The welfare state of the United Kingdom began to evolve in the 1900s and early 1910s, and comprises expenditures by the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland intended to improve health, education, employment and social security. The British system has been classified as a liberal welfare state system.
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance programs which provide support only to those who have previously contributed, as opposed to social assistance programs which provide support on the basis of need alone. The International Labour Organization defines social security as covering support for those in old age, support for the maintenance of children, medical treatment, parental and sick leave, unemployment and disability benefits, and support for sufferers of occupational injury.
National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their families.
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a compulsory governmental insurance system, not taxes on individual citizens. Depending on the jurisdiction and the status of the person, those sums may be small, covering only basic needs, or may compensate the lost time proportionally to the previous earned salary.
Welfare reform is the process of proposing and adopting changes to a welfare system in order to improve the efficiency and administration of government assistance programs with the goal of enhancing equity and fairness for both welfare recipients and taxpayers. Reform programs have various aims: empowering individuals to help them become self-sufficient, ensuring the sustainability and solvency of various welfare programs, and/or promoting equitable distribution of resources. Welfare reform is constantly debated because of the varying opinions on a government's need to balance the imperatives of guaranteeing welfare benefits and promoting self-sufficiency.
Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is an unemployment benefit paid by the Government of the United Kingdom to people who are unemployed and actively seeking work. It is part of the social security benefits system and is intended to cover living expenses while the claimant is out of work.
Jobcentre Plus is a brand used by the Department for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom.
A means test is a determination of whether an individual or family is eligible for government assistance or welfare, based upon whether the individual or family possesses the means to do without that help.
Social welfare has long been an important part of New Zealand society and a significant political issue. It is concerned with the provision by the state of benefits and services. Together with fiscal welfare and occupational welfare, it makes up the social policy of New Zealand. Social welfare is mostly funded through general taxation. Since the 1980s welfare has been provided on the basis of need; the exception is universal superannuation.
Social security, in Australia, refers to a system of social welfare payments provided by Australian Government to eligible Australian citizens, permanent residents, and limited international visitors. These payments are almost always administered by Centrelink, a program of Services Australia. In Australia, most payments are means tested.
The Italian welfare state is based partly upon the corporatist-conservative model and partly upon the universal welfare model.
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a United Kingdom welfare payment for adults younger than the State Pension age who are having difficulty finding work because of their long-term medical condition or a disability. It is a basic income-replacement benefit paid in lieu of wages. It is currently being phased out and replaced with Universal Credit for claimants on low incomes, although the contribution-based element remains available.
Unemployment in the United Kingdom is measured by the Office for National Statistics.
R v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2013] UKSC 68 is a United Kingdom constitutional law and labour law case that found the conduct of the Department for Work and Pensions "workfare" policy was unlawful. Caitlin Reilly, an unemployed geology graduate, and Jamieson Wilson, an unemployed driver, challenged the Jobcentre policy of making the unemployed work for private companies to get unemployment income. The outcome of the case affects over 3,000 claimants and entails around £130m unpaid benefits.
The Welfare Reform Act 2012 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which makes changes to the rules concerning a number of benefits offered within the British social security system. It was enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 8 March 2012.
Carer's Allowance is a non-contributory benefit in the United Kingdom payable to people who care for a disabled person for at least 35 hours a week. It was first established as Invalid Care Allowance in 1976, and married women were not eligible. This policy was held to be unlawful sexual discrimination by the European Court in 1986 in the case of Jackie Drake. See Carers rights movement In May 2020 around 1.1 million people in England were entitled to Carer’s Allowance, of which 780,000 people were being paid it, according to the National Audit Office.
Maternity Allowance is a United Kingdom state benefit for women who are working but not entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay.
The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme was established across the United Kingdom National Health Service in 1988. Patients and their children in receipt of means tested benefits, or on a low income, could get help with the cost of travel to hospital appointments. It does not apply to primary care or community services and it does not apply to visitors.
In Ireland, there are two categories of social security, contributory, and non-contributory, as well as three main types of payments:
The November 1993 United Kingdom budget was delivered by Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the House of Commons on 30 November 1993. It was the second budget to be presented in 1993, and the first to be presented by Clarke following his appointment as Chancellor by Prime Minister John Major earlier that year. The November 1993 budget was also the first in the modern era to be held in the autumn, the government having decided to move the date of the budget so it could outline its tax and spending plans at the same time.
