2018-02-06
32 分钟Welcome to LSEIQ, a podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science,
where we ask leading social scientists and other experts to answer an intelligent question about economics,
politics or society.
In 1942, at the height of the Second World War,
the British government published the Social Insurance and Allied Services Report.
Its aim was to establish new forms of social security and welfare for a post-war UK.
Its writer, William Beveridge, proposed solutions to the prevailing social evils of the time,
want, ignorance, disease, idleness and squalor.
The report advocated that the government established provisions to combat these evils,
including a free education system, a national health service and a comprehensive state pension.
Here's Beveridge underlining the importance of these recommendations.
The national minimum is a peculiarly British idea.
It means that no one is to fall below a certain standard.
It leaves everyone free to spend his income above that standard as he will.
In the 21st century, the welfare state's purpose and effectiveness has been contested.
With over 50% of the country's budget spent on it, and an ever-changing political,
technological and cultural landscape, its purpose, size and utility have dominated public discourse.
In this episode of LSEIQ, James Ratie asks, what's the future of the welfare state?
Our welfare state is dysfunctional.
Plans to raise the state pension age to 70 have been proposed.