Sheltered Employment and Disability in the British Welfare State

This book explores sheltered employment for disabled people in the British welfare state, focusing on Remploy as the flagship provider. It considers the fundamental areas of understanding Remploy, in terms of why it was created, how it functioned, who it employed, and how far it came to dominate the wider field of provision. The book further uses sheltered employment as a new lens through which to explore key aspects of the welfare state in the period. These include the creation of the post-war settlement; the extent of political consensus; the exclusion of disabled people from welfare and work; the role played by gendered thinking in the welfare state’s provisions; and the relationship between the state and voluntary sectors. In so doing, it sheds new light on the history of disability, employment, and welfare in Britain.

Andy Holroyde is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Decent Work and Productivity Research Centre, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.