This is the first book to examine the views of a number of theorists from ancient times to the 19th century on a range of welfare issues: wealth, poverty and inequality; slavery, gender issues, and the family; child rearing and education; crime and punishment; the role of government in society; the strengths and weaknesses of government provision vis a vis market provision. The book also looks at the values of the various theorists as well as their perception of human nature for these tend to underpin their welfare views. The book will make essential reading for students of social policy, gender issues, community care, social work, and sociology.

This is the first book to examine the views of a number of theorists from ancient times to the 19th century on a range of welfare issues: wealth, poverty and inequality; slavery, gender issues, and the family; child rearing and education; crime and punishment; the role of government in society; and, the strengths and weaknesses of government provision vis a vis market provision. The book also looks at the values of the various theorists as well as their perception of human nature for these tend to underpin their welfare views. The book will make essential reading for students of social policy, gender issues, community care, social work, and sociology.

First published in 1980, Socialism, Social Welfare and the Soviet Union examines the views of Marx, Engels and Lenin on what constitutes a socialist form of provision of social security, income, education, health and housing. The authors discuss the implementation of these ideas in the Soviet Union since the 1917 Revolution in the context of economic and political development, and describe the social services in the Soviet Union, assessing the extent to which the original ideas have been matched by reality. They also briefly survey the views of several East European academic writers on social policy, outlining some distinctive features of social policy in the Eastern bloc. The authors' general conclusion is that the Soviet Union has made great progress in social policy provision; from their research and from their visits in the course of writing this book, they show that the social services of the Soviet Union are as good as and, in some ways, more comprehensive than those of Western Europe. Equally important is their conclusion that a society in which the means of production and distribution are nationalised, and which makes a full provision of social services is not necessarily a socialist society. This book will appeal to students of sociology, political science and area studies.

Governments in all advanced industrial societies are involved in an endless struggle of how to "square the welfare circle", as demand for public services rises due to demographic, social and labour market factors. Government ability to finance this rising tide of public service demand is constrained by economic and, at times, ideological factors. Failure to make welfare provision, however, has adverse electoral consequences, so this is not an issue which is likely to go away. Indeed, it is likely to become more acute in the future. "Social Policy Towards 2000" examines this current major problem in Britain, and looks ahead to the year 2000 and beyond. It documents the economic and social policy changes of the Thatcherite years and looks at the current situation in relation to employment, social security, education, health, housing and the personal services. By comparing the proposals of the UK's three main political parties, with regard to the running of the welfare system for the remaining part of the decade, the editors and contributors offer a prospective analysis of the future of welfare.