The decades of disruption: New social risks and the future of the welfare state
Article
A number of major disruptive forces will transform life in the UK and globally in the 2020s and beyond, creating a new set of social risks.
In the Covid-19 crisis, government financial assistance has been the decisive factor in protecting businesses and livelihoods, but it has fallen short. We can learn from the response to this crisis to create the stronger welfare settlement we will need to tackle new social risks and prevent inequality from growing.
The economic shock resulting from the pandemic follows a ‘great risk shift’ experienced by people in the UK over recent decades. It is clear that we need to ‘future-proof’ our welfare state, but historically, welfare states in the UK and across Europe have remained ‘frozen’ in the face of new social risks. It is for this reason that IPPR is launching a major new Future Welfare State Programme.
Related items
The health mandate: The voters' verdict on government intervention
The nation’s health is now a top-tier political issue.Reclaiming social mobility for the opportunity mission
Every prime minister since Thatcher has set their sights on social mobility. They have repeated some version of the refrain that your background should not hold you back and hard work should be rewarded by movement up the social and…Realising the reform dividend: A toolkit to transform the NHS
Building an NHS fit for the future is a life-or-death challenge.