Summary

The Victorian Poor Law made no bones about the fact that its primary objective was to punish poor people who asked for state help so that potential workers only became a charge on the state when they were driven to the workhouse by absolute destitution. The idea that the main object of social security was to regulate the lives of poor people rather than to relieve their poverty fell into disfavour in the post-war heyday of the welfare state. More recently, it has returned, as mass unemployment increases the pressure on welfare budgets and the weakness of the British economy calls into question our ability to maintain social spending. This book provides an overview of the debates surrounding terms like dependency culture, advancing new arguments about the relationship between social security reform and the effects of social change while contributing new insights into concerns about dependency, need and citizenship.