Conditionality, discretion and TH Marshall’s ‘right to welfare’

ABSTRACT

In an era of increasing interest in and concern about destitution in the UK, the leading studies place social security problems among the principal causes. This suggests that destitution is a failure of social citizenship, with social protection systems unable or unwilling to underwrite the guarantee of a modicum of economic welfare that, according to Marshall, forms the essence of the citizen’s social rights. This article documents how the establishment of a comprehensive welfare state in the mid-20^th century has been eroded by a series of social security reforms that have turned the focus back on local government and the voluntary sector for the support of the ‘undeserving’ migrant and unemployed poor. Empirical findings from a major study of destitution in the UK illustrate how the fulfilment of social ‘rights’ is becoming dependent on knowing where to seek support, having access to the right gatekeeper and enduring social stigma. The authors consider the compatibility of a welfare state characterised by strict conditionality, decision maker discretion and gaps in the safety net with the Marshallian ‘right to welfare’.

KEYWORDS:

• Social rights
• citizenship
• welfare state
• destitution
• conditionality
• discretion

Acknowledgments

This article draws on research funded by the Legal Education Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The authors would like to thank the 41 interviewees for their participation, I-SPHERE at Heriot Watt University for carrying out the original Destitution in the UK project and undertaking data collection for the present work, and Peter Dwyer and Catrina Denvir for their advice and comments. Early versions were presented as ‘The “right to welfare” in a new age of destitution’ at an ESRAN-UKI workshop (Roehampton, 2018) and as ‘Conditionality and the “right to welfare”: the Marshallian citizenship ideal in the active welfare state’ at the Welfare Conditionality conference (York, 2018).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The term ‘welfare’ refers to the individual’s ability to attain a minimum standard of living. Means tested benefits for the relief of poverty (sometimes described as ‘welfare’) are referred to by name or collectively as ‘social assistance’.

2. Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001 no 1167.

3. There are 257 pages of guidance on Universal Credit sanctions, including 93 on the interpretation of ‘good reason’.

4. Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 asp 9 s1.

Additional information

Funding

Destitutionandpathstojustice, co-funded by Legal Education Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Foundation.