Welfare: Inequality and Poverty

Abstract

This quotation is from a study of income distribution over time. Previous editions of this chapter also started from this quotation because it captures so well the fact that the overall view of a society’s ‘welfare’ must be informed by the way in which aggregate income is shared among its constituent members rather than by the size of the total itself. In the 1990s issues relating to concepts such as ‘fairness’, ‘equity’ and ‘social justice’ have returned to the forefront of public debate. Following the reforms to the Welfare State introduced by the Conservative Government in the mid-1980s, a different Conservative Cabinet embarked on a comprehensive review of social policy spending in 1993, concerned, in particular, with a public sector deficit (borrowing requirement) of 50 billion. Prior to this an Independent Commission on Social Justice had been initiated by the Labour Party, but established as independent of political parties, with a brief to investigate the relationships between economic and social factors and the need for reforms to ensure that these relationships foster prosperity coupled with fairness.