Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This core text book takes social policy back to its basics. Concise, accessible and engaging, each chapter is structured around a key question, such as 'What Is Social Policy And Why Is It Relevant To You?', 'Do You Pay Too Much Tax For The Social Policy Benefits You Receive?' Or 'Can Social Policy Solve The Problem Of Poverty?'. It breaks the subject down to make it more understandable and relatable to real life so students understand the theory that underpins social policy but also what it actually means in practice.

This is essential reading for students taking an introductory social policy module as part of a social policy or social work degree programme, and anyone else wanting a straight forward guide to connecting the theory with people's lives.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Illustrations (p. xi)
• Acknowledgements (p. xv)
• 1 What Is Social Policy and Why Is It Relevant to You? (p. 1)
• Why is social policy relevant to me? (p. 1)
• Which social policies do I receive? (p. 2)
• How do I pay for social policy? (p. 8)
• What does the study of social policy involve? (p. 11)
• Summary (p. 15)
• 2 Which Benefits Do You Receive from Social Policy, and Who Receives the Most Benefits? (p. 16)
• Which is the most expensive social policy benefit? (p. 17)
• Which groups get the most benefits? (p. 19)
• Why do older people get more income maintenance benefits than other groups? (p. 21)
• Are income maintenance benefits the only type of social policy benefits? (p. 22)
• How does including in-kind benefits affect who gets the most benefits? (p. 23)
• Who receives the most total benefits? (p. 26)
• How have recent social policy changes affected who gets the most benefits? (p. 29)
• Summary (p. 31)
• 3 How and Why Has Social Policy Developed Cradle to Grave Entitlement to Benefits for You? (p. 33)
• Why did the need for social policy become evident? (p. 34)
• What social policies were put in place in the New Poor Law to meet these identified problems? (p. 38)
• How were the social policies of the New Poor Law shown to be inadequate by social scientists? (p. 39)
• How did social policies develop in the light of the findings of the social scientists? (p. 44)
• What impact did the First World War have on social policies? (p. 45)
• Why did the Second World War have such an effect on the development of the 'welfare state' as we know it today? (p. 48)
• How successful were the post-war 'welfare state' social policies? (p. 53)
• When did the consensus period for social policy come to an end? (p. 54)
• What has been the main focus of social policies over the last 20 years or so? (p. 56)
• What impact has the austerity policies of the 2010 Coalition government had on social policies? (p. 58)
• Summary (p. 59)
• 4 Do You Pay too much Tax for the Social Policy Benefits You Receive? (p. 62)
• What is taxation? (p. 64)
• What does taxation pay for? (p. 66)
• How does the taxation process work? (p. 66)
• How much taxation do I pay? (p. 71)
• Do people who receive benefits like Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support pay taxes? (p. 73)
• How does the amount of taxation I pay compare to the amount of taxation funded benefits I receive? (p. 74)
• Would it be cheaper for me to pay for the social policy benefits I receive myself? (p. 75)
• What are the important principles that underpin taxation funded social policy? (p. 80)
• Summary (p. 83)
• 5 Can Social Policy Solve the Problem of Poverty? (p. 86)
• What is poverty? (p. 87)
• How is poverty defined in the UK? (p. 95)
• Does the official poverty line reflect absolute or relative poverty? (p. 97)
• How many people are officially in poverty? (p. 98)
• Are there more people in poverty than the government says? (p. 100)
• Which groups are most likely to be poor? (p. 103)
• Why are so many working people in poverty? (p. 106)
• Why are so many people on benefits poor? (p. 109)
• Is the amount of poverty falling or rising? (p. 111)
• Summary (p. 112)
• 6 Should Entitlement to Social Policy Benefits Be just for Some People or for Everyone? (p. 115)
• What is universalism? (p. 116)
• What is selectivism? (p. 118)
• What is the evidence for and against universalism and selectivism? (p. 122)
• What does the example of council housing going from universalism to selectivism show us? (p. 126)
• Are social policies in the UK universal or selective overall? (p. 128)
• Have the 2010 Coalition government's social policies been universal or selective? (p. 128)
• Summary (p. 130)
• 7 Which Welfare Needs Should Social Policy Be Responsible for Meeting? (p. 131)
• What is need? (p. 132)
• What is a welfare need? (p. 132)
• Does everyone have the same welfare needs? (p. 135)
• Are welfare needs different from welfare wants? (p. 136)
• How do the different definitions of welfare need shape social policies? (p. 138)
• Which type of need is the most important for social policy to meet? (p. 138)
• Does social policy meet welfare needs in a subsistence or participatory way? (p. 142)
• Has the 2010 Coalition government's emphasis in social policy been on meeting needs in a subsistence or a participatory way? (p. 145)
• Summary (p. 151)
• 8 Who Should Provide Social Policies? (p. 153)
• What are the differences and specified advantages between the providers of social policies? (p. 154)
• What are the limitations of the state, private companies, voluntary/community organizations or individuals providing social policies? (p. 163)
• How does the mixed economy of welfare work in primary and secondary schooling? (p. 165)
• What are the advantages of the mixed economy of welfare for social policies? (p. 167)
• What are the limitations of the mixed economy of welfare? (p. 168)
• How important is the mixed economy of welfare to current social policies? (p. 169)
• Summary (p. 170)
• 9 What Does the Future Hold for Social Policy? (p. 172)
• What are the major social and economic changes occurring within society? (p. 173)
• How are these social and economic changes specifically affecting social policy? (p. 183)
• Which of these social and economic changes will have the most significant effect on social policy? (p. 190)
• What specific social policies have been put in place to deal with the future effects of these social and economic changes? (p. 191)
• Summary (p. 194)
• 10 How Can Your Ideological Beliefs Make and Change Social Policy? (p. 196)
• What is ideology? (p. 197)
• Why is ideology important to social policy? (p. 198)
• What ideological beliefs do you have about social policy? (p. 199)
• What are the major similarities and differences in social policy ideological beliefs? (p. 205)
• How do these ideological beliefs become specific social policies? (p. 208)
• What is the ideological basis of Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat social policies? (p. 212)
• Can you describe other UK political parties as being individualist or collectivist? (p. 214)
• What is the significance of your ideological beliefs to the development of social policies? (p. 215)
• Summary (p. 216)
• 11 Is Relying on Social Policy Benefits over a Long Time an Easy Life? (p. 218)
• Simon Heng
• Who am I? (p. 219)
• How did I become reliant on social policy to meet my needs? (p. 219)
• What has been the impact on my quality of life? (p. 220)
• What has been the effect on my income and standard of living? (p. 221)
• How easy has it been to gain entitlement to benefits to enable me to lead a normal life? (p. 222)
• What are the different ways that my needs have been met? (p. 224)
• What have been the advantages of having to take responsibility for my welfare? (p. 226)
• What effect has the austerity social policies of the 2010 Coalition government had on my ability to meet my needs? (p. 228)
• Summary (p. 231)
• 12 Why Is Studying Social Policy Relevant to You? (p. 233)
• References (p. 241)
• Index (p. 250)

Author notes provided by Syndetics