3: social divisions BRT Flashcards
upper class
- wealthy landowners
- addition of those who obtained wealth from industry and commerce
upper middle class
- factory owners
- professionals eg. doctors, lawyers and teachers
- no of professionals risen rapidly
lower middle class
- non manual employees
- earned less than skilled workmen but had higher social status
working class
- 75% population
- unskilled workers earned lot less than skilled workers
- many lived in poverty
what was booths conclusion on poverty
extent of poverty in London closer to 30.7% than 25% that gov claimed
what did booth class as living under poverty line
unable to afford adequate shelter, food or clothing
what did rowntree conclude that the main cause of unemployment was
economic; unemployment/low wages
what did rowntree investigate
-built on work of booth
-investigated poverty in York- 28% population living in poverty
-
what did rowntree conclude that people needed to earn to stay out of poverty
21 shillings per week
what did both booth and rowntree show
even those who could just meet bare necessities of life could fall into abject poverty through factors beyond their control
what ‘factors beyond control’ did booth and rowntree state caused poverty
- economic forces that led to unemployment, irregular work and low wages
- unavoidable factors such as old age, sickness and premature death of main wage earner
what were families affected by that could’ve caused poverty
lack of education, poor housing and poor diet
how much was liberal social reform set to cost
£16 million
what had to be introduced to pay for liberal social reforms
new taxes
what were the new taxes in 1909 budget designed to do
tax the rich in order to fund new gov measures to help needy and vulnerable
what ws progressive taxation and when was it introduced
income tax on a sliding scale
incomes under £3000- 9d paid for every pound they earned
incomes over £3000- 1s2d paid for every pound they earned
what was super tax
people with incomes over £5000 had to pay an addition of 6d to the pound
what was the tax on cars according to
horsepower
what was the tax on petrol
3d per gallon
what were inheritance taxes imposed upon
estates worth over £5000
what profits were taxed
those gained through selling land
why was the 1909 budget known as the peoples budget
rich now paid significantly greater proportion of their income in tax than the poor
why did the peoples budget meet fierce resistance in HL
conservatives had large majority- land owners
why was there no state provision for the poor at the start of the 20th century
the prevailing belief of ‘laissez faire’
what was the last resort for those who were struggling
the poor law
what was the poor law
workhouse
why did people who could just afford some private insurance also struggle
provision often inadequate and prolonged periods of unemployment meant many policies lapsed
education act (meals) 1906
LEAs given power to provide free school meals for needy children
LEAs
local education authorities
strengths of free school meals
enabled hungry children to concentrate more
1914, 14 million free school meals per year provided
limitations of free school meals
not compulsory
1913 only half LEAs providing free school meals
education act (medical) 1907
school medical service made it compulsory for LEAs to medically inspect school children
strengths of medical inspection
1914 3/4 LEAs providing free medical inspection and 2/3 some form of medical treatment free
limitations of medical inspection
very cursory check
no always treatment
poor not able to afford treatment always
childrens act 1908
- parent neglect illegal
- juvenile courts and borstals for young offenders set up
- illegal to sell tobacco and alcohol to children
strengths of childrens act 1908
- tried to ensure minimum standards of care and protection for children
- differentiating in treatment of child and adult offenders
weaknesses of childrens act 1908
- some new legislation
- lot of codifying of existing law
old age pensions act 1908
- 5 shillings per week for single people
- 7s 6d for a married couple
strengths of old age pensions act 1908
- non contributory scheme- paid out of general taxation
- provided a weekly sum to those who qualified
- paid by state through local post offices not through poor law
- 1 million pensioners by 1914
limitations of old age pensions act 1908
- only paid to elderly poor
- based on sliding scale according to income to only poorest got full amount
- had to be of good character to qualify
- bare minimum paid for survival
- had to be 70- not many people lived to this age
1909 trade boards
boards set up to fix minimum wages and inspect conditions in certain trades
strengths of 1909 trade boards
- initially covered 200,000 in 4 trades such as tailoring
- by 1913, extended to six trades and coal miners too
limitations of 1909 trade boards
- only covered sweated trades
- too few inspectors to enforce rigorously
- no national minimum wage until 1999
labour exchanges
set up places where workers looking for a job and employers looking for workers could meet
strengths of labour exchanges
- 2 million registered by 1914
- 430 exchanges were finding 3000 jobs a day
limitations of labour exchanges
- for every worker that found a job, 3 didn’t
- state not creating jobs for unemployed, only helping job market run more smoothly
1911 national insurance (unemployment) act
- compelled workers and their employers in certain trades to contribute weekly to national insurance fund
- state topped this up out of taxation
- fund enables contributing workers to receive weekly benefit if unemployed
strengths of 1911 national insurance (unemployment) act
- covered 2.25 million workers
- provided 7 shillings a week for up to 15 weeks
- helped families of unemployed to avoid destitution
limitations of 1911 national insurance (unemployment) act
-only applied to certain trades
-most workers not covered by scheme
only lasted15 weeks
1911 national insurance (sickness) act
- compulsory scheme by which workers and their employees paid weekly into a national fund
- state topped this up out of general taxation
strengths of 1911 national insurance (sickness) act
- covered 13 million workers
- paid out 10 shillings a week for 13 weeks and then 5 shillings for further 13 weeks
- maternity grant for women workers
- disability benefit
- free medical treatment with an approved doctor
- free treatment for those with TB
limitations of 1911 national insurance (sickness) act
- only covered workers earning below £160 p/a
- had to be aged 16-60
- oaps began at 70- 10 year gap in provision
- only covered contributor and not family
- hospital treatment had to be paid for
- only became effective 1913
- 13 million/45 million population in total included
workmens compensation act 1906
+extended provisions for compensating workers for work-based accidents and diseases resulting from occupation
- not always easy to prove injuries to health were due to work
- only covered those under £250 p/a
merchant shipping act
+improved food and accommodation for merchant seamen
-only covered british ships and not easy to enforce
shops act 1911
+provided weekly half-day holiday for shop workers
-employers could make up with longer hours on other days
coal mines acts 1908 and 1911
+fixed length of working day underground to 8 hours
+improved safety regulations
-still occupation with long hours and low pay
-didn’t cover time taken to get to work
-miners remained in a dangerous job
what is the argument against the liberals not creating a full welfare state
this was never their intention
they created a basic minimum
early steps laid foundation for later social reform
what areas were specifically excluded from welfare reforms
- housing: remained in short supply
- poor law not reformed
- no reform to education after 1906 education bill destroyed by lords
- casual employment remained dire
- large families had no specific aid
how did social reforms help to change relationship between state and individual
state moved away from concept of ‘laissez faire’ and expanded its influence into new areas
what were the limits to state involvement even after liberal reforms
much legislation involved local authorities rather than central state
not all legislation compulsory
