BRITISH WELFARE SOCIAL SYSTEM

Part II

The local government authority is responsible for:

1 housing;

2 social services;

3 education: the provision of schools, colleges, adult education, youth services;

4 public health;

5 planning; local road building and maintenance, local redevelopment.

 

Housing

About 30 per cent of British homes are publicly owned. The local authorities are responsible for maintaining the housing. Local authorities are obliged by law to provide accommodation and ensure that nobody is homeless. They also pay housing benefits (rate subsist for those on low incomes or rates for those on supplementary benefit).

Social services

There are people with social problems in every town. The local authorities provide services to help certain groups in the population who can not look after themselves.

Education

The local authority is responsible for the provision of schools, colleges, adult educational institutions and youth clubs.

Public health

The local authority must ensure that the level of pollution is low and that infectious diseases are contained. They must check premises in which food is prepared and sold. The local authority is also responsible for refuse disposal.

Planning

The local authority must devise development plans to cope with changing demands for housing, roads, shops and so on. The changes should take place in an orderly and controlled manner.

Vocabulary

maintenance own

to be obliged law

accommodation to ensure

income certain

to look after pollution

to contain premises

refuse disposal to devise

to demand order

manner

 

Tasks to the text “British Welfare System”

Task I. Match the pairs.

1. mentally and physically A. contributions

2. to be entitled B. because of fault or decision

3. to pay C. development plans

4. to leave work D. circumstances

5. to be unable to work E. a certain level

6. to depend upon F. handicapped

7. to be below G. because of illness

8. devise H. to claim a payment

Task II. Answer the questions.

1 What is Welfare State?

2 What main areas does the Welfare State operate?

3 How are the Welfare services divided?

4 What is the Government responsible for at the National level?

5 What is the Government responsible for at the local level?

6 What do the NHS services include?

7 What does National Insurance include?

8 What range of payments does local security cover?

9 What does the local authority do in the field of housing?

10 What does the local authority do in the field of social security?

11 What does the local authority do in the field of education?

12 What does the local authority do in the field of public health?

13 What does the local authority do in the field of planning?

THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE IN GREAT BRITAIN

Choose the correct verb form from the brackets.

Read and translate the text.

The NHS (National Health Service)(1) (is regarded / has been regarded) as the jewel in the crown of the Welfare State. The system (2)(are organized/ is organized) centrally and there is little interaction with the private sector. Medical insurance (3)(is organized/ are organized) by the government and is compulsory.

There (4)(is/ are) a number of private medical insurance schemes in the country. Such schemes (5)(are becoming/ was becoming) increasingly popular. It (6) (is widely recognized/ has been widely recognized) as being more convenient.

The modern difficulties of the NHS are the same as those faced by equivalent systems in other countries. The potential of medical treatment (7)(has increased/ had increased) so dramatically, and the number of old people needing medical care (8)(has grown/ had grown) so large, that costs (9)(have rocketed/ had rocketed). General Practitioners (GPs) frequently (10)(have/ has) to decide which patients should get the limited resources available and which (11)(will have/ shall have) to wait, possibly to die as a result.

The country (12)(spend/ spends) less money per person on health care than any other country in the western world. One possible reason for this is the way that GPs (13)(is paid/are paid). The money which they get from the government (14)(don’t depend/ doesn’t depend) on the number of consultations they perform, it (15)(depend/ depends) on the number of registered patients.

 

 

ADDITIONAL READING ON THE TOPIC “BRITISH WELFARE SYSTEM”

 

FINDING A JOB

1. At what age can you get a part-time job in your country?

2. Have your parents ever been unemployed?

 

 

Part-time work

In 1994, for the first time in British history, more women than men had jobs. Over 200,000 part-time jobs were created in 1993 and most of them went to women. At the same time, 100,000 full-time jobs disappeared in Britain and it was mostly men who lost their jobs.

Many women with children take part-time jobs. Some of these women may want to work full-time, but cannot do so because it is difficult for them to find someone to look after their children. In Britain there are very few nurseries for young children. Parents often have to look after children while women work part-time in the early morning or in the evening. It is more difficult for single mothers to take on even part-time work because they must earn enough to pay someone to look after their children.

There are more part-time jobs in Britain than in any other European country. 90 % of part-time jobs are done by women. A part-time worker is paid less per hour than a full-time worker.