards greater use of individualised funding. This part also offers a range of empirical lenses through which to examine these debates. Together these chapters help to deepen an understanding of individualised approaches within social policy.