Introduction

This chapter examines social security since 1997, focusing on developments inthe latter half of the first term of the New Labour government and the startof its second term. Although the story begins in 1997-98 when new policieswere being proposed, an important stage was reached in the last two years ofgovernment when the first raft of policies were being implemented. Thestory, or rather this particular chapter in the story, concludes with thefirst year of the 2001 government when further policies were implementedand, of greater interest, earlier policies redefined. In terms of policyimplementation, the chapter addresses the government’s attempt topursue a radical agenda for welfare that requires constant short-termtinkering and reassessment in order to achieve longer-term goals.

More specifically, this chapter focuses on three areas of thegovernment’s reform agenda that, it will be argued, have contributedmost to New Labour’s recasting of social security, namelywelfare-to-work, pensions provision and, most recently, asset-based welfare.Other programmes associated with social security, such as family policy, arenot discussed for reasons of space (see Chapter Five; Dean, 2002). Theserepresent the essential elements of a welfare philosophy based on the newtrinity of work, welfare and assets, by which New Labour is redefiningwelfare and citizenship. The good citizen is someone who works for a living(thereby making few or no claims on social security), saves a portion oftheir earnings, and uses their savings to contribute substantially to theirown and their family’s future welfare. This trinity develops themessage of New Labour’s first term: from ‘work for those whocan, security for those who cannot’ (DSS, 1998a, p iii) tosavings for those who can, security for those whocannot. This key message was prefigured in the pension GreenPaper (DSS, 1998b, p 23) and the pensions credit White Paper (DSS, 2000b, p15) and adumbrated in its proposals for asset-based welfare (HM Treasury,2001a, p 1). The practice of saving is being elevated from a privateaspiration of the prudent individual to a core duty of the good citizensupported by government, such that “those who can save have aresponsibility to do so” and the “focus of thegovernment’s saving policy should be to encourage individuals todevelop a regular saving habit” (DSS, 1998b, p 29; HM Treasury,2001a, p 9).