Choice in Welfare S.
7 primary works • 13 total works
Book 2
Book 5
Book 13
Book 20
Book 21
"Having won its intellectual battle for the market, London's Institute of Economic Affairs has turned its attention to the social underpinnings of a free society" Martin Wolf, The Financial Times. "Tougher policies to promote family life are being demanded by Tory MPs following a report accusing the Government of discriminating against married couples in favour of lone parents...The study...claims that many single mothers are discouraged from marrying because they will lose more in benefits than they would gain from a husband's income" The Daily Telegraph. "The rise of disorder and criminal conduct among young men has exactly coincided with their release from the social controls that formerly made husbands and fathers"Times Literary Supplement. "Patricia Morgan highlights how the lowering of tax bands, the cutting of tax rates and the removal of allowances during the 1980s mainly benefited single people and double-income couples" The Independent. "The report's most awkward evidence for ministers to rebut is its use of official DSS figures to show that a working lone parent ...is always better off than a married couple where the wife stays at home to care for the children" The Guardian.
"This book is recommended reading for those researchers interested in the economics of lone parenthood" The Economic Journal.
"This book is recommended reading for those researchers interested in the economics of lone parenthood" The Economic Journal.
Book 24
Just a Piece of Paper
by James Q. Wilson, Melanie Phillips, Patricia M. Morgan, Norman Barry, and Bryce Christensen
Published July 1995
Book 31
In this remarkable book Patricia Morgan examines a vast corpus of research data which reveals that, while the childcare bandwagon has been gathering speed, a considerable amount of evidence has been accumulating which calls into question the idea that third-party childcare is good for children. She criticises the relentless propagandising of 'show projects' in which lavish resources are allocated to severely deprived children, for whom almost anything would been an improvement on their home circumstances. She argues that we must look at the research into the sort of childcare which ordinary mothers actually use, and that this tells a very different story. It seems that childcare children may be disadvantaged in terms of their educational performance, their behaviour and their attachment to their mothers, compared with children cared for at home. Childcare advocates claim that they only want the best quality childcare, and that it must be made available to all.
However, high-quality childcare is so expensive that it could never be widely available, and those governments which have made ideological commitments to providing it have, in the end, largely given up - except on the rhetoric. "Who Needs Parents? will one day be recognised as the Silent Spring of domestic life" The Guardian. "A study published...this week states bluntly that daycare often harms young children emotionally and educationally, and that they would fare better at home with their mothers." The Sunday Times. "I have been drawing upon an excellent analysis by the British sociologist and family-policy specialist Patricia Morgan, who has written the most definitive account I have so far seen of this entire issue." Commentary. "Morgan has done us a service...arguing against the tide in a neglected area." Howard Glennerster, The Economic Journal. "This book will stir some readers to anger. Others may be relieved that children, who have appeared to take second place in the child care debate, are once more to the fore." Community Care.
However, high-quality childcare is so expensive that it could never be widely available, and those governments which have made ideological commitments to providing it have, in the end, largely given up - except on the rhetoric. "Who Needs Parents? will one day be recognised as the Silent Spring of domestic life" The Guardian. "A study published...this week states bluntly that daycare often harms young children emotionally and educationally, and that they would fare better at home with their mothers." The Sunday Times. "I have been drawing upon an excellent analysis by the British sociologist and family-policy specialist Patricia Morgan, who has written the most definitive account I have so far seen of this entire issue." Commentary. "Morgan has done us a service...arguing against the tide in a neglected area." Howard Glennerster, The Economic Journal. "This book will stir some readers to anger. Others may be relieved that children, who have appeared to take second place in the child care debate, are once more to the fore." Community Care.
No. 46.
Tony Blair's victory in the 1997 General Election was really the victory of Margaret Thatcher's ideas, according to Michael Novak. The Iron Lady taught Blair the importance of growth and weaned Labour away from redistributionism and the Nanny State. Novak argues that the advocates of social democracy in the West have been put on the defensive by the collapse of communism. We now know that the most dramatic costs of the socialist experiment in Eastern Europe must be measured in the loss of human capital, including the work ethic, but in the West the reform of the welfare state is becoming urgent for the same reason. Its costs cannot be measured in terms of government expenditure alone: they must include the loss of human capital which results from welfare dependency. Therefore, as well as tackling the financial crisis of the welfare state, we need to address the spiritual crisis which threatens our civilisation. 'A free society is primarily a moral achievement.' Three distinguished commentators take issue with Novak's analysis.
Anthony Giddens, Director of the London School of Economics, John Lloyd, Associate Editor of the New Statesman and Paul Ormerod, Chairman of Post Orthodox Economics, all ask whether socialism, or social democracy, can survive in an increasingly competitive global environment. The book concludes with a response from Novak to his critics, making this a valuable guide to the important contemporary debate about the supposed emergence of a Third Way, somewhere between socialism and the market.
Anthony Giddens, Director of the London School of Economics, John Lloyd, Associate Editor of the New Statesman and Paul Ormerod, Chairman of Post Orthodox Economics, all ask whether socialism, or social democracy, can survive in an increasingly competitive global environment. The book concludes with a response from Novak to his critics, making this a valuable guide to the important contemporary debate about the supposed emergence of a Third Way, somewhere between socialism and the market.
No. 38.
Crime is low when crime doesn't pay, is the motto of this provocative essay by Charles Murray. He challenges the prevailing view amongst the criminal justice establishment that locking up criminals solves nothing. Like other volumes in this series, 'Does Prison Work?' features a number of critical responses to Murray's thesis, in order to give students a range of views on the issue.
v. 53
Adoptions are now running at less than a quarter of the total 1975. When Patricia Morgan's book 'Adoption and the Care of Children' was published it ignited a fierce debate on the desirability of adoption and the reasons for its decline. The response from politicians (including government ministers), from childcare professionals and from the media was so great that it was decided to invite contributions to a sequel. This volume is the result. It begins with a summary of the original book, which is followed by commentaries from professionals writing from differing perspectives. Patricia Morgan's recommendations, that adoption should be given priority as a response to the needs of children who cannot live with their birth parents, and that it may be necessary to take it away from local authorities, are given careful consideration by the authors of this collection.
No.33.
Charles Murray is one of America's most respected social policy analysts. His ideas about the underclass, outlined in his classic Losing Ground, have entered the mainstream of the debate about poverty. Murray's thesis, that the underclass represents not a degree of poverty but a type of poverty, characterised by deviant attitudes towards parenting, work and crime, has been explosively controversial. It has also become more difficult to resist, as the deterioration of the social fabric has become increasingly obvious. In 1989 The Sunday Times brought Charles Murray to Britain to compare the British and US situations. In his article, subsequently published by the IEA as The Emerging British Underclass, Murray described himself as a 'visitor from a plague area come to see whether the disease is spreading'. In 1993 he returned to check on its progress, and the resulting article, also for The Sunday Times, was published with commentaries by critics of Murray's thesis, thus presenting the reader with a range of views on the issue.
The success of the underclass titles, particularly as teaching aids in schools and universities, has led to the present omnibus edition which contains all of the original material from both volumes, together with a new introduction by Ruth Lister of Loughborough University and an update of the statistics by Alan Buckingham of the University of Sussex. "If you want to read one book specifically on the 'underclass', this is it." Community Care.
The success of the underclass titles, particularly as teaching aids in schools and universities, has led to the present omnibus edition which contains all of the original material from both volumes, together with a new introduction by Ruth Lister of Loughborough University and an update of the statistics by Alan Buckingham of the University of Sussex. "If you want to read one book specifically on the 'underclass', this is it." Community Care.
No. 43.
No. 32.
Stakeholder Welfare
by Frank Field, Alan Deacon, Pete Alcock, David G. Green, and Melanie Phillips
Published 18 November 1997
The state of intellectual ferment surrounding the reform of the welfare state is described by Professor Alan Deacon in his introduction to this volume as a revolution in thought, comparable with that earlier revolution which led to the creation of cradle-to-grave welfare in the years following World War II. The challenge of thinking the unthinkable is being met by thinkers across the political spectrum and Frank Field, Minister for Welfare Reform, can claim much of the credit for stimulating debate about the future of the welfare state on the left. In Stakeholder Welfare he puts the case for a radical overhaul of the system to harness self-interest by extending the scope of contributory benefits. He calls his proposals 'stakeholder welfare' because individuals will own the welfare capital created by their contributions and those of their employers. In common with some other publications in the Choice in Welfare series, the purpose of Stakeholder Welfare is to make available in an accessible format the main points of view on a given issue.
This collection is designed especially for students of social sciences in universities and sixth forms, and to that end Field's proposals are discussed by critics from a variety of standpoints. Frank Fields' response to his critics makes Stakeholder Welfare a valuable indicator of the main intellectual currents in the welfare reform project. "Mr Field...argues that the age of large-scale redistribution of wealth has gone. He says: 'Politicians who argue otherwise are a public menace'" The Times. "...provides an excellent introduction to the most important question of the next century - how to shape the welfare state" Fabian Review. "Frank Field is the only able politician who is prepared to say bold things about [social security]" Community Care. "Does anyone in Britain know more about social security than Frank Field?" The Tablet.
This collection is designed especially for students of social sciences in universities and sixth forms, and to that end Field's proposals are discussed by critics from a variety of standpoints. Frank Fields' response to his critics makes Stakeholder Welfare a valuable indicator of the main intellectual currents in the welfare reform project. "Mr Field...argues that the age of large-scale redistribution of wealth has gone. He says: 'Politicians who argue otherwise are a public menace'" The Times. "...provides an excellent introduction to the most important question of the next century - how to shape the welfare state" Fabian Review. "Frank Field is the only able politician who is prepared to say bold things about [social security]" Community Care. "Does anyone in Britain know more about social security than Frank Field?" The Tablet.