Wellbeing and Quality of Life after

the Financial Tsunami: Implications for Social Policy

David Phillips

Sociological Studies

University of Sheffield

Overview

What is social policy? What is quality of life? The social division of welfare and wellbeing The extent of the global financial tsunami Implications for social policy implications for quality of life

Social Policy: the five “Giants”[Beveridge Report, 1942]

Want [poverty] Disease [poor health] Ignorance [lack of education] Idleness [unemployment] Squalor [bad housing and poor

environment]

UK Social Policy Expenditure 2004/5

% of UK Government spending on social policy: Social security 28 [want / idleness] Health 17 [disease] Education 13 [ignorance] Housing etc 3 [squalor] Personal social services 5 [mostly child-care]

Totalling two-thirds of public expenditure Defence 6 Law and order 6 Other 22

Definition of Social Policy as a field of study

Dean, H (2006) Social Policy

‘Social Policy is the study of human well-being. … More specifically Social Policy entails the study of the social relations necessary for human wellbeing and the systems by which wellbeing may be promoted’.

Central themes of social policy

social relations necessary for human wellbeing [between the state and individuals, among individuals, individuals and communities etc.]

systems for promoting wellbeing [not only government systems – they include, fiscal, occupational, market, third sector and family]

The social division of welfare [policy]: social, fiscal and occupational

Quality of Life

Phillips, D. (2006) Quality of Life: Concept, Policy and Practice. London, Routledge

Quality of life constructs: 1 Individual: utilitarianism; subjective wellbeing,

happiness, hedonism and eudaimonism; self-reported health-related quality of life; basic needs; basic capabilities; and individually-oriented perspectives on poverty (absolute, overall, relative)

Social: socially-oriented perspectives on poverty (for example, citizenship threshold, social needs); normative and consensual approaches to Health-Related Quality of Life; Sen’s, Nussbaum’s and Alkire’s capability(ies) approaches; the Human Development Approach; Prudential Values; Doyal and Gough’s Theory of Human Needs; and outcome-oriented approaches to social exclusion

Quality of life constructs: 2

Collective: process- and causally-based approaches to social exclusion; social capital and social cohesion, and their individual elements comprising, networks, trust, altruism, reciprocity and other, other-regarding norms.

Overarching and holistic: Bernard’s democratic dialectic; Hancock’s Mandala of Health model; Berger-Schmitt and Noll’s overarching quality of life model; Beck et al.’s social quality approach.

Core attributes of quality of life

Avoiding pain and harm Basic needs Autonomy to pursue individual wellbeing In a functioning society and polity With wide networks, a strong civic culture, Trust, reciprocity & other-regarding values In a sustainable global environment And in a fair and equitable society

Definition of quality of life

Quality of life is both an individual and collective attribute.

At the individual level it includes objective and subjective elements. People’s objective quality of life requires that their basic needs are met and that they have the material resources necessary to fulfil the social requirements of citizenship.

People’s subjective quality of life depends on them having the autonomy to make effective choices to

‘enjoy’ – enhance their subjective well-being, including hedonism, satisfaction, purpose in life and personal growth

‘flourish’ in the eudaimonic, other-regarding, Aristotelian sense of fulfilling informed as well as actual desires and

participate in the full range of social activities of citizenship.

Collective quality of life

People’s collectively focused quality of life requires global environmental sustainability, both physical and social, and the following social resources within the communities and societies in which they live:

civic integration, synergy and integrity; extensive weak network links and bridging ties at all levels of society;

wide ranging integrative norms and values including trust, reciprocity and other-regarding behaviour;

and societal norms and values relating at least to fairness and equity and possibly to some degree of social justice and egalitarianism.

The global financial tsunami

Catastrophic in 2008 for USA, UK, EU Severe implications for international trade Large-scale unemployment in the West Prospects for 2009 are very bad for USA, UK

and the EU (and probably Japan) Prospects perhaps less bad for China and

India Prospects uncertain for rest of East Asia.

… and in Taiwan  “Taiwan 's economy shrank by 8.4% in the year

to the fourth quarter. The fall in output was the largest since records began to be kept in 1952.” (Economist, February 21, 2009)

“Several economists are now forecasting that Taiwan’s GDP will contract by 3% or more this year, which would be the steepest downturn in Taiwan’s history. By far the gloomiest is …a horrendous 11% drop in 2009”. (Economist, February 14, 2009)

NB Economist Annual Review, published in late 2008 predicted 1.5% growth in Taiwan’s GDP

Projected World Growth[IMF January 2009]

Long term international prospects Uncertain!

Possibly protectionism and nationalism with potential reduction in migration

Perhaps destabilisation of USA’s political hegemony [cf interesting noises from Hilary Clinton re Russia and China!]

Probably economic strengthening of China and India – and some parts of East Asia compared to Europe

Russia an enigma

Implications for social policy

Depends upon length and depth of the recession unemployment level balance between tax revenues and public

spending commitments extent of previous social policy expenditure

and welfare state profile individual and family savings family solidarity [already changing in the

West – moving away from individualism back to being more family-oriented]

Implications for quality of life: individual level

Avoiding pain and harmProbably greater reliance on family

Basic needsReduction or cessation of state benefits: more

stringent, means-tested, absolute poverty-oriented state measures in countries suffering most

Autonomy to pursue individual wellbeingPossible rise in fascism and ultra-nationalism

– political fundamentalism

Implications for quality of life: collective level 1

In a functioning society and polity Uncertain implications

Wide networks, strong civic culture incorporating trust, reciprocity & other-regarding values If nationalism increases then there may

be higher homogeneous social cohesion

Implications for quality of life: collective level 2

In a sustainable global environment Mixed – reduced consumption is

positive; potential relaxing of controls is negative

And in a fair and equitable society Inequality might decrease in times of

recession – but the poor will suffer the most in terms of absolute deprivation

And finally: the social division of wellbeing 1

In the traditional high-spending ‘welfare state’ nations such as the UK, probably a move away from social, public expenditure based approach towards the privatisation or family-isation of welfare / wellbeing, encouraged by fiscal policies, perhaps coupled with a reduction of occupational welfare

And finally: the social division of wellbeing 2

In East Asia perhaps the present emphasis on family self-reliance might be consolidated and strengthened

Perhaps there might even be welfare convergence – converging towards an East Asian model!