Does the UK have a private welfare class?

The use of private welfare services in the UK has risen. But relatively lit tle is known about the patterns of use of private welfare services, This ar ticle investigates whether there is a private welfare class, and how attitu des to welfare state spending are linked to use of private services, It fin ds that there is considerable use of the private sector, but the size of th e group consistently using a range of private welfare services is small. Ch anges in attitudes to public financing of welfare spending do not appear to be directly linked to use of private services.