What role do the concepts ‘need’ and inequality play in social policy?
From the inauguration of state organised welfare the concepts of ‘need’ and inequality have been at the centre of discussions and debates on social policy. Since the 19th century it has widely been accepted that the state has some responsibility towards attempting to fulfil some of civil societies needs and the needs of those most at risk. Changing definitions and attitudes surround the concepts of need and inequality; this means any discussion of these instantly encapsulates the political and ideological debates which effect all aspects of social policy. Titmuss (ed. 1987) writes that ‘collectively provided services are deliberately designed to meet certain socially recognized ‘needs’; they are manifestations’ this means any changes within these are interrelated with those in society. Miller (1987) draws from Titmuss’s work explaining that the inequality which creates need is formed from the very nature of an advanced industrial society as ‘the costs of economic growth and stability are not evenly distributed’ he describes the welfare state as ‘compensation for the vulnerables who pay the prices of ‘progress’ (1987). This essay seeks to examine the concept of need within social policy by looking at how it became recognised in the 19th century and how it was defined in the 20th century. This will include looking at what social legislation has been borne out of its recognition. I will also look at the changing attitudes towards inequality and the left/right political and ideological debate over the relationship between inequality and need within society. This will conclude with a brief observation of what role the concepts ‘need’ and ‘inequality’ have in social policy today.
By the late 19th century the effects of the industrial revolution were fully realised, although many notable individuals such as Dickens, Disraeli, Kingsley and Mrs Gaskell (Fraser, 1984) highlighted the poverty caused by industrialised society earlier in the century it was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that the ‘needs’ within civil society began to dramatically influence government legislation. Fraser (1984) cites the ‘great depression’ as a force which shattered ‘England’s faith in unlimited economic progress and caused it to look inwards and realise the vast inequalities between the lives of the rich and the poor were unsustainable. The extended franchise may have also led governments to act on the problems facing the impoverished as men had the power to vote out a government if it didn’t respond to the needs of civil society. In 1880s the ‘Illustrated London News’ wrote ‘Recent revelations as to the misery of the abject poor have profoundly touched the heart of the nation’ (Fraser, 1984) showing that changing attitudes towards the poor meant their needs had to be addressed. Although several Acts which helped the most at risk in society had been passed earlier on in the 19th century, such as the Ten Hours Act 1847 and the Public Health Act 1848, the Acts which were introduced towards the end of the century represented a recognised change in the ideological composition of Britain. The emerging ideology was New Liberalism, which retains strong elements of classical liberalism such as minimal state intervention in the free market, constitutionalism, consent and toleration, however what it concedes to accept is that equality is not achieved through constitutional laws alone. Thomas Hill Green stated that people should live within ‘positive freedom’; this meant one would have the ability to live as one would like without interference from the State but a moral responsibility to others would develop with State intervention to administer the duty of care (Rose, 1972). Although all liberals firmly believe in a meritocracy, new modern liberals realise injustice can be created from the ‘vagaries of the market’ (Heywood, 2002). Thus the concept of there being ‘needs’ within society that needed to be addressed rose from new liberalism.
