Lethbridge, Jane ORCID: 0000-0002-0094-9967 (2024) Evidence for a new social contract – the role of welfare professionals. In: European Group for Public Administration (EGPA) 2024 CONFERENCE, PERMANENT STUDY GROUP XX: Welfare State Governance and Professionalism, 04-06 Sep 2024, Athens, Greece. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Many European countries have undergone some form of welfare state transition in the last four decades but the COVID pandemic and other polycrises have intensified the pressures on welfare services. In the UK there is a growing awareness that the effects of New Public Management combined with 15 years of austerity measures have led to a deterioration of public services and decay of public institutions, resulting in increased inequalities, a decrease in life expectancy, and rising levels of poverty and destitution.

Welfare professionals are attempting to deliver quality public services but are unable to cope with the demand, resulting in deteriorating quality of public services, poor working conditions, lack of pay increases during a period of high inflation and high turnover of staff, thus undermining the foundations of public services. This situation threatens the social contract and societal values which underpinned the creation of the Welfare State, and it poses particular challenges for welfare professionals. How can welfare professionals use evidence to support the day-to-day running of services which are overstretched and underfunded and maintain professional standards? Longer term, how can welfare professionals use evidence to influence a new welfare state and new eco-social contract supported by professional activities?

The paper will review some of the recent literature on the relationship between a social contract and welfare professionals. It will explore recent dilemmas by analysing the 2024 Households Below Average Income (HBAI) report, published by the UK government, from the perspective of how welfare professionals could use this data to inform future professional strategies and standards. The HBAI report is published annually and highlights five main themes which directly inform the demand for specific public services: employment/ income; housing, children/ education/ early years services, older people’s services and food security. Although focusing on the 2022-23 period, the report provides comparisons with the period 2003-2023. The paper will examine the roles – leaders, supporters, technical advisers – that welfare professionals are starting to develop when harnessing evidence.

Item Type:	Conference or Conference Paper (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	social contract, evidence, welfare professionals,
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Greenwich Business School Greenwich Business School > Centre for Research on Employment and Work (CREW) Greenwich Business School > Centre for Research on Employment and Work (CREW) > Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) Greenwich Business School > School of Management and Marketing
Related URLs:	Organisation
Last Modified:	01 Nov 2024 01:38
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/48123

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