In a forward looking appraisal of the welfare state, this text examines such issues as: the current dynamics of poverty in Britain, drawing on similar developments in Europe and the US; and the major areas of social policy within which the abandonment and demonization of the poor is taking place; the historical antecendents to this relationship between the state and the poor; the creation and expansion of a welfare state that characterized the era of social democracy until the mid-1970s and from the point of view of the poor, was limited and conditional; the ideology and organization of the...

In a forward looking appraisal of the welfare state, this text examines such issues as: the current dynamics of poverty in Britain, drawing on similar developments in Europe and the US; and the major areas of social policy within which the abandonment and demonization of the poor is taking place; the historical antecendents to this relationship between the state and the poor; the creation and expansion of a welfare state that characterized the era of social democracy until the mid-1970s and from the point of view of the poor, was limited and conditional; the ideology and organization of the...

Many agree that neoliberal economic policies have led to growing class inequality and increasing levels of poverty. Investigating the challenges that the growing financial and class disparity poses for the engaged social work academic and practitioner, the contributors look at the current state of poverty and inequality in a number of countries and examine social work s response to it. They argue thatespecially for a profession committed to values based on equality, social justice, and the meeting of human needspoverty imposes a special requirement on social workers and academics to speak out...