Introduction

After 13 years of Third Way reforms under Labour, the formation of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010 signalled change, continuity and uncertainty. The coalition's Programme for government (Cabinet Office, 2010) espoused a firm commitment to the Conservatives’ deficit reduction plan and neoliberal welfare state reforms. However, the coalition also pledged to work towards the 2020 child poverty targets that Labour had established. There were also plans to introduce child and youth reforms that took forward the coalition parties’ shared policy goals and constituted dimensions of change and continuity in childcare, early intervention, education, public health, parenting and family services, and work–family policies. However, there remained much scope for conflict between the coalition partners. Prior to the 2010 election, the Liberal Democrats had called for more extensive investment and reform in welfare state support and services for children, youth, parents and families (Marshall and Laws, 2004). The Conservatives’ agenda, in contrast, sought reduced and rationalised welfare state support (Conservative Party, 2010). Moreover, many child-centred and youth-focused Conservative policies were framed in terms of their ‘Broken Britain’ campaign, which emphasised ‘five main pathways to poverty’ – ‘welfare dependency, educational failure, family breakdown, severe debt and poor health’ (CSJ, 2006, p 2; see also Conservative Party, 2010). While justifying public expenditure cutbacks and pro-market welfare state reforms, this agenda also incorporated increasing interest among Conservatives in early childhood and parenting and family interventions and services (CSJ, 2006). The coalition's Programme for government primarily promoted Conservative agendas in these areas (Cabinet Office, 2010), but the Liberal Democrats were influential in shaping subsequent policy developments.

To review the coalition years, this chapter initially situates this period within a broader context of prior developments and debates. It then examines the coalition government's initial programme and subsequent policy developments. The analysis highlights three aspects of policy change and reform: reductions in cash support for children, young people and families; the reframing of child poverty in terms of the Conservatives’ ‘five pathways to poverty’ thesis, the Liberal Democrats’ social mobility agenda and early intervention developments; and child protection and children's social care reforms. The analysis highlights change and continuity, conflicts and contradictions, in social policies for children and young people during the coalition period.