Creeping Conditionality in the UK: From Welfare Rights to Conditional Entitlements?

Peter James Dwyer

doi:10.1353/cjs.2004.0022

Creeping Conditionality in the UK: From Welfare Rights to Conditional Entitlements?

Peter James Dwyer

Social Policy and Social Work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

A widely recognised central tenet of New Labour's "Third Way" is no rights without responsibilities. The extent to which this idea underpins the British government's approach to welfare reform has been extensively commented upon. Initially, the article places the UK reforms in the context of wider theoretical debates about welfare reform in Western states. It then highlights the ways in which a principle of conditionality is being practically applied in a wide range of sectors in the UK including; social security, housing, education, and health. The details and impact of recent relevant legislation and initiatives are discussed. It is argued that as policies based on conditional entitlement become central to the ongoing process of welfare reform the very idea of "welfare rights" is systematically undermined.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	265-287
Number of pages	23
Journal	Canadian Journal of Sociology
Volume	29
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1353/cjs.2004.0022
Publication status	Published - 2004

Keywords

Conditionality
UK
welfare rights

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10.1353/cjs.2004.0022

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Cite this

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title = "Creeping Conditionality in the UK: From Welfare Rights to Conditional Entitlements?",

abstract = " A widely recognised central tenet of New Labour's {"}Third Way{"} is no rights without responsibilities. The extent to which this idea underpins the British government's approach to welfare reform has been extensively commented upon. Initially, the article places the UK reforms in the context of wider theoretical debates about welfare reform in Western states. It then highlights the ways in which a principle of conditionality is being practically applied in a wide range of sectors in the UK including; social security, housing, education, and health. The details and impact of recent relevant legislation and initiatives are discussed. It is argued that as policies based on conditional entitlement become central to the ongoing process of welfare reform the very idea of {"}welfare rights{"} is systematically undermined.",

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