The welfare state - what is it?

A short introduction to this album.

Post war UK: The welfare state, family and work, the balance of state and individual.

Controversy surrounding responsibility for welfare and the sections of society who contribute.

Shift in kinds of people working and work they do. Does ‘flexible’ employment mean more insecure employment? Consequences of opening up the market to global competition.

Intention of the Labour government to counter social exclusion by promoting employment through enabling state. Considering family as area of continuity but forms of family are more varied. Has the welfare system caught up with this change in family structure?

Divides between rich and poor, spatial and rural/urban divides.

Under New Labour, things have improved but only for some sections of society. Rising inequalities and uncertainties about issues such as pensions.

Changing Definitions of Globalisation, the impact of culture, economics and politics. Globablisation undermining the nation state.

Positive and negative globalist views and consequences of free economic market through deregulation of control.

The importance of nation states instead of an inseparable global market. Transformationalist perspective combines aspects of internationalist and globalist approaches.