Does COVID-19 represent a 'new Beveridge' moment, a crisis that will wash away, or a call to action?

Tania Burchardt

Published 29 July 2020

Report of a roundtable discussion on theories of welfare

To what extent do developments in the UK welfare state over the last 25 years tend to confirm or challenge existing accounts of welfare state evolution? What does this imply for the prospects for welfare state reform coming out of the COVID crisis? What does the evolution of the (UK) welfare state over the last 25 years, and the influences on it, tell us about its capacity to respond to the current crisis? What challenges will the welfare state have to address after the worst of the public health crisis has passed, and are these new challenges or more dramatic forms of existing challenges? What do the history and theories of welfare state change tell us about the likelihood of the welfare state responding effectively to these new challenges?