Conclusion: Capitalism and the Origins of the Welfare State

Abstract

In many ways this work has turned things inside-out, not just in its argument but also in its architecture. Most books on the history of British social welfare begin with a few pages on poor relief as a preface to telling the more momentous story of the ‘coming of the welfare state’. In contrast, I end with a coda on the direction taken by poor relief after 1860, having provided a detailed survey of its development from the late medieval era onwards. I then make some general remarks on the relationship between capitalism and the welfare state and comment on the role that relief played in the transition to capitalism. I conclude with a brief observation on capital’s never-ending need to ‘reform’ social assistance, pointing to the case of the 1996 changes in the United States that ended ‘welfare as we know it’.