Post-War Welfare Settlements of the 1980s and 90s

The post-war welfare state was a social construction that resulted from the complex, contested and fragile set of arrangements called ‘settlements’ – the political, economic, social and organisational settlements. Therefore it never was the homogeneous or unified entity that it is often regarded as.

Keynes’ demand management theory, as a solution to unemployment, advised the government to intervene in the economy by increasing government expenditure in order to increase aggregate demand. The influence of Keynesianism on economic theory and political policy in the post-war period was dominant. It became common sense and therefore the most powerful social construction and the one that influenced social policy. The post-war economic settlement was structured by Keynes’ idea about how to finance the welfare state and how to manage the relationship of welfare to the economy. The policy adviser Beveridge, shared Keynes’ thinking and this influenced his social security plan, which he outlined in the Beveridge Report in 1942. The plan involved creating collective security by compelli

Williams, F. (1989) Social Policy: A Critical Introduction – Issues of Race, Gender, and Class, Cambridge, Polity.

In relation to health care, the deferential patient of the post-war social settlement was now a ‘customer’ who had more rights and could make more complaints. The Patients Charter informed customers of their rights. The marginalised groups in the post-war social settlement, such as disabled people and black people, are in a stronger position to challenge and demand their rights. However, because of the emphasis that managerialism places on efficiency and resource rationing in the NHS, it is difficult to imagine how the customer can get better service and have more choice than the patient of the past.

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