Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to assess the approach of the Heath premiership in relation to social security. The chapter argues that the Heath government entered power with a broad approach towards social security to which, for the most part, they adhered. The chapter argues that despite the brevity of their time in office, social security saw a plethora of new pieces of legislation which had an underlying ideological coherence. The chapter emphasises their challenge to universalism and their interpretation of welfare as a ‘safety net’, and in doing so, it identifies the centrality of selectivity and self-provision to their policy ideas. As this was the era in which many of the Beveridge strictures were challenged, the chapter highlights the importance of the Heath premiership as a catalyst for the future trajectory of social security policy.
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Davidson, R. (2021). Social Security Policy. In: Roe-Crines, A.S., Heppell, T. (eds) Policies and Politics Under Prime Minister Edward Heath. Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53673-2_7
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