Britain Transformed - Creating A Welafre State Flashcards
Welfare supportb
Pre-1918
Poo laws -welfare aid given in form of money or necessities to those in need
Usually the old, young, sick, old
First 3 Seen as deserving poor, rightly cared for by relatives, church,private organisations + Increasingly the state
Until end 19 century, healthy people of working age who fel into poverty often seen as morally at fault - undeserving poor - housed in workhouses, where conditions were deliberately terrible to discourage the able bodied from poverty
The process of having to prove you deserved welfare was a hated, humiliating experience
From 1908 the liberal government inaugurated a huge expansion of state-provided welfare:
- these new mechanisms were open to all who qualified with no distinction between deserving and undeserving poor
The 1911 national insurance act expanded welfare:
- employers, employees and government would contribute to the insurance scheme
- provided benefits and healthcare through the funds generated
- provided benefits and healthcare through the funds generated
- however, thus scheme was only available to low paid workers earning less than £160 a year, only applied to 6 industries when created, didn’t unsure workers families
1917 Ministry of Construction:
- after ww1, it was largely accepted that the government had a role to play that government ha to play role to play in insulting indivuals has basic security
- liberal government promised a ‘home fit for heros’
- ministry of reconstruction was established to build a better Britain after the war
Interwar years
May issues starting to arise
Unemployment
Most pressing issue for interwar governments
It was never below 1 million between end of 1920s and mid-40s (around 10% of the workforce) and peaked at over 3 mill in early 1930s
However, the was continuous conflict between supporting the unemployed and balancing the books
Problems with National Insurance Scheme
The self-funding national insurance scheme implemented by the 1911 national insurance act was undermined by the war as many of the 3.5 million returning troops were not eligible for the benefits provided
This was because they had not worked in one of specified industries or hadn’t made sufficient contributions
The wartime coalition realised that a difficult solution was developing, the national insurance scheme would need to be redesigned ans the unemployed couldn’t be left to rely on poor law
Out-of-work-donation 1918-20
The short-term solution to help returning troops and civilian unemployed was to issue dole money but under the name out out-of-work-donation (1918-1920)
Issued to remaining troops and then civilian unemployed until they found work
Was paid out of taxation/borrowing with no link to individual contribution
Meant to be temporary, but It set out 2 important presidents
- the government accepted the duty to adequately support unemployed, regardless of insurance contributions
- to provided more money for family dependents
1920 Unemployment Insurance Act
Developed too offer longer-tem solution and cover those not employed not national insurance act
2/3 workers were eligible to claim insurance
Act passed in 1920’s just as effect of post was slump were setting in
Rather than creating self funding system, the greater number of eligible claimants quickly drained the accumulated fund
By 1921 the government was forced to make ‘extended’ or ‘unconverted’ payments
- these were meant to be paid for through worker contributions from future employment were doable payments disguised as insurance
They made this law as rthe Poor Law couldn’t cope with scale of the problem and ministers feared revolution if unemployment not supported
Government already pressured
- 2.4 million workers had taken part in strikes over pay and conditions in 1919
Attempts were made to limit the expense, a seeking work trust was implemented March 1921
By March 1930, 3 million claims had been rejected because of the test
1929 Local government act
Said that county and borough council had to set up Public Assistance committees (PAC’s)
They were central funded and replace the poor law guardians who had administered funds under the old poor law
In response to the financial crisis of 1931, the PAC’s were given the power to administer means test ti claimants
Their combined household income was thoroughly investigated to judge eligibility for dole payments
The means test was hates as it was seen as an invasion of privacy and unfair, as some PAC’s were stricter than others
1934 Unemployment Act
Unemployment act separated the treatment of insurable from long-term employment
Part 1 of act provided 26 weeks of benefit payments to the 14.5 million workers who had paid into the scheme
Part 2 created a national Unemployment Assistance Board (UAB) to help those with no entitlement to insurance benefits
By 1937 the UAB had assisted 1 million people on a national means-tested basis
By this point, the poor law provisions shrunk to just a few groups not covered by the UAB
- these included widows who couldn’t yet claim a pension and deserted wives
Howeverrrrrrrr…….
The government had not been able to solve unemployment largely because of the prevailing wisdom of retrenchment (spending cuts and tax wages) couldn’t stimulate economic growth
It was only when huge state spending was poured into rearmament after 1936 that persistent unemployment was finally tackled
Pensions - 1908 pensions act
State pensions were introduced
Hugely popular with the Eligible be - over 70s
Criticisms that they were means-tested and didn’t support the widows and children of the deceased
1925 Widows’, Orphans’ and old age contributory pensions act
Brought in by Neville Chamberline - minister for health
Addressed criticisms of the 1908 pensions act
Pvodied a pension of 10 shillings a week for those aged 65-70 and provided for widows, their children and orphans
It was funded by a compulsory contribution rather than taxation
Initially unpopular with Labour Party, felt it unfairly penalised the poor
Tough economic conditions and an aging population led to its acceptance
Self-employed workers of both sexes allowed to join schemes in 1973
Housing - why was reform needed?
Local and national governments mad efforts to improve housing since mid-Victorian era
Concern that slums promoted crime and disease
Lots of slum clearances took place before 1918
Major improvements in urban living standards were achieved by introduction of mains water and sewage systems
As late as 1899, only a quarter of issues in Manchester had flushing toilets compared to 98% by 1914
Government had promised returning troops ‘a home fit for heroes’
1919 housing and town panning act
1919 housing and town planning act aimed to empower local authorities to to use central government funds to meet housing needs
Estimated that over 600,00 houses would have to be built to meet demand
Only 213,000 were actually constructed before the onset of recession lead to ‘Geddes axe’ (1922 Geddes axe lef to cuts in spending on education, pensions and unemployment benefit housing and health from £206 million to £182 million, also prompted cuts in defence)
As a result, the housing shortage grew worse with an estimates shortfall of 822,000 houses in 1923
A consequence of thus was young married couples living with their parents
Conservative and Labour housing acts 1923 and 1924, labour housing act 1930
Conservative and Labour housing acts in 1923 and 1924 respectively sought to us subsidies to encourage construction of private and state-owned housing
These and the further labour shouting act 1930 promoted a great deal of house building between 1919-1940
Four million homes were built in total with one million built by public sector
1930 act used state funds to rehouse people living in overcrowded cities; most were built in large cities
Between 1924 and 1939, 20 ‘cottage estates’ were created on outskirts of London
- these were suburbs connected the centre by rail
While the qualities of housing was much improved some projects weren’t proper;y thought through
At the huge Becontree estate (25,800 houses and flats) a lack of local jobs nearly led to disaster, which was only avoided thanks to construction of a new car factory nearby in 1931
With the new homes came not only indoor plumbing and gardens but also increases demand for domestic goods such as new furniture which further stimulated the economy and helped raise the average standard of living
Impact of WW2
Impact of WW2, the labour government
Impact of total war:
WW2 lead to wide consensus that welfare provision needed a radical overhaul
A political will developed to iron out the unfairness and inconsistency of the system
There were several reasons for this shift in attitudes among politics and the general public:
- a total war, which affected all, had promised total solutions such as universal rationing and the provision of communal bomb shelters; the success of which gave a boost to Universalist as opposed to selective solutions
- the sacrifices made during the war lead to public expecting a just reward - there were several discussions of the fair shares that should continue into peacetimes
- the evacuation of city children to the countryside openly showed extent of the property - this contributed to the acceptance of need for change
- the success of a state directed war economy increases political and popular belief in the political state intervention to improve people’s lives after war
- the war forced government to borrow and spend large sums of money in pursuit of victory - Keynes’s economic views has been proved to work
- the war forced a wartime government and led to a greater deal of co=operation over war-time policy - white papers of 1944 were the basis of 1946 national insurance act, helped to promote Conservative acceptance of act
The Beveridge report (December 1942)
William Beveridge was a liberal politician in social reform
In June 1941 he was appointed head of government committee to inebriate welfare provisions and recommended provisions
Why was the report set up
Set up at Churchill’s request
Partly to predict future developments
Conservatives didn’t want repeat of their broken promised of a ‘home fit for heroes’ after WW1
Clear feeling the war being fought to deliver a better world and more systematic, inclusive welfare system was fundamental
