Common trends or diverging paths? Social care policies in ECEC and LTC in England and Scotland since devolution

Ingela K. Naumann, Bronwen J. Cohen and Joanna Sakali

Chapter 27 in Research Handbook on Social Care Policy, 2025, pp 431-447 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Following UK devolution at the end of the 20th century, social policy narratives within the constituent nations vary, with a more social democratic outlook cherished in some. By comparing recent developments in ECEC and LCT policy in England and Scotland, this chapter explores to what extent devolution has led to diverging policy paths in social care that might put into question the idea of a common liberal care regime across the UK. We find that multi-level governance in the UK creates a complex web of entangled responsibilities between central and regional government that constrain radically diverging policy paths in the devolved nations. Generally, there is a trend towards more universalism in Scottish ECEC and LCT policies while in England the embedding of the (neo-)liberal care regime remains strong. For now, the actual differences in ECEC and LCT are less pronounced between England and Scotland than are the respective policy discourses.

Keywords: Early childhood education and care; Long-term care; England; Scotland; Devolution; Social care regimes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781839103681
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