British Welfare
What is welfare?
• The range of services that are provided
to protect people in a number of
conditions, including childhood,
sickness and old age.
Models of welfare
Residual welfare:
• It is directed towards and provided for the
poor, for they can not manage living without
help and assistance from the government
such as money, food and other necessities.
This used to be the dominant model in most
English-speaking countries, largely owing to
the spread of the ideas conveyed in the
English Poor Law(1598-1948)
Models of welfare
Solidarity
• Common action, mutual responsibility and
shared risks.
• Rights that people enjoy are particular rather
than general;
• benefit that an individual can enjoy depends on
his or her circumstances, work record or family
relationships.
• It is not provided to the whole population.
Some people are excluded from the network of
family, friends, community and employment.
Models of welfare
Institutional welfare
• Need is viewed as a normal part of
social life.
• Welfare is provided for the population
as a whole, in the same way as public
services like roads or schools.
• Welfare is not just for the poor: it is for
everyone.
Models of welfare
• Industrial performance
• It is regarded and used as the so-called
“handmaiden” to the economy.
• It prepares and services the capacity of
the workforce, which helps the
employers.
• It serves as an economic regulator,
which stimulates demand when
production is low.
Welfare in the world
• UK and Sweden--Institutional.
– Extensive welfare coverage and offers
universal “minimum standards” for all its
citizens.
• France—Solidaristic
• German—Work oriented.
• US—Residual welfare system.
What is a ‘Welfare State’?
• It can be defined as ‘a state with a
government which assumes responsibility
for the well-being of its citizens
throughout life, through a range of
interventions in the market economy’.
Three principles of
welfare state:
• A guarantee of minimum standards,
including a minimum income;
• Social protection in the event of
insecurity;
• The provision of services at the best
level possible.
• Who should pay for the system and
who should benefit from it?
• Should all citizens benefit from such a
welfare system or only a few of them
can enjoy certain benefits?
Funds of British Welfare
• National Insurance contributions
• General Taxation
• Value Added Tax (VAT)
• Initially a contributory system of
insurance against illness and
unemployment, and later also provided
retirement pensions and other benefits.
National Insurance
• National Insurance Contributions
(NICs)
– people in work make payments
towards benefits.
– The self-employed contribute partly by
a fixed, weekly or monthly payment,
and partly on a percentage of net profits
above a certain threshold.
National Insurance Number
• Assigned to each British citizen either before
their 16th birthday or when they start work.
• Given to younger children for Child Benefit.
• To keep track of the individual’s NIC and
benefit.
• People need to supply their NI number in a
range of circumstances. . claim a benefit or
tax credit or when they get a new job.
• People coming from overseas can also apply.
• General taxation such as income tax is
paid by all people in work above a
certain level of income.
• Value Added Tax (VAT)
Components of
British Welfare System
• Social Security;
• Health;
• Housing;
• Education;
• Pension and children
( “personal social service”)
• Hospital care.
• Primary care: basic medical treatment
and non-hospital care. .
• Public health: Preventive aspects of
health vaccination(接种疫苗) and
health education.
(a) Health
National Health Service (NHS)
• Core of British “welfare state”
• Provides for every resident, regardless of
income, a full range of medical services.
• All taxpayers, employers and employees
contribute to its cost.
• Free service.
GP
• registered with a general practitioner
• One . – a list of people
• Visit a patient on the list that makes a
request, or the patient would go to visit his
. at the appointed time.
• Give treatment, prescribe medicine; make
arrangement for hospital or to be seen at
home by a specialist.
• Without an address, it is generally
impossible for them to register with a .
• No one is liable to be charged by the
National Health Service for treatment in
an accident, emergency or for an
infectious disease.
(b) Housing
• 82% of households live in houses rather
than flats.
• 60% in France and 35% in Italy.
• Privately owned or provided by funds
from the government.
Semi-detached House
Semi-detached Houses
Detach House
Terraced House
Flats
Flats
• London Flat
• 1930s
• Lawn Road Flats
• 1933-1934
Different Tenure
• Social housing
• Local authority housing
• Housing association
• Owner occupation
• Private rental housing
Housing
• Private Sector Housing
• Housing Benefits
• Help with housing costs has always
been part of the provision of the
Welfare State, either for people on low
incomes or for people unexpectedly or
temporarily out of work through illness
or unemployment. This benefit is
administered by local government
Council Houses
Council Houses
Welfare at Present
(c) Social Security
For those who become unemployed,
sick, or who are working on a low wage
with a family to support, they may
claim either job seekers allowance, income
support or working families tax credit. DSS
processes these claims
Social insurance
• Income maintenance
• Unemployment
• Retirement
• Support to family (maternity and child)
• Payment to long-term sick and disabled
• Support for widow
Welfare in China
According to the Constitution, citizens
have basic rights to social welfare.
• mainly targets at urban residents.
• Farmers, employees of township
enterprises, and immigrants from the rural
areas to urban areas, are basically not
covered by the social welfare system.
Current social welfare system
• Pension
• medical insurance
• unemployment insurance
• work-related injuries
• birth-giving insurance.
• According to the current system, enterprises
have to pay 20% of salaries for pension and
% for the other four insurances. Some
provincial governments even charge a much
higher social welfare tax rate.
In China, over 50% of the elderly in urban
areas and around 80% of the elderly in rural
areas have no savings and depend on their
children for living. According to the statistics
from China Aging Society, 57% of the elderly
depend on children or other family members,
25% depends on their own earnings, and only
2% lives on social welfare insurance or other
ways.
