The British Library holds a wealth of books, journals, social studies, historical documents and official publications. Readers can examine the welfare state through a variety of topics from social work and social policy administration, governance and management and empirical studies. Our collections have considerable scope and provide historical context to a wide range of themes.  

Now that the remote ordering system has been restored, it is much easier for readers to gain access to printed books and journals.  To use the remote ordering system, readers need to have registered for, or renewed, their reader's pass after 21 March 2024.  This post highlights publications that offer an insight into some of the issues that influence government policy, that can be ordered from home for viewing in the reading room. 

 

Introducing social policy, by Cliff Alcock, Guy Daly, and Edwin Griggs. 2nd edition. Harlow: Longman, 2008. Shelfmark YC.2012.a.3656

Introducing social policy (YC.2012.a.3656) provides a historical overview of welfare provision as it emerged at the end of the nineteenth century and progressed into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The authors provide an overview of how contemporary social policy is governed and suggest ways researchers can adopt a theoretical approach to studying relevant policy areas.  These include social security, health services, social services, education, employment and housing. 

 

Citizen, state, and social welfare in Britain 1830-1990, by Geoffrey Finlayson.  Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. Shelfmark YC.1994.a.1887

 

In Citizen, state and social welfare in Britain (YC.1994.a.1887),  Geoffrey Finlayson states that the beginning and growth of the welfare state is highly contested and open to debate. Traditionally the processes of state control were seen to emerge in the 1830s, but one could argue that the process began in the late 17^th century.

Finlayson also states that emphasising the emergence of state provision tends to ignore the ‘mixed economy of welfare’. Voluntary activities representing a broad coalition of services have until recently been excluded from research in this area. 

His study is divided into four sections:

1830-1880: providence, paternalism and philanthropy 

1880-1914: challenge, collectivism, and convergence 

1914-1949: war, want, and welfare 

1949-1991: participation, perception, and pluralism 

 

Divided kingdom : a history of Britain, 1900 to the present, by Pat Thane.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Shelfmark YC.2019.b.1339

 

In Divided Kingdom: a history of Britain (YC.2019.b.1339), Pat Thane presents a broad picture of the UK and the political, economic, social and cultural changes which occurred since 1900. He reveals how the decolonisation of empire after the Second World War impacted Britain’s status and influence in the world and how the unity of the UK was affected by the devolution of domestic powers. Thane argues that although state welfare expanded after 1945 and partially survived into the 21^st century, its provision was curtailed by successive governments since the 1980s when many services were outsourced to private contractors. 

 

Welfare and social policy in Britain since 1870; essays in honour of Jose Harris, edited by Lawrence Goldman.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. YC.2019.a.8933

 

Composed as a tribute to the renowned social theory historian Jose Harris, the essays in Welfare and social policy in Britain since 1870 (YC.2019.a.8933), examine the different approaches to welfare provision in Britain since the Victorian era. Stating that philanthropy was firmly rooted within an imperialist notion of community, the collection assesses the foundations of the welfare state within the context of the Beveridge report and socialist ideals.  

In her essay ‘The Reluctant Planner’ on T.H. Marshall, Julia Moses identifies a shift in post war attitudes away from an earlier tradition of philosophical idealism in social reform towards a universal equality that coexists with material wealth. Other essays in the same volume go on to examine how the foundational ideas of the welfare state were by turns exonerated and rebuffed by successive governments and state actors.  

In a chapter entitled ‘Reshaping the Welfare State’,  John Davis discusses the relative benefits that welfare provision brought to industrialised centres after the Second World War. He also highlights the work of the Institute of Community Studies and the Child Poverty Action Group during the 1960s which recognised the needs of the elderly, disabled and the mentally ill. As the complexity of the social makeup in urban areas and the inadequacy of housing stock became apparent, it meant that statutory services were not responding to new challenges. A consequence of this set of circumstances was that voluntary agencies then became more prevalent. 

 

Imagined orphans: poor families, child welfare, and contested citizenship in London, by Lydia Murdoch. New Brunswick, N.J.; London: Rutgers University Press, 2006.  Shelfmark m06/.21505

 

In her study of child welfare in late Victorian London, Imagined Orphans: poor families, child welfare, and contested citizenship in London (m06/.21505), Lydia Murdoch focuses on the cultural representations of child poverty and the reality of children’s experiences within welfare institutions in the nineteenth century. While reformers’ motivations were well intentioned, Murdoch shows how they conveyed an anti-poor sentiment that justified a minimalist welfare state. This study also reveals how institutions reacted and adapted to changing values during the First World War. 

 

Continuity and change in voluntary action : patterns, trends and understandings, by Rose Lindsey and John Mohan. Bristol: Policy Press, 2019. Shelfmark YKL.2020.a.2072

 

In their series of essays on the voluntary sector, Continuity and change in voluntary action (YKL.2020.a.2072), Rose Lindsey and John Mohan provide a comprehensive analysis of the social makeup and policy environment of volunteering in Britain since 1979. 

The opening chapter discusses the expansion of voluntary activity as a means of ‘renewing the values of society’. It also identifies the shifting attitudes towards voluntary activity during the Thatcher, Blair/Brown and coalition governments.  

This incisive study identifies trends, trajectories over the life course and attitudes to voluntary work. It also offers a clear analysis of qualitative datasets from the Mass Observation Project and the British Household Panel Survey.

 

The study of social welfare in Britain encompasses a broad range of themes across a number of subject areas and disciplines. In addition to the listed publications, it is possible to investigate social welfare through our extensive collection of reports, journals and government documents. Some of these rarely used sources include reports from the Charity Organisation Society, conference papers, and a complete run of journals from the British Association of Social Workers, as well as publications from the Central Office of Information.

 

UK parliamentary papers are available to view in the Social Sciences Reading Room. Encyclopedias, dictionaries and some research monographs are held on the open shelves.

 

Please check the catalogue or contact the social sciences reference team for more information.

 

Ben Hadley, Social Sciences Subject Librarian