Did the Conservatives dismember the welfare state or reform it? Have the changes of the past twenty years made any difference? And if so, for whom? This second edition of a celebrated reference text reviews the changing fate of British social policy in the years since 1974. Apart from carefully pinpointing all policy changes to occur in the two decades leading up to the current Labor Party reign, this book also charts spending trends in real terms over this period and analyzes the outcomes of financial allocations for education, the National Health Service, the personal social services, housing, and social security. A careful and precise collection of papers written by leading experts, this is the most reliable portrait now available of the development of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. Considering not only the status quo of this system but also its full history, these pieces provide an authoritative analysis that is enhanced by nearly 150 figures and tables.