‘Welfare reform’ has been a central objective of social policy for successive governments. Many reports and articles have been written about it. But few have explored its implications from the perspective of those most affected. This is what Ruth Patrick's study does – together with the associated ‘Dole Animators’ film, All In It Together: Are Benefits Ever a Lifestyle Choice? – with its emphasis on the lived experience of ‘welfare reform’. ‘Walking alongside’ the participants over a period of time has allowed her to act as a conduit for their voices as they talked about their experiences, anxieties, aspirations and attitudes to the social security system and the cuts and restrictions to which it has been subjected. It also enabled her to understand how the participants coped with the changes over time.

Her findings illustrate how the significance of ‘welfare reform’ lies not only in its material impact but also in its symbolic/cultural effects – both on those directly affected and on how the social security system and those currently reliant on it are viewed by wider society. From this perspective, the process and political and media representation of ‘welfare reform’ are as important as the outcome. Take the very way it is framed as ‘welfare reform’: the use of the stigmatising term ‘welfare’ in place of social security and the positive term ‘reform’ in place of cuts and restrictions performs an ideological function, which serves to justify the latter.

First, that neutral term ‘reform’. It's true that there have been some genuine elements of reform in the two major pieces of ‘welfare reform’ legislation introduced by the Coalition and Conservative governments, most notably the replacement of most means-tested benefits by Universal Credit, payable in and out of work. However, genuine reform has been overshadowed – and to some extent undermined – by a series of cuts and the further ratcheting up of conditionality, combined with a more punitive sanctions regime.

The use of the term ‘welfare’ as a synonym for – and increasingly instead of – social security has been particularly damaging. The original use of the term ‘welfare’ as applied to the welfare state was intended to convey a positive meaning; one of the state helping its citizens to fare well from cradle to grave.