Welfare State and Thatcherism

Abstract

Distinctive social changes characterised the new culture of the twentieth century all over the world. In Europe, for example, wars and conflicts did not prevent growth. the standard of living progressed and prosperity prevailed due to the welfare state which was created in 1945; its wide services fulfilled the hopes of the great majority of people who looked forward to the improvement of their lives.

To learn more about the history of the welfare state in Britain, the origin, evolution, and the downfall of this state are the major points which are suggested for discussion in the current dissertation . Moreover, the debate will include a variety of upheavals and struggles for survival under the poor-law system which emerged in the Elizabethan era and continued till the modern era.

There will be also a focus on the most significant political, economic and social transformations in the United Kingdom during and after the two world-wars. This will lead certainly to talk about the shift of power from the Conservatives to Liberals then to Labours, as it will record the society’s feedback towards those Governments’ policies. In addition to that, the investigation will shed some light on the radical movement which contributed vitally in fighting poverty, persecution, and oppression.

The study will respectively enlighten both of the reforms which led to affluence and the recessions that disturbed the community and economy as well. The hard years of the seventies were followed by the decades of Thatcherism which dominated the political life in the eighties. Mrs. Thatcher, who promised a better future for the British society, referred the decline to the inefficiency of the Labour leadership