ABSTRACT
This chapter explores and identifies what was historically specific about England, in terms of its carer policy as echoed through its welfare state. It builds on the earlier chapter by examining the formation of rights for carers and persons with disabilities by the British state. The British model of welfare is, as Esping-Andersen notes, a rather uneasy mix of universalism and the market (1990). Its present health and welfare system is a classic example of an early fully nationalised system of support and care provision that has undergone many transitions towards a neoliberal system of care (see timeline in Table 4.1 overleaf). This chapter details the progression of ideas and discourses of care through this period and examines the emergence of informal caring in today’s context.
