Social policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Social policy - Essay Example aissez-faire, i.e., be completely inactive whether in positive or negative way, or it can be highly interventionist having a well defined pattern of action or may have just a supervisory role. A Welfare state is a channel of expression of power – â€Å"through politics and administration† (Pierson and Francis, 2006, p.16). Depending upon the existing market structure, the state decides its welfare policy. This means that welfare policy is based on the problem caused by market power, so, there is a high correlation between the prevailing market power and welfare policy of the state. Keeping this fact in mind, we will study the changing welfare policy scenario in UK corresponding to its rapidly transforming economic and social conditions between the early 1940’s to the 20th century. The journey of UK from the 18-19th century to its current stature has been immense. In the early 18th century, UK was largely an agricultural economy in which the laborers had complete decision making powers regarding work. Market power was non-existent and thus, so was state welfare. It all started with the â€Å"Industrial Revolution† (Mokyr, 1985, p.39) in the 18th century. The agricultural economy started gradually to turn into an industrial giant. The immediate consequences were â€Å"rapid migration from rural to suburban areas in search of employment, a drastic increase in population in the urban areas and thus, a total upside down juggling of existing condition.† (Pierson and Francis, 2006, pp. 20-22).Due to this rise in population, a need for proper sanitation, housing, and healthcare was felt as these were in deplorable state. Along with these, the state wanted to protect these factory workers from being exploited by the industrialists as well as from the clu tches of abject poverty. So, it decided to make its presence more emphatic. The political scenario in this period is also of immense importance as it can explain why the state implemented respective measures. During this