Britain - Reforms

Question 0

What were the times the reforms were introduced?

Answer 0

1906 - 1914

Question 1

Who were the reforms introduced by?

Answer 1

Liberal government

Question 2

What was the governments attitude in 1900s?

Answer 2

Laissez faire

Question 3

What was Laissez faire?

Answer 3

Individuals were solely responsible for themselves and their own welfare

Question 4

What did the government think poverty was caused by?

Answer 4

Idleness, drunkenness, moral weaknesses (working class)

Question 5

What were the poor seen as by the wealthy?

Answer 5

Unfortunate but inevitable

Question 6

Who were seebohm rowntree and Charles booth?

Answer 6

Business men and philanthropists who researched poverty

Question 7

What did booth and rowntree find?

Answer 7

30% of people in population in the cities were in poverty
The levels of poverty couldn’t be eased by their own doing
The main causes were illness, unemployment and age

Question 8

What were the motives for the reforms being passed?

Answer 8

National efficiency
Boer war
Popular socialism
A new liberalism
The German model
Gas and war socialism

Question 9

When was the boer war?

Answer 9

1899 - 1902

Question 10

What happened in the boer war?

Answer 10

The British army were physically unfit

1-3 recruits was refused on medical grounds

Question 11

What was national efficiency?

Answer 11

Britain needed to improve the quality of its work force so that it could compete and maintain as a world power

Question 12

What was popular socialism?

Answer 12

Labour party was growing more popular for its campaigns like old age pensions. This was tough competition for the liberals and they realise they had to instigate social reforms to risk losing political support

Question 13

What was new liberalism?

Answer 13

It emerged in 1906

It provided inspiration for Lloyd George, Winston Churchill and Herbert Asquith

Question 14

What was the German model?

Answer 14

After the Bismarck’s progressive social legislation in Germany it impressed Lloyd George and Churchill. Germans introduced sickness insurance for workers which Lloyd George and Churchill also did

Question 15

What was gas and water socialism?

Answer 15

Public work schemes introduced to improve living conditions and public health (1800s) set up and ran by liberals.

Question 16

What did the liberal government do to help the elderly?

Answer 16

Introduce the pensions act in 1908

Question 17

What did the pensions act do?

Answer 17

It gave weekly pensions from government funds

Question 18

Who qualified for the pensions act?

Answer 18

Everyone over the age of 70
A single person received 5s a week
A married couple received 7s 6d (later increased to 10s)

Question 19

What did the liberal government do to help the unemployed?

Answer 19

Introduce the labour exchanges act in 1909

Like a job centre where workers could look for work

Question 20

When was the national insurance act introduced?

Answer 20

1911

Question 21

What did the national insurance act do?

Answer 21

Set up an insurance scheme that aimed to prevent poverty resulting from illness. Workers could insure themselves against sickness and receive sick pay.
If the worker fell they got sick pay of 10s a week for 13 weeks then 5s for a further 13 weeks in any one year

Question 22

When was the national insurance act (II) introduced?

Answer 22

1912

Question 23

What did the national insurance act (II) do?

Answer 23

It aimed to prevent poverty resulting in unemployment
Open to mainly men who worked in trade like shipbuilding or engineering - seasonal unemployment.
Workers employers and the government paid 2d a week for stamps for each worker in the scheme
When unemployed workers could be paid 7s 6d upto 15 weeks in a year

Question 24

When we’re free school meals introduced?

Answer 24

1906

Question 25

What begun in 1917?

Answer 25

Free school medical inspections

Question 26

Who became prime minister in 1908?

Answer 26

Herbert Asquith

Question 27

What was the children’s charter of 1908?

Answer 27

It protected all children from neglect and harsh punishments