Explanation:
universal social services. Working closely with their friend William
Beveridge, they were highly influential with academics and senior
politicians and laid the intellectual foundations for what became the
welfare state.
To commemorate the centenary of the Minority Report, the Trust
commissioned the Fabian Society to produce The solidarity society:
Fighting poverty and inequality in an age of affluence 1909–2009.
which had persisted despite progress of the previous 100 years. However, many proposals entailed.
increased state spending and, following the financial crash of 2008 and
the austerity policies emerging from the 2010 Coalition government,
it was unlikely that the book’s proposals would be taken up.
The Trust therefore commissioned two pieces of research: a review
of social policy since 1945, undertaken by the Smith Institute, to
identify which policies were effective in reducing poverty,2 and a
series of essays from academics and practitioners in which they were
asked to imagine what Beatrice Webb would suggest doing about
poverty now.3 Following these publications, the Trust concluded
that traditional social policy is inadequate to deal with the challenges
facing the UK and produced a consultation document: Beatrice Webb:
A fitting legacy. Its publication in 2012 set out the prospectus for the
research described here.
The reframes the debate about poverty and how a good society
should eliminate it. We hope that this research, like that of the Webbs,
will stimulate our partners and others to develop their ideas and help
to create the society we want, rather than the society we have.
