Public attitudes to dependency and the welfare state

This paper argues that for over 20 years there has,been a disjunction between the dominant political discourse in the UK about. the welfare state and public attitudes to the welfare state. Conservative politicians in the 1980s and 1990s sought (on the whole unsuccessfully) to reduce the size and scope of public social provision. New Labour's politics has been dominated either by a fear of the electoral consequences of expanding public spending and taxation or by a repulsion from dependency. In contrast, majority public opinion has favoured improvements in services even if it means increases in taxes. Public attitudes to the welfare state and dependency are explored using the 2001 British Social Attitudes survey and by analysing changes in attitudes over time. Logistic regression is used to explore variation in, attitudes between different social groups. Explanations for the disjunction between political and public discourses are discussed.