Social Dividends and Social Contracts, 1918–1955

2019 ◽  
pp. 63-94
Author(s):  
Peter Sloman

Historians of British social policy have long seen the 1940s as a critical juncture, in which the Beveridge Report marked the formation of a new social security settlement. One of the consequences of Sir William Beveridge’s success, however, has been to overshadow the rival proposals canvassed by his contemporaries. This chapter examines how Universal Basic Income emerged as a policy option in the context of mid-twentieth-century welfare debates: Dennis Milner published the first scheme for a tax-funded UBI in 1918, and Juliet Rhys-Williams revived the idea in the 1940s as an alternative to Beveridge’s proposals. Though Rhys-Williams’s campaign was unsuccessful, it has had a major impact on how basic income has been understood in Britain. By presenting UBI as a step towards tax-benefit integration, Rhys-Williams squeezed out alternative conceptions of basic income as a ‘social dividend’ which had circulated between the wars, and tethered it firmly to redistributive market liberalism.

1990 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe van Parijs

ABSTRACTNo major reform of the welfare state has a chance of going through unless one can make a plausible case as to both its ‘ethical value’ and its ‘economic.value’, that is, that it would have a positive effect in terms of both justice and efficiency. In this essay, this rough conjecture is first presented, and its plausibility probed, on the background of some stylised facts about the rise of modern welfare states in the postwar period. Next, the focus is shifted to the current debate on the introduction of a basic income, a completely unconditional grant paid ex ante to all citizens. It is argued that if basic income is to have a chance of meeting the strong twofold condition stipulated in the conjecture, some major changes are required in the way one usually thinks about justice and efficiency in connection with social policy. But once these changes are made, as they arguably must be, the chance that basic income may be able to meet the challenge is greatly enhanced.


1977 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Moore

Late Victorian and Edwardian social reform has been studied in recent years in order to clarify that important transitional era when new state resources were being called upon to help redress the most glaring abuses which comprised the condition-of-England question. Most of these studies have emphasized the politics of social policy and have also subsumed the tangled and competitive world of philanthropy. But philanthropists were prominent in the politics and practice of social welfare. In his study of Edwardian social policy, Bentley Gilbert distinguishes three organizations as characteristic of “scientific social reform”: settlements (inspired by Canon Samuel Barnett), the Fabians, and the Charity Organization Society. His analysis of each concluded that “professionally-minded social work,” as represented by the C.O.S., least typified the transition from old to new attitudes about social policy. David Owen's examination of English philanthropy supports Gilbert's conclusions concerning the C.O.S., and less detailed surveys of social policy also cite that agency as representative of a philosophic individualism which rejected the policies necessary for reform. All agree that the charitable community called attention to many defects in the British social system, but they leave readers with the impression that it generally opposed state sponsored remedies for those ills.It is the concern of this essay to show that the “professionally-minded” world of Edwardian philanthropy was, like the state, developing new agencies and reorganizing its resources to help meet the massive and diverse welfare needs of the twentieth century.


Author(s):  
Janire MIMENTZA MARTIN

LABURPENA: Gaur egun, enplegu prekarioek ez dute gutxieneko bizitza ziurtatzen, eta etorkizunerako «lana amaitzea» aurreikusten da. Gainera, ongizate sistemen akatsen eta mugen aurrean, beharrezkoa da gizarte-babeserako sistema berraztertzea: oinarrizko errenta unibertsala aukera popularrena dela dirudi. Oinarrizko errenta gizarte-erreformaren ideiarekin bat etortzen den arren, ikerketa honen pertzepzioak aurrerapen txikien politika gidatu behar dela ezartzea du, azken batean, Gizarte Segurantzako sistema bateratze partzial bat lortuz, eta ez bera desegitea. Gaur egun, ezaugarri hauei dagozkien adibideak daude, gizarteko talde zehatzetarako (esate baterako, alemaniar adingabekoei) oinarrizko errenta bat ematen zaie. Zalantzarik gabe, adibide hau aurrerapauso handi bat da, pentsioetan belaunaldien banaketaren sistema eredua jarraitzen duten ordenamendu guztien eredu —beraien artean espainola— izan daitekeelako. ABSTRACT: At present, the precarious jobs do not assure the subsistence level, and the future forecasts «the end of work». In addition, because of the defects and limits of the welfare systems, a rethinking of the social protection system is necessary: universal basic income seems to be the most popular option. Although the basic income is usually based on the idea of social reform, the perception of this study is that its implementation should be guided by a policy of small advances, which ultimately make possible a partial reform of the Social Security system, not its dismantling. There are currently examples with these characteristics, for specific groups (e.g. minors in Germany) to which a basic income is being granted. Without a doubt, it is a big step in that direction, which can serve as a model to be followed by all legal systems —among them Spanish one— that follow a system of generational distribution (pay-as-you-go system) in pensions. RESUMEN: En la actualidad, los empleos precarios no aseguran el mínimo vital, y para el futuro se pronostica el «fin del trabajo». Además, ante los defectos y límites de los sistemas asistenciales es necesario un replanteamiento del sistema de protección social: la renta básica universal parece ser la opción más popular. Aunque normalmente la RB se basa en la idea de una reforma social, la percepción de este estudio es que su implementación debe ir dirigida por una política de pequeños avances, que al final posibiliten una reforma parcial del sistema de Seguridad Social, no su desmantelamiento. Existen en la actualidad ejemplos con estas características, para colectivos específicos (ej. menores en Alemania) a los que —en la práctica— se les está otorgando una RB. Sin duda, es un gran paso en esa dirección, que puede servir como modelo a seguir por los ordenamientos jurídicos —entre ellos el español— que siguen un sistema de reparto generacional en pensiones.


2019 ◽  
pp. 237-255

Resumen: El trabajo se centra en una cuestión poco tratada, como es la renta básica universal y su relación con los actuales programas de los partidos políticos, con los que han concurrido a las elecciones generales, con una doble dimensión: a) lo que cada programa presenta y defiende acerca de esta renta o medidas similares (justificación, alcance y límites), y b) una vez esbozadas la idea y alcance de la renta en cada partido, el análisis comparativo de las diversas propuestas de los partidos, abundando en la cercanía o la distancia de tales propuestas con una renta básica universal Palabras clave:renta básica universal, rentas de solidaridad, políticas sociales, igualdad social, soluciones a la pobreza. Abstract: The work focuses on a little-treated issue, as it is the universal basic income and its relationship with existing programmes of the political parties, which have attended the general election, with a double dimension: (a) what each program presents and defends about this income or similar measures (justification, scope and limits), and b) once outlined the idea and scope of the income in each party, the comparative analysis of the various proposals of the parties, abounding in the closeness or distance of such proposals with a universal basic income. Keywords:universal basic income, income from solidarity, social policy, social equality, solutions to poverty.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-214
Author(s):  
Vlad Stokolos ◽  

Annotation. Introduction. The article considers the concept of unconditional basic income in the study of social policy as a state instrument of universal social justice. Considerable attention paid to the prospects for the introduction of unconditional basic income and the implementation of its basic principles into Ukrainian legislation. Various approaches of legal regulations and etymology of social policy in the context of the state security system are considered. Significant emphasis placed on the study of the theoretical challenge of unconditional basic income, namely the study of the functioning of such a mechanism in modern communicative realities. This research is a product of analytics and was created without taking into account the author’s political ideas. Given the recommended amount of research, the issues of unconditional basic income was considered not to be completed. Purpose. One of the main tasks of the article is to study the mechanism of functioning of unconditional basic income and the possibility of its application in practice. It is also worth giving your own view of the social policy problems. The tasks of the article are to analyze the modern social security system and to suggest options for its improvement. Results. The theory of unconditional basic income currently has no practical application. Despite a significant number of theoretical experiments, no country in the world uses the instrument of unconditional basic income at the legislative level. Therefore, it is too early to talk about the implementation of this theory of social policy in practice in Ukraine. Conclusions. Theory of unconditional basic income has a strong intellectual tradition, but the practical application of this instrument of social policy not implemented. Our studies show that such a system promotes the development of human capital and increases the geographical mobility of people. Unconditional basic income creates material support that promotes human development in other spheres of life. However, it was noted that conducting such a social policy requires significant expenditures from the state budget. This creates material barriers for some countries to use unconditional basic income as a tool of social policy. Keywords: unconditional basic income; social policy; state institutions; legal system.


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