Making the case for the welfare state.

The UK welfare state is under attack from harsh spending cuts, focused particularly on women, children, low-paid people and claimers of working age, and a restructuring programme. This paper examines why it is hard to make a case for generous state welfare that is both inclusive and electorally attractive. It discusses the way the issues are understood, the trilemma that pro-welfare policy-making faces, proposals for new directions in policy and a reform programme that might help build a more inclusive welfare discourse. A more inclusive society requires policies that reframe the way people think about work, reward and welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]