Making sense of social citizenship: some user views on welfare rights and responsibilities

Abstract

Against the backdrop of New Labour's claim to be constructing a new welfare state for the 21st century, this article explores how a diversity of welfare service users make sense of the principles and values central to the ongoing reform of public welfare. Drawing on a series of focus groups with welfare service users, the article adds an important empirical dimension to current debates about the contentious issue of welfare `resettlement' and notions of social citizenship.