The welfare system
Introduction
Every noble government that comes to power aims to improve the living standards of its citizens. The constitution of the land provides the guiding light to achieve this feat. This is because it stipulates the rights, duties and responsibilities of every citizen and at the same time indicates what the government in power ought to do to bring this to fruition. It is mainly because of this reason that government administrations formulate policy in a bid to provide essential services to the public, commonly referred to as social policy (Dickens, 2010). One of these policies is the welfare policy.
In order to have a clear meaning of welfare policy, it is imperative to first understand the term policy. Blau and Abramovitz (2010) define policy as the rules or regulations that government introduces in a bid to solve or highlight a public issue such as education, health or security. Therefore, welfare policy is the policy that aims to improve the living standards of citizens of a country.
This paper will delve further into the issue of welfare policy, government support ideologies that forms the backbone of the welfare policy, as well as the delicate balance in the aspects of welfare, personal responsibility and the economy the success of the policy.
Welfare policy
As indicated above, welfare refers to the range of services offered to the public in a bid to improve their living standards (Blau &Abramovitz, 2010). However, as opposed to the distinct provision of these services to the public, the United States has a slightly different approach to welfare, and that is through provision of financial assistance to its poor population. This comes out clearly in one of U.S government policies such as the Temporary Aid to Needy Families. In spite of the approaches used, the central aim of the welfare policy is to improve the quality of life of individuals.
Government ideologies
The ideology behind welfare policy normally differs based on political beliefs and social standings of individuals. These have an ultimate effect on the living standards of the public, which in the first case, is what the policy aims to positively impact on. According to Kornbluh, (2007) the following are the political ideologies behind welfare policy:
Marxist approach- according to this approach, the classes in the society are in collision. The ruling class is that of the capitalist class and the working class which is exploited by the capitalists or the dominant class. In this case, welfare is a means to legitimize the capitalistic system whose central aim is to generate profits. In this case, welfare is achieved through government implemented welfare policies, healthcare and pension schemes.
Conservationist approach- the conservative faction emphasizes particularly on maintaining social order. Welfare is secondary when it comes to aspects such as family values, work traditions and patriotism. In this case, social inequality is rather encouraged as it is important in social relationships, religion and tradition also take central stage
Socialist approach- similar to the Marxist approach, socialism focuses on collective action. In this case, all resources are owned and managed centrally by the government in a bid to achieve equality. In this case, welfare policy is instigated to remove any disadvantages in the society through spending on public social services.
Liberalism- the notion of everyone being an individual forms this basis of this approach. In recognizing this, individuals have rights and it is up to the government to protect these rights. The aspect of welfare policy is supported by the fact that it is the democratic right of every individual to have good living standards. This approach believes that one of the central aims of government is to effectively address social issues such as education, health care and poverty.
The balancing act
In light of the belief or understanding of welfare as demonstrated above in the different political perspectives, one crucial matter is that of maintaining a working balance in provision of welfare, personal responsibility and the economy.
In as much as it is the government’s duty to ensure the living standards of its citizens are maintained, individuals also have the responsibility to facilitate this goal. The government aims to empower its people through the provision of essential services as those mentioned earlier but in the same sense, individuals have a duty to assist the government to do so. In this regard, ensuring the public understands this issue becomes crucial in the success of the welfare mechanism (Pierson, 2010).
The economy is the engine that drives the welfare policies. This is because it provides the financial backing that is central to the undertaking of these policies. In this case, it is safe to assume that the economic policy drives the welfare policy. The following are the two approaches that may influence welfare policies, according to Powell (2007):
Monetarism: in this case, the economy stabilizes itself. In the case where the economy is on a slow growth projection, the government can counter this by reducing public spending. This helps restore the growth trajectory of the economy as well as creating a conducive environment for private investment.
Keynesianism: This approach believes in the importance of government intervention in stabilizing the economy. In this case, public spending is seen as a regulator in the sense that in case of the rapid growth of the economy, spending will regulate this and the opposite also holds true.
Conclusion
The existence of different social classes calls for government support to at least minimize the gap between the rich and the poor. One way of doing this is through implementing welfare policies as discussed in this paper. However, maintaining the tricky balance between personal responsibility, the economy and the welfare policy is what keeps the government awake at night. This is because individuals believe in their entitlement from the society, more specifically the government, hence their dependence on welfare policies (Cunningham, 2010).The government must therefore endeavor to provide social welfare while at the same time ensure observance of personal responsibility to those benefiting from the welfare policies. This sums up observation that society
References
Cunningham, J. and Cunningham, S. (2010) Social policy and social work: An introduction. Exeter: Learning Matters.
Dickens, J. (2010) Social work and social policy: An introduction. Abingdon: Routledge.
Pierson, J. (2011) Understanding social work history and context. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Powell, M. A. (2007). Understanding the mixed economy of welfare. Bristol: Policy Press.
Kornbluh, F. A. (2007). The battle for welfare rights politics and poverty in modern America. Philadelphia, Pa, Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.
Blau, J., & Abramovitz, M. (2010). The dynamics of social welfare policy. New York, Oxford University Press.
