Understanding the Mixed Economy of Welfare

As the state withdraws from welfare provision, the mixed economy of welfare – involving private, voluntary and informal sectors – has become ever more important. This second edition of Powell’s acclaimed textbook on the subject brings together a wealth of respected contributors. New features of this revised edition include:

• An updated perspective on the mixed economy of welfare (MEW) and social division of welfare (SDW) in the context of UK Coalition and Conservative governments

• A conceptual framework that links the MEW and SDW with debates on topics of major current interest such as ‘Open Public Services’, ‘Big Society’, Any Qualified Provider’, Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and ‘Public Private Partnerships’ (PPP)

Containing helpful features such as summaries, questions for discussion, further reading suggestions and electronic resources, this will be a valuable introductory resource for students of social policy, social welfare and social work at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Michael Hill is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at Newcastle University and a Visiting Professor at the University of Brighton. Having written on many aspects of the policy process and social policy, he is author of The Public Policy Process, Implementing Public Policy (with Peter Hupe), Understanding Social Policy (with Zoë Irving) and editor of Studying Public Policy (2014). In 2009 he was given the Social Policy Association’s lifetime award.

Adrian Sinfield is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh.

James Rees is Reader at the Institute for Community Research and Development (ICRD) at the University of Wolverhampton.

Martin Powell is a Professor of Health and Social Policy at the University of Birmingham. Martin’s main research interest is in the British welfare state, especially the NHS. He has written or edited some 19 books, including some being translated into Chinese, Korean, and Polish. He has written over 80 peer reviewed articles, and he is a former editor of the journal ‘Social Policy and Administration’.