The return of forced labour in the workfare state: enforced work for benefits in the UK in the 1930s and since 2010

Support for the unemployed in the UK has become increasingly conditional. This included enforced unpaid work, Mandatory Work Activity (MWA). This was sold as an innovative feature of ‘twenty-first century welfare’ by the 2010–15 government; however, it actually represented the restoration of older t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe journal of poverty and social justice : research, policy, practice Vol. 30; no. 3; pp. 193 - 209
Main Author Cooper, Matthew
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bristol Policy Press 01.10.2022
Subjects
Archives & records
Claimants
Forced labor
Government
Law
Poverty
Public assistance programs
Social justice
Unemployed people
Unemployment
Unpaid
Welfare
Welfare reform
Workfare programs
benefits
unemployment
active labour market policy
workfare
welfare reform
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Support for the unemployed in the UK has become increasingly conditional. This included enforced unpaid work, Mandatory Work Activity (MWA). This was sold as an innovative feature of ‘twenty-first century welfare’ by the 2010–15 government; however, it actually represented the restoration of older techniques of government. This article, compares MWA with enforced work regimes from the last days of the Poor Law in the 1930s. It highlights similarities between both regimes but also significant differences: in the 1930s different claimant groups were subject to different coercions, whereas in the MWA regime, claimants were treated as a homogenous category in need of discipline.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:1759-8273
1759-8281
DOI:10.1332/175982721X16588487048928