Comparing Welfare Provision in Germany and England
"Our state reduces more and more its responsibility to provide welfare
among the people". This is a statement that you can hear very often
saying Germans about their welfare state in comparison with other
welfare systems, as for instance the English system.
This essay examines the similarities and differences between the
German and the English welfare provision focusing on the extent to
which this provision is provided. To understand the appropriacy and
to discuss the extent of the provision it is helpful, firstly, to
start with a brief definition of how these countries define a welfare
state, and proceed with the different models that we encounter in
Germany and in the UK. We continue with comparing and contrasting the
extent of welfare provision in both countries. Since this is a wide
area to discuss we concentrate on special provisions for instance the
unemployment benefits and health care, since they are considered most
relevant to the societies. Related to this analysis, we then highlight
the appropriacy of the provision in the twenty first century.
Finally, we come to the conclusion that the extent of the provision
in both countries is similarly extensive but differs in the amount to
which benefits and services are delivered. Furthermore, the
argumentation will show that the appropriacy of welfare provision is
needed, more than ever with regard to globalization and poverty.
In general a welfare state is concerned with the welfare that the
citizens are provided by their governments. Countries implement social
and welfare policies to provide more social security and oppo...
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/higher/modern/uksociety/income_wealth1_rev.shtml
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* The Robert Gordon University. An introduction to social policy.
Retrieved December 27, 2004, from http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/
1 21/11/04 (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/)
2 21/11/04 (http://www.destatis.de/indicators/d/arb210ad.htm)
This mini-paper will discuss the social welfare system. The mini-paper includes a discussion of welfare Policy, residual and institutional approach, and what is Social Welfare and Social Security. Midgely, (2009), pointed out that social welfare systems deliver services that facilitate and empower our society, especially to those persons who require assistance in meeting their basic human needs. The goal of social welfare is to provide social services to citizens from diverse cultures, and examples include Medicare, Medicaid, and food benefits. Midgley,( 2009).
This essay will attempt to assess the impact of the 1942 Beveridge Report on the post 1945 UK welfare state. A welfare state is essentially ‘policy intervention through the state [to provide] forms of support and protection’ for all its citizens. (Alcock: 1998: 4) This means that the state will fund or provide provisions for services which are of need to its citizens. This is funded through citizens who pay taxes or National Insurance when they have active work, which in turn helps out the vulnerable members within a society. This concept is in essence designed to maintain the welfare of citizens from birth to the grave.
The WWII Proposal for the Provision of a Welfare State The proposals made during the Second World War for the provision of a Welfare State were made in order to eliminate poverty from the country. Various proposals were made that aimed to achieve this. One proposal, which was the main aim of the "Beveridge Report" was to abolish Want by providing social insurance for all: this meant providing various benefits and making people pay contributions, both depending on the class of the individual. Retirement pensions (over 60 for women, over 65 for men) and children's allowances would be provided. Employees would get benefits for unemployment and disability, and employers, traders, independent workers and people of working age without a job would get training benefit.
For many years, private charities, along with local governments, have cared for the poor through a multitude of economic security programs. These programs comprised the welfare state that sought to enact policies (after the Great Depression) in order to promote economic security for all Americans.
In England poor laws were first passed in 1598 and continued in amended forms until the National Health Service (NHS) came into formal existence on the ‘Appointed day’ which was fifth of July 1948. The poor laws were introduced to deal with poverty at a local level. At this time the disadvantaged, sick and elderly were assisted by the church, charities, philanthropists and work houses. During the industrialisation revolution Britain saw immense technological advancements in manufacturing and machinery. There was the rapid creation of towns, people migrated into the cities in search of employment, cities became over-crowded worsening squalor and as a consequence the spreading of infectious diseases became rife. In the latter half of the 1800s political changes meant that governments needed to appeal to voters in order to remain in office. For example, The Representation of the People Act 1867 (Reform Act, 1867) which gave the vote to the working classes meaning that parliamentary seats would no longer be guaranteed by money and social status (Parry, 1996). In order to appeal to voters government would have to address social issues and the failing Poor Law. Reports by philanthropists Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree were of great influence to Liberal Government. Booth surveyed London’s population and documented the social deprivation and poor health of its inhabitants (Booth, 1902-1903). Whilst Rowntree studied poverty in York finding that twenty-eight per cent of c.46,000 people surveyed were found to be in severe poverty and fifty per cent of these people were in paid employment but their wages were not sufficient to afford to meet many of their basic needs (Rowntree, 1901). Prior to the National Health Service medical care ...
Social Welfare, as a government program designed to support broad groups of people, began in Germany in 1883 (Martin, 1972, p. 37)....
Welfare programs are an important part of American society. Without any type of American welfare, people will starve, children will not receive the proper education, and people will not receive any medical help simply because they do not have the resources available to them. Each of the three aspects of the American welfare system are unique in their own ways because they are funded differently and the benefits are given to different people. While support for these welfare systems has declined in the more recent years, the support for it when it was created was strong.
The Nordic welfare state is famous around the world and especially social democrats cite Sweden when they try to push a new policy in their own country. It developed during the 20th century and started with ‘folkhemmet’ (the people’s home). A home in a good condition was seen as the basis for the well-being of the people and the state.
The United States is sometimes described as a “reluctant welfare state.” I agree with this statement. Too often there are programs created by our government that, although may be lined with good intentions, end up failing in their main purpose. The government may, and hopefully does, seek to help its citizens. However, by applying unreasonable qualifying or maintenance criteria, or too many restrictions that bar people from even receiving aid at all, they end up with many more problems than solutions. Three examples of policies that do this are: Medicare, No Child Left Behind, and TANF, or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Theoretical research provided this paper with insights about how social policy develops, the ways in which the welfare state affects women, and the methods in which we can gain a better understanding of the policy-making process. Theoretical public policy research pays particular attention to modes of social thought articulated by welfare. It describes the contours of the welfare reform debate in terms of the policy proposals and the social effects of welfare policy.
This might be why the United States ranks as one of the lowest when compared to other countries welfare system, as it has the smallest system, but the largest number of complaints. It is also significantly tilted towards the elderly and away from the youth, which is very different from other countries, especially Scandinavian ones as discussed in class. It is seen to be less redistributive and there is also no universal health care system.
There are two groups that seem to emerge when the topic of politics are brought up. Those groups are Liberals and Conservatives, these two groups seem to have very different views on how this country should be run. Both groups have their strong points but the differences between what the groups believe are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
The French welfare system is complex and covers a wide variety of topics, from minimum wage to taxation systems to family benefits. The United States’ welfare system is not any less complex, and has similarities to Frances, but also has key differences. France has the idea that their system is more democratic than the United States’, but it can be difficult to determine with so many different parts to the system. There are also things that each county could learn from the other that would improve the status of their social welfare sytem.
The welfare of the people in America is put in the hands of the public administrators and political leaders of the United States. These public administrators and political leaders are voted into office to promote new bills and come up with solutions that will be in the best interest of the public’s welfare. When the subject of welfare is debated the first thought that comes to mind is giving underprivileged and disadvantaged people money to help them get out of a financial predicament and/or temporary unemployment. The welfare of the middle and upper class is not as common because the fact that people collect financial support from their employment. There are several biased assumptions about the welfare program in America that leave the subject open for discussion. Such as food stamps, and how low-income Americans are given our taxpaying money to provide food for their households. I’m against the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and what toll it’s putting on the taxpayers of America.
The idea behind the welfare state was to relieve poverty, reduce inequality, and achieve greater