The Coalition Government and Social Policy: Restructuring the Welfare State

In May 2015, general elections in the United Kingdom shocked the world as a new Conservative Government was voted into power, ending five years of Coalition governance. Both a response to the actions of the Coalition Government and a reflection on the implications of actions taken during the first hundred days of the new Conservative Government, this book could not be more timely in its assessment of the current and future states of UK social policies. The first book to consider Coalition social policy in its entirety, it not only reviews and evaluates the extent of change under the Coalition—looking at the impact of factors like austerity measures on social policies and politics more broadly—but also draws out what the Coalition years will mean for the incoming government, outlining both the challenges and opportunities of its legacy.