Britain - Reforms Flashcards
What were the times the reforms were introduced?
1906 - 1914
Who were the reforms introduced by?
Liberal government
What was the governments attitude in 1900s?
Laissez faire
What was Laissez faire?
Individuals were solely responsible for themselves and their own welfare
What did the government think poverty was caused by?
Idleness, drunkenness, moral weaknesses (working class)
What were the poor seen as by the wealthy?
Unfortunate but inevitable
Who were seebohm rowntree and Charles booth?
Business men and philanthropists who researched poverty
What did booth and rowntree find?
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
What were the motives for the reforms being passed?
National efficiency Boer war Popular socialism A new liberalism The German model Gas and war socialism
When was the boer war?
1899 - 1902
What happened in the boer war?
The British army were physically unfit
1-3 recruits was refused on medical grounds
What was national efficiency?
Britain needed to improve the quality of its work force so that it could compete and maintain as a world power
What was popular socialism?
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
What was new liberalism?
It emerged in 1906
It provided inspiration for Lloyd George, Winston Churchill and Herbert Asquith
What was the German model?
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
What was gas and water socialism?
Public work schemes introduced to improve living conditions and public health (1800s) set up and ran by liberals.
What did the liberal government do to help the elderly?
Introduce the pensions act in 1908
What did the pensions act do?
It gave weekly pensions from government funds
Who qualified for the pensions act?
Everyone over the age of 70
A single person received 5s a week
A married couple received 7s 6d (later increased to 10s)
What did the liberal government do to help the unemployed?
Introduce the labour exchanges act in 1909
Like a job centre where workers could look for work
When was the national insurance act introduced?
1911
What did the national insurance act do?
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
When was the national insurance act (II) introduced?
1912
What did the national insurance act (II) do?
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
When we’re free school meals introduced?
1906
What begun in 1917?
Free school medical inspections
Who became prime minister in 1908?
Herbert Asquith
What was the children’s charter of 1908?
It protected all children from neglect and harsh punishments
