Beveridge and Social Security: An International Retrospective

The Beveridge Report of 1942 captured the public imagination with its principles of universal social insurance in Britain. Beveridge's idea was to use universal benefits to remove the poverty caused by certain contingencies, such as unemployment or disability. This book considers the influence of Beveridge's ideas on social security and argues that the reality, over the subsequent fifty years, has been very different from the principles and from the vision he expressed. The first group of papers in this volume examines the recommendations of the Beveridge Report, the concessions that were made before implementation was possible, and the history of the postwar social insurance system. His biographer, Jose Harris, explains how Beveridge's beliefs were formed in the years preceding the War. The important aspects of the social insurance system are considered in depth, such as the state pension, and the principle of flat-rate rather than means-tested benefits. The second group of papers deals with the adoption or dismissal of Beveridge's recommendations in several countries: Germany, Poland, Holland, Israel, Sweden, and Australia. The authors generally conclude that there has, in Britain, been a move away from universally available benefits to means-tested income support. Despite this, the editors argue that Beveridge's important legacy has been the notion of a national minimum income: a safety net covering all. This idea has substantial present-day relevance as the countries of the European Community debate the issue of political as well as economic convergence. Contributors: John Hills, John Ditch, Howard Glennerster, Brian Abel-Smith, Jose Harris, Peter Baldwin, Martin Evans, John Macnicol, John Veit-Wilson, Rodney Lowe, Fritz Grundger, Maciej Zukowski, Saskia Klosse, Teun Jaspers, Mies Westerveld, Abraham Doron, Tor E. Eriksen, Edward E. Palmer, Bettina Cass, John Freeland

Table of Contents:
Introduction. John Hills, John Ditch, and Howard Glennerster The Beveridge Report: Its Origins and Outcomes. Brian Abel-Smith Beveridge's Social and Political Thought. Jose Harris Beveridge in the Longue Duree. Peter Baldwin Beveridge and his Assumptive Worlds: The Incompatibilities of a Flawed Design. Howard Glennerster and Martin Evans Beveridge and Old Age. John Macnicol Condemned to Deprivation? Beveridge's Responsibility for the Invisibility of Poverty. John Veit-Wilson A Prophet Dishonoured in his Own Country? The Rejection of Beveridge in Britain 1945-70. Rodney Lowe Beveridge meets Bismarck: Echo, Effects, and Evaluation of the Beveridge Report in Germany. Fritz Grundger Pensions Policy in Poland after 1945: Between 'Bismarck' and 'Beveridge' Traditions. Maciej Zukowski Beveridge Fifty Years On: Second Youth or Early Retirement? Saskia Klosse, Teun Jaspers, and Mies Westerveld The Effectiveness of the Beveridge Model at Different Stages of Socio-economic Development: The Israeli Experience. Abraham Doron The Deterioration of the Swedish Pension Model. Tor E Eriksen and Edward E Palmer Social Security and Full Employment in Australia: The Rise and Fall of the Keynesian Welfare State; The Search for a Post-Keynesian Settlement. Bettina Cass and John Freeland.

Review :
`Its fascination lies in the differing interpretations of Beveridge's importance, his achievements and failures, and even what he stood for.' Benefits `...the volume presents a fair range of views and perspectives as to the Beveridge legacy.' The Economic Journal `The first part of the volume is really provocative. Not so much because of its interesting insights in the origin and aftermath of the report, but because of the fact that the various contributions present in all its tones the paradoxes and contradictions of this historical event.' Social Policy vol. 24 `The first part of the volume is really provocative. Not so much because of its interesting insights in the origin and aftermath of the report, but because of the fact that the various contributions present in all its tones the paradoxes and contradictions of this historical event.' Social Policy