Likely to become a major reference work, this book investigates what has happened to the welfare state in Britain since 1974. It examines particularly the differences and similarities in trends during the Labour administration of 1974-79 and the Conservative administration of 1979-86, providing detailed analyses of trends in education, health, housing, personal social services, and social security. The contributors were all members of the Welfare State Programme of the Suntory-Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines located at the London School of Economics when the book was prepared.