Social investment – new right agenda or new wine in old bottles?

Abstract

Social investment, Kiwi-style, represents an internationally unique way of thinking about, designing and implementing social policy – or at least certain kinds of social policy. It is notable that ‘social investment’ has been advocated at various times by parties across the political spectrum. What is also clear is that social investment can mean very different things to different people. In continental Europe, for example, it is linked with income redistribution, greater social inclusion and addressing chronic unemployment, especially via greater public expenditure on human capital formation (i.e. education and skills training); while in the UK it is used to describe funding social enterprises that use business models to achieve social purposes.