The Evolution of Social Services: From Elizabethan Era to Modern Welfare State - Prof. Sal, Sintesi del corso di Lingua Inglese

Scarica The Evolution of Social Services: From Elizabethan Era to Modern Welfare State - Prof. Sal e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! SOCIAL SERVICES HISTORY  Social services history Before the Elizabeth I’s reign the state social services didn’t exist. There were churches, charities, the feudal system and town guilds that gave some sort of protection against poverty, illness and unemployment. Then was established the POOR LAW in England that used similar schemes as churches to help the needy. They operated in local levels and the parishes were responsible through taxation for their poor, sick and unemployed. That was the start of state social legislation in England, but the Poor Law was limited in its effect and discouraged people to rely on it. Conditions worsened in the eighteenth and nineteenth century as industrial revolutions expanded and the population rapidly increased. At that time the workers had to work for more hours, in bad conditions and for low wages. The family of the workers lived in overcrowded and dirty slums. For that reasons lot of people started to get sick and to contract diseases such as Diphtheria, Typhoid and Tuberculosis. The Poor Law was replaced by POOR LAW AMENDAMENT ACT in 1834 in England and Wales. This was to lighten the taxes that parishes needed to maintain the services. The workhouses were created where the needy could work and live. However, they were not pleasant places and were less frequented. Until the 19th century, the government refused to give workers permission to organize themselves through trade unions, which allowed them to rebel against their working and living conditions. The social misery of that century persuaded some cities to form local boards to control public health. Reforms were made to housing, health, factories, mines, and sewerage, but these were limited in their effects and were seen as paternalistic in their intention. However small victories were achived in the early 20th century. It was slowly admitted that the state had social responsibilities to the society. Between 1905 and 1922, reforms were introduced on old age pensions, national insurance, health, employment and trade unionism. The financial and physical exhaustion from the first world war and the economic crises of 1920s and 1930s stopped social services expansion. The model of Welfare State appeared the Beveridge Report of 1942. This meant the establishment of a system of social security and health that for all should be used to overcome suffering and “from the cradle to the grave”. The system would be financed by a national insurance scheme, to which worker would contribute, and out of which they and their families would receive benefits.  Household and demographic structure The social services system changed significantly after the household’s structures have changed. The traditional British household of a nuclear family (with two parents and children living together) is falling apart. Another type of household which is increasing is composed by one person living alone. Another common type of household is a single parent living with a dependent son. Another type is called multi- family household or sharing- group composed with 2 or more independent man unemployed or unable to afford a property on their own. Statisticians have predicted that opposite-sex married couples would be less than the people who decided not to marry or to live alone. By the way these predictions are complicated because in 2013 the seme- sex gender people are allowed to get legally married. It seems that these new categories haven’t increased the total number of marriages, and we also don’t know how many of them ended in a divorce or in death. According to the statistics more adults will be living alone in the future. These are people of all ages who may be single by choice, divorced, separated, widows or widowers. Yet the marriage is still the most common form of partnership for men and women, and remains popular. Associated with the declining rate of divorce, there has been, in the past 20 years, an increase of cohabitation. And according to that the non-marital births associated to cohabitation and single mothers were 46% of live births in 2009. Although the population is growing, getting pregnant is being delayed at the age of 28 years old, seven years later than in 1971. Some women are delaying to have a baby even longer for educational and career reasons, and there has been an increase in the number of single women and married or unmarried couples who chose to remain childless or to limit their families. More women are returning to work quickly after the birth of a child. Britain also has the high percentage of working mothers and wives.  Social Security (pensions and welfare benefits) The security system provides pensions payment to individuals organized by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the UK. This is the country’s biggest public service. In this system are available contributory and non-contributory benefits. Contributory benefits means that worker contribute financially to the National Insurance (NI) and they receive benefits when in need. Non- Contributory benefits are for who that don’t have the necessary contribution and are disable, ill or in need. 30 million people in UK received income and assistance from at least one social security benefit. The contributory system provides: - Pensions for employed men and women over 65 years old, - Maternity pay for pregnant working women, - Statutory sick pay for people that are absent at work because of an illness, - Disability Allowance, - Jobseeker’s Allowance for the people who lost their job, Income-related benefit are also provided by the state with an examination of the financial position. For example: - Income supports: which depends upon a capital and incomes, it also covers basic living condition, the prescription of medicine, basic dental treatment, eye testing and also the children’s school meals for children under 16. - Working family tax credit: is used for families with children. It includes the same extra benefit as the income support and it is based on the income and the capital of the family unit. - Housing benefit: is paid for people that have an income support and it cover the cost of rented accommodation. - Tax- free children benefit: is available to all the mothers for each of their children thill 20 years old. This benefit is lost if one of the partners has an income of over 50.000£ a year. These benefits are supposed a safety net against urgent needs, but this doesn’t prevent distress. A quarter of the population live in a poverty line, but the accurate figures of poverty are difficult to collect because of the different definition of poverty. Social security benefits are very expensive and their cost will increase because the number of the sick and poor persist. The government tried to reform the system by encouraging people to find a job instead of depend on benefits. In fact to reduce the cost the state pension will be disbursed at 66- 67 instead of 65 years old. Real changes there were in 2014. They are designed to make work pay rather than create a situation of addiction to the service. These changes are also made to simplify the system by providing the benefits into a single payment called Universal Credit.