This period has seen a large decrease in the scope and affect of social welfare legislation. The period is characterized by:

	increased demands on expenditures
	expansion of corporate tax deductions
	public debt grows
	monetarist policies implemented which seek to control inflation, putting unemployment lower on list of priorities
	old debates about issues such as fraud and workfare re-ignited

Progressive Conservative party leadership convention, 1976, Photographer: Duncan Cameron, National Archives Neg. no. PA15204.