The quest for institutional welfare and the problem of the residuum : the case of income maintenance and personal social care policies in Norway and Britain 1946 to 1966
This study focusses on the relationship between social assistance and personal social services on the one hand and various forms of social insurance on the other hand. During the period the expressed objective was in both nations to replace the Poor Law with insurance, leaving only a small last resort assistance scheme. While Norway continued the pre-war practice of breaking down the Poor Law ~from without~ through the gradual extension of insurance, Britain attempted a more immediate transition through the creation of a universal National Insurance and a National Assistance freed from the cash-care multifunctional nature of the Poor Law. The comparison of the ensuing development rests on two postulates. First, Norwegian social insurance will be seen to have experienced a more favourable development in terms of coverage and levels of benefits. Second, in the case of assistance the Norwegian scheme covered a decreasing proportion of the population with a service bearing strong resemblance to those of the Poor Law. Britain, by contrast, experienced a growth in the number covered by assistance, in terms of numbers as well as need categories. The services obtained bear, however, less resemblance to the Poor Law
Lodemel, Ivar
DA Great Britain ; DL Northern Europe. Scandinavia ; HC Economic History and Conditions ; HJ Public Finance ; JF Political institutions (General)
The quest for institutional welfare and the problem of the residuum : the case of income maintenance and personal social care policies in Norway and Britain 1946 to 1966. This study focusses on the relationship between social assistance and personal social services on the one hand and various forms of social insurance on the other hand. During the period the expressed objective was in both nations to replace the Poor Law with insurance, leaving only a small last resort assistance scheme. While Norway continued the pre-war practice of breaking down the Poor Law ~from without~ through the gradual extension of insurance, Britain attempted a more immediate transition through the creation of a universal National Insurance and a National Assistance freed from the cash-care multifunctional nature of the Poor Law. The comparison of the ensuing development rests on two postulates. First, Norwegian social insurance will be seen to have experienced a more favourable development in terms of coverage and levels of benefits. Second, in the case of assistance the Norwegian scheme covered a decreasing proportion of the population with a service bearing strong resemblance to those of the Poor Law. Britain, by contrast, experienced a growth in the number covered by assistance, in terms of numbers as well as need categories. The services obtained bear, however, less resemblance to the Poor Law
quest institutional welfare problem case income maintenance personal_social care policy norway britain study_focus relationship social assistance personal_social service one_hand various_form social insurance hand period express objective nation replace poor_law insurance leave small last resort assistance scheme norway continue pre_war practice break poor_law from without gradual extension insurance britain attempt immediate transition creation universal national insurance national assistance free cash care nature poor_law comparison ensue development rest postulate first norwegian social insurance see experience favourable development term coverage level benefit second case assistance norwegian scheme cover decrease proportion population service bear strong resemblance poor_law britain contrast experience growth number cover assistance term number well need category service obtain bear however less resemblance poor_law