Poverty, exclusion and New Labour

STEPNEY, Paul, LYNCH, Richard and JORDAN, Bill (1999). Poverty, exclusion and New Labour. Critical Social Policy, 19 (1), 109-127.

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

With the publication of the Green Paper A New Contract for Welfare the government has set out its analysis of the links between poverty, exclusion and the benefit system. This article traces New Labour thinking on these topics to popular discourses on poverty that constitute a new politics of welfare. In this, Tony Blair has been influenced by the programmes of the Clinton administration designed ‘to end welfare as we know it’. Using the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ report on expenditure in low income households as a case example, it can be shown that the government's New Deals have been moulded by a particular interpretation of the evidence and popular perceptions of poverty. These reforms, it is argued, will increase the coercion of poor people and do little to improve productivity or reduce public expenditure. The article concludes by outlining an alternative approach, based upon the resistance of poor people themselves, combining economic regeneration and community development with appropriate social support.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	poverty; 1605 Policy and Administration; 1606 Political Science; 1607 Social Work; Political Science & Public Administration; 4407 Policy and administration; 4409 Social work; 4410 Sociology
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1177/026101839901900106
Page Range:	109-127
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Elements
Depositing User:	Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited:	04 Jul 2024 14:27
Last Modified:	04 Jul 2024 14:27
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/33908

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads

Publication Metrics