WELFARE REFORM AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE UNDERCLASS THESIS ON WELFARE PROVISION

Current welfare reform is underpinned by contentious assumptions about the behaviour and morality of welfare recipients, manifest in what is believed to be an ‘underclass ’ The agenda is guided by the belief that the sources of disadvantage and exclusion are largely attributable to the behavioural problems and moral shortcomings of the disadvantaged themselves, and to the disincentive effects of the welfare state. Those employed in the provision of welfare services play an important part in the reform agenda. Many see their role as employment advisers, encouraging their clients to move out of welfare into paid work and improve their social, economic and emotional wellbeing. This paper asks to what extent pejorative notions of an ‘underclass ’ have filtered into practice at the level of service delivery. It reports on the findings from 8 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with welfare providers from the non-government sector. The findings are illustrative of the ways in which providers address the issue of ‘welfare dependency ’ that welfare reform seeks to limit