Feminists argue that the welfare state is a sexist institution that is biased against women and claim that there are a number of factors that cause this. They argue that women are forced into poverty due to the pay gap, governement belief in women as primary carersand sexism in the workplace. Co-habiting women can't claim benefits. Women are not provided with free childcare and they are as a result forced to take leave, thus making them unable to pay their stamp tax so are therefore not intitled to a state pension, and are therefore forced into poverty as a result and forced to rely on men.
Those who suscribe to the Third Way school of thought such as Giddens has failed to help the poorest in society as it "locks people out of work when they could be in good jobs." Third way thinkers believe that the welfare state should look not only on income but also crime, parenting and social exlcusion. This therefore explains the introduction of ASBOs under New Labour governement, who have since 1997 suscribed to this way of thinking changing their allaince from New Right views that the party used to embody.
The New Right (Murray) therefore the welfare state infact causes poverty, both directly and indirectly. Due to high taxes which prevent people from starting their own businesses thus preventing the 'trickle down of wealth'. High taxes hurt the poor most and cause them to fall into the poverty trap. The welfare state has according to the New Right also causing welfare dependancy, people are encouraged to stay on benefits and not to support themselves.
This view is disregarded by Functionalists who argue that the welfare state has benefitted society, as it was never intended to reduce inequality. Hill claimedthat the rich can afford private education and health care, as the stae sector is non profit and due to the high uptake the quality ishigh and the private sector. However those paying for private education and healthcare are forced to pay twice for these services due to taxation, to pay for the public sector. In1983 Le Grand found that the middle class live longer and stay longer in education and therefore denefit more from the welfare state than the working class. Hill however believed that the NHS was widely used and necessary for the poor, he felt that those on low incomes benefitted from the introduction of tax credits and those on high incomes pay more tax for far fewer benefits.
Poverty is relative and can as a result never be eradicated, however not all benefits target the poorest in society. Universal benefits such as child support and NHS are avaibable for everyone, therefore taxes are forced to stay high in order topay for the benefits due to the high uptake as they are extremely easy to claim.
Means tested benefits on the other hand target the poorest in society, with benefits such as tax credits and Job seekers allowance. Means tested benefits keep taxes low due to the low uptake and discourages dependnce on the state. However benefits such as the student loan push people into hige debts , benefits given are not acceptable to live on, there is to much bureauracy and the benefits fail to keep up with the rate of inflation, those just above the poverty line recieve no benefits so it is often in peoples best intrests to claim benefits rather than working.
Marxists believe that the welfare state is simply a way of preventig a revolution, as the poor beleve that they are being helped when infact they are being exploited. They claim that the capitalist system manipulates and exploites the proletariat and aims to extract the surplus value from the workers. Hegemonnic marxists believe that the media, education and religion lead us to believe that we live in a democoacy that is free and cares about the needs of its workers. The welfare state according to marxists is merely a ruling class devised 'sop' that prevents us from discovering our true class position and that we have been exploited by the bourgoise.
In 1945 the welfare state aimed to eliminae poverty in Britain, if we look at the situation from an absolute definition of the word, then it has been a sucsess however due to the relative defition of poverty elimination will never be possible. there are many different opinions of the subject of the welfare state and its sucessess and failures, with its attempts to help the poorest in society. As an institution that was intended as a tempoary post war measure that has now been running over 60 years it shall most probably be debated for another 60 years before any agreement on the subjct can be reached.
