Blurred boundaries: Social services and the mixed economy of welfare in Aotearoa New Zealand
Drawing upon Powell’s (2007) three-dimensional model of a ‘mixed economy of welfare’, this thesis examines how initiatives introduced by Aotearoa New Zealand’s National-led government (2008-2017) have challenged the ways in which social services are provided, funded and regulated. These initiatives include the establishment of a ‘social investment approach’, a commission of inquiry into ‘More Effective Social Services’, reforms to state housing and the piloting of a number of new commissioning tools, such as Whānau Ora commissioning agencies. Key aspects of these reforms include a strong focus on outcomes or ‘what works’, the precision targeting and segmentation of service users and efforts to streamline government contracting processes. Drawing upon findings from a series of qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the social services sector, this thesis explores how these initiatives have further eroded the boundaries between the state, the private sector and the community and voluntary sector and the extent to which these changes can be seen as furthering the privatisation of social services in Aotearoa New Zealand. While drawing upon international theorising around the mixed economy of welfare and privatisation, this thesis applies such theories in new ways. In particular, this thesis extends Powell’s (2007) model, using the dimensions of provision, finance and regulation not only as lenses through which to analyse changes in the distribution of welfare across sectors (i.e., the extent to which measures of privatisation have occurred) but also to understand how the sectors themselves have been transformed. It finds that there have been significant implications for community and voluntary sector organisations involved in the provision of social services and their clients. On the one hand, community and voluntary sector organisations have sought to become more business-like in order to be more competitive within the ‘market’ for social service provision. On the other hand, the government’s social investment approach has required community and voluntary sector organisations to take on behaviours and roles traditionally associated with the state sector. There are a number of potential policy implications arising from these shifts, including reduced levels of diversity within the community and voluntary sector, as well as reduced levels of trust between community and voluntary sector providers and their clients.
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