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Public and Private Welfare Activity in the United Kingdom, 1979 to 1999

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  • Rachel Smithies

Abstract

This paper analyses the shifting balance between public sector and private sector welfare provision in the United Kingdom over the past two decades. Five sectors - education, health, personal social services, housing, and income maintenance and social security - are examined over three time points, 1979/80, 1995/96, and 1999/2000. Burchardt's (1997) typology is used to classify welfare activities according to who funds them, who provides them, and who decides on the provider and/or amount of service. It is found that shifts in the composition of welfare activity have been relatively small and gradual: around half of all welfare activity, dropping from 52 percent to 49 percent, is entirely public; around a quarter, rising from 24 percent to 29 percent, is entirely private; and the remainder involves a mixture of both sectors. Within the latter group, there was a notable increase over time in the contracting-out of public services, which rose from 6 percent to 10 percent of all welfare activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel Smithies, 2005. "Public and Private Welfare Activity in the United Kingdom, 1979 to 1999," CASE Papers 093, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:sticas:093
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    File URL: https://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cp/CASEpaper93.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tom Sefton, 2002. "Recent Changes in the Distribution of the Social Wage," CASE Papers case62, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    2. Hills, John, 2004. "Inequality and the State," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199276646.
    3. Tom Sefton, 2002. "Recent Changes in the Distribution of the Social Wage," CASE Papers 062, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Edmiston, 2011. "The Shifting Balance of Private and Public Welfare Activity in the United Kingdom, 1979 to 2007," CASE Papers case155, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    2. Goodair, Benjamin, 2023. "‘Accident and emergency’? Exploring the reasons for increased privatisation in England's NHS," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    3. repec:ehl:lserod:43901 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    welfare; social spending; privatisation; contracting-out; public provision; private provision;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out

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