英国文化essay

The origin of welfare state:

At the turn of the 19th century, the bleak living conditions of workers in industrial age started to kindle people’s attention and social concern. At the dawn of the 20th century Labour Party arised on British political arena and subsequently qualified itself to be a serious competitor to the Liberty Party, the ruling party then. After the First World War, the Communist revolt prevailing in Europe expanded its reach to the UK, shaking British institution and amassed politicians’ anxiety and panic. The three main reasons came to combination and led to the resulting welfare reform which substantially upgraded and scaled up social welfare system. On one hand, the reform consolidated the position and power of Liberty Party and, on the other, prevented the escalation of social unrest.

Since then, a series of laws and programmes have been enacted and adopted, extending the service and regulation from visible parts to the invisible and therefore deeply engraving its influence and status in British society. In 2011, the sum of money spent on welfare has amounted to more than 110 billion pounds, 16% of governmental spending in the fiscal year.

But the welfare policy in Britain also incurred much voice of criticism. Some critics argue that the excessive spending on welfare must be held responsible for the imbalance of budgetary management. Some others criticize that the policy fostered Britain’s “dependence culture”, accountable for the stagnant economic development and downplaying individuals’ initiatives and sense of responsibility. The voice can also be heard that the expenditures of welfare, though

huge in sum, are misallocated and fail to realize some of the aims.

Now the reform of British social welfare system has been launched and the focus is currently centered on the combination of private and public initiatives and capitals.

Social security program

Introduction

National Insurance (NI) frames British social security system. NI was firstly introduced by the National Insurance Act 1911, developed and deepened by the Labour government and has incorporated many amendments in the years. The items of the National Insurance Fund cover Retirement Pensions, Widow’s benefits, Unemployment benefit & support, Maternity allowances and Administrative costs & Transfers.

Decades of development witnessed its being more and more sophisticated, a gradual and definite process that features in the Contribution Class. Generally speaking, the primary contribution actor is the employees and the secondary the employers. In detail, systemic and systematic criteria have been formulated, prudently taking into consideration the expressed and unexpressed social needs and the new stages of social conditions which emerge from various facets and spectrums. At the very beginning, the complex calculation was conducted manually, requiring enormous work and efforts. But since 1980s, the calculation

has started being accomplished in computer, which enhances efficiency and accuracy, updates the data more timely and gives public access to the information and heightens transparency. Reviews of the program are carried out regularly and reforms are under way.

Personal comments

The policy, acclaimed by New York Times as the last step to eliminate extreme poverty, has significantly reduced the number of population living under unspeakable poverty. Employees have since then enjoyed more and more welfare and the unemployed also have them in special care. Moreover, employers have shifted more concern over the wellbeing of their employees instead of solely accumulating profits, in some sense lubricating the relationship between the two classes. Moreover, the policy protected the frail, the invalid and the marginalized, an action that promotes the harmony of the society.

But it seems that the policy, alongside Income Tax, is crammed British welfare system, imposing excessive and unnecessary burden on the society and nourishing individual inertness. Moreover, the regulation of enterprises on the subsidy for employees contributed to the increase of job loss rate and downplayed the self-regulation of market.

Healthcare

Introduction

National Health Service (NHS) for England, NHS for Scotland, NHS for Wales, and Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland (HSCNI), the four publicly funded healthcare systems, comprise the Healthcare services in the UK. Under the principle “free at the point of use”, a comprehensive range of services are provided for legal resident in the UK, with the initial grand expectation of making the UK “the envy of the world”. Since it inception, it has grown to become the world’s largest publicly funded health service and won a reputation for its comprehensive range and efficient operation. The four systems are entirely independent, and operate under different management, rules and authority. The fund for this system is mainly from general taxation and other compulsory charges.

Although the four systems operate in a geographically and administratively separate manner, there is no regional or racial discrimination for legal residents within the four countries. Decades of development enabled it to have assembled a sophisticated structure and amendment tackling the new challenges and problematic functions never ceased. NHS contains two broad sections, one dealing with strategy, policy and management ant eh other dealing with actual medical/clinical care.

The fruitful contribution and delightful changes pay the best tribute to this national commitment. In the UK, life expectancy has begun to rise and the mortality rate decrease since the implementation of NHS, and numerous relevant surveys clearly indicated favorable results and data in comparison with other countries.

The report and review of NHS services are carried out periodically, tailoring it to the most distinctive needs and the newest trends and challenges.

Personal comments

The NHS has commissioned facilities and care-givers on all levels, an action that successfully decentralized medical resources, meanwhile making possible the compatibility of institutionalization and hospitalization, and thereby increases common citizens’ access to medical resources by strengthening the primary care services. Moreover, the channel between primary care services and hospitalized institutions is lubricated by a set of referral systems, an exemplary paradigm that successfully has built mutually beneficial connection with other relevant agencies and departments. More importantly, under the state-owned mechanism and institution, the initiatives of private sectors and general practitioners are boosted and effectively embedded into the operation and function.

However, the separation of NHS services into three divisions make it much likely that the imbalance and inequality in fund, the qualification of doctors and facilities and equipment and the uneven resource distribution become conspicuous and rise to public concern after long periods of accumulation. Due to the fact that the subsidy is mainly provided by state governmental revenues, the initiatives of doctors are impeded and the innovative development of medical services and therapies to a certain degree become sluggish and stagnant. Additionally, the information and data on which periodic reports and reviews are based is questionable, the media exaggerating or even twisting the public concern

and sentiment, which makes it difficult to release relevant publications beyond doubt and concern.

Primary Education and Secondary Education

Introduction

Across the UK there are five stages of education: early years, primary, secondary, Further Education and Higher Education. Primary education and secondary education are compulsory for all children aged between 5 to 16 and provided for free in public funded educational facilities.

The primary education is categorized into Nursery, Infant and Junior in light of students’ ages, but the distinction is not obviously characterized in Scotland and Wales. The major goal of primary education is to achieve basic literacy and numeracy amongst all pupils, as well as establishing foundations in science, mathematics and other elementary subjects.

Secondary education in Britain may consist of different types of schools with Comprehensive School, which cater for all children regardless of individual ability or aptitude, as the cornerstone. During recent decades, some other types, such as Academy and Grammatical School, have been introduced into secondary education system, an action taken to amend the flaws of Comprehensive School, raise the standard of underperforming schools and thus better prepare pupils for further education and job market. Secondary education in Britain is highly

independent, featuring in the freedom from local authority control, the ability to set their own pay and conditions for staff, freedom around the delivery of the curriculum and the ability to change the lengths of terms and school days.

Since September 2010 in England, all three and four year olds are entitled to 15 hours of free nursery education for 38 weeks of the year, marking a further step of Early Years Education. Shortly before that, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) came into force in September 2008, the statutory assessment of each child’s development and learning achievements at the end of the academic year in which they turn 5.

Personal comment

The governmental fund for education of children under 5 years old certainly contributes to the continuity and standard of children’s education and development. Another merit that deserves eulogy is the promotion of gender equality. Women are more burdened with households and their career success is usually hampered and limited by the responsibility of giving birth and nourishing children, a reason that accounts for women’s financial dependence on men. Under state mechanism where little children are entitled to free care by professional social facilities, women will be significantly relieved from this responsibility, hereby fostering their independence and elevating their status in the social competition.

The independent administration of secondary education in Britain gives

teachers and educators much discretion to choose what is most favorable and effective for children’s development, facilitating students’ diversified growth and choice for the future and unlocking the initiatives and innovation of education.