Unit 7: (Week 13 & Week 14)The Organization and Delivery of Welfare

The public sector has come to dominate social policy in many countries. The systems in many countries began, however, with a range of services beyond the state – charities, religious foundations, mutual aid associations, employment based provision, trades unions and so forth; governments came to the field belatedly. One of the principal pressures for state involvement has been the demand for residual welfare – a safety net, for people who are unable to deal with the contingencies in other ways.  The area of debate concerns not whether state welfare should exist, but what its scope and extent should be, and on what terms it should be delivered. 

Week 13: Lecture 13

  • Service delivery
  • The production of welfare 
  • Priorities
  • Rationing
  • Equity and procedural fairness

Week14: Lecture 14

  • Receving welfare
  • Claims: Demands, needs and rights
  • The process and cost of claiming
  • Developing user control

Required Reading:

Spicker, P. (2014), Social Policy: Theory and Practice. Policy Press: UK 

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