This volume stems from a joint project in 2008 between the Social Ethics Research Group at the University of Newport and the Community University of the [South] Wales Valleys (East) to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the welfare state, with the passage of the National Assistance Act of 1948. Elements of the project have been brought together in time to mark the seventieth anniversary of the Beveridge Report. The editors set out three aims for this volume.

The first is to consider the record of the welfare services since the 1940s, with some emphasis on the Welsh context. The second is to evaluate the principle aims of the welfare state as created by the government, and the final aim is to consider priorities for the future.

Essentially, the book is divided into two main parts. The first contains a short introduction, followed by chapters focusing on Beveridge's ‘Five Giants’; the second part examines more recent themes of welfare discourse, principally the addressing of ‘difference’ in gender, race and disability and the concomitant move from universalist to particularist policies, together with the increasing devolution of powers within the UK. There is also a chapter looking at developments for children and older people, and a summary of the arguments. This format does create some issues about consistency in the chapters, particularly in the first section. One is the way the individual authors approach the ‘Five Giants’, both in terms of the extent of looking back at Beveridge compared to discussion of contemporary issues. In the first chapter on ‘Want’, Peter Kenway splits his analysis into three sections, looking at the original legislation, and claiming a general consensus on benefits until 1973, followed by the divergence of views between 1974 and 1990, and a more modern consensus from 1991 onwards. Some of the tables might benefit had it been made explicit whether they were re-valued to a common base. In his later chapter on ‘Idleness’, David Byrne takes a different approach, effectively commencing with the 1997 changes to the benefits system and focussing on the issues of prolonged absence from work. While some references back are included, this is essentially a discussion about contemporary employment issues.

The remaining three substantive chapters in this section adopt different approaches. In his chapter on ‘Disease’, Michael Sullivan notes the recurring theme of persistent health inequalities, together with the increasing efforts to marketise health services through the internal market, and the use of private agencies within the NHS.

The persistence of inequalities also features as a theme of Gareth Rees’ chapter on ‘Ignorance’, where he quotes Bernstein's maxim that ‘education cannot compensate for society’ (Bernstein, Reference Bernstein1970). He notes the continuing support for comprehensive education in Wales, and the influence of the notion of equality of opportunity in Welsh educational policy generally. John Puzey then addresses the wobbly pillar of housing, contrasting the minimal policy interventions now with the immediate post-war drive, by governments of all parties, for council housing. The emergence of the ideology of owner occupation is discussed, together with some devolution issues.

The collection now moves to the second theme of essays. Sandra Shaw begins by identifying the concept of the ideal family and sexual division of labour underpinning the original welfare state, and the feminist analyses addressing this. The subsequent sections of this chapter examine the different areas in which the welfare state has impacted on women, and the social changes which have forced the system itself to change.

Charlotte Williams then addresses the issue of ‘Race’, noting the foundation of the welfare state coincided with mass migration, for the diversity of which the welfare state was not prepared. This chapter explores the change from the bedrock racism experienced by the post-war migrants to the move to particularism. She argues that devolution can facilitate new approaches to inclusion and race equality.

Stephen Smith discusses the emergence of the disability rights movement, before Mark Drakeford, both an academic and now an elected member of the Welsh Assembly, discusses the importance of devolution. He stretches his narrative back beyond 1945 to earlier devolution issues for Wales.

The final chapter is split into a consideration of the young and old, which perhaps restricts the space to develop full discussion. Ian Butler looks at children mainly from the standpoint of child protection. Liz Lloyd contrasts dependency ratios for the elderly in 1948 and now, looking at demographic change and age related inequalities.

The Welsh dimension tends, inevitably, to be addressed at different levels in the various chapters, but the overall impact indicates how much Wales has contributed to the varying pattern of social policy provision in the UK, both after the Beveridge Report and more recently. This is most evident in the chapter by Mark Drakeford, but finds expression elsewhere. Michael Sullivan's chapter on health, most appropriately, references Bevan's commitment to universal health services, but also notes, within the growing interest in persistent health inequalities, the work of the valleys GP Julian Tudor Hart and his formulation of the ‘inverse care law’ (Hart, Reference Hart1971). Other chapters identify geographical differences – the early preference for and continuing support of the comprehensive education within Wales, and the role Wales played, perhaps accidentally, in developing systems for the protection of children, both at the beginning of the welfare state, where the O'Neill case involving boarded out brothers from Cardiff became one of the stimuli for the Curtis report, and more recently when other allegations of institutional abuse form the background for the appointment of the first Children's Commissioner in the UK.