Britian Issue 5 (liberal balance essay)

Question 1

What is the context and background of this issue?

Answer 1

• At the beginning of the 20th century, a lot of people were living in abject poverty and the government used a policy of ‘lassiez faire’ where they didn’t do anything to help these people and thought that it was ‘brought upon themselves’.
• Although attitudes eventually changed about this policy and they realized that it wasn’t their own fault for why they were in poverty, people demanded social and welfare reforms from the Liberal Government and received them.

Question 2

What are the factors of this essay?

Answer 2

• These reforms were targeted at the old, the sick, the unemployed, the employed and the young.

Question 3

What is the essay arguing?

Answer 3

• This essay will argue that the Liberal social and welfare reforms were majorly successful in dealing with the problems of poverty in Britian in the early 1900’s.

Question 4

What is the first factor of this essay?

Answer 4

• One group that was dealt with by the Liberal Government with the aim of tackling the problems of poverty was the old.

Question 5

What is the K1 point of the old?

Answer 5

• During the early 1900’s the elderly was unable to save for their retirement, most worked until they dropped dead, and they had to rely on charitable aid, which wasn’t very reliable.

Question 6

What is the K2 point of the old?

Answer 6

• But the Liberals introduced the 1908 Old Age Pension Act, this introduced the idea of pensions which you could receive when you are 70 years of age or older and which was paid out of national funds, it was non-contributary and this was to help elders live a stable life and afford food and rent after they retire.

Question 7

What is the A point of the old?

Answer 7

• This made the Liberal Reforms more successful as it meant that elderly people no longer had to work until they ‘dropped’ and they were able to live comfortably.
• It also meant that they no longer needed to face the Poor House and it improved many lives and many people were grateful and known to say ‘God bless Lord George” when collecting their pensions.

Question 8

What is the A+ of the old?

Answer 8

• Although, the reform was limited in success as during the early 1900’s many people did not reach the age of 70 to be able to receive a pension as the average life expectancy was 49 for a man and 50 for a woman, which makes the reforms less successful.

Question 9

What is a second group?

Answer 9

• Another group that was dealt with by the Liberal Government with the aim of tackling the problems of poverty was the sick.

Question 10

What is the K1 point of the sick?

Answer 10

• There was no national health system in place such as the NHS, leaving more people sick and having to pay for their treatment which people could not afford.
• They had to rely on limited charities and the breadwinner which couldn’t always provide, and workers couldn’t afford to insure themselves against the loss of wages due to sickness.

Question 11

What is the K2 point of the sick?

Answer 11

• This was when the Liberals introduced the National Insurance Act of 1911 which was focused on the sick and it introduced sick pay, people did have to contribute to this by giving 4p, and employers and the government gave a combined total of 9p.
• If a worker became ill and unable to work, they would be paid for 26 weeks.

Question 12

What is the A of the sick?

Answer 12

• This reform was successful as 15 million people were covered by this act, people could now afford to live while being sick, not losing their homes or being starved and didn’t feel pressured to work through illness.

Question 13

What is the A+ of the sick?

Answer 13

• However, the act was limited in success as it only paid up to 26 weeks and it did not support people with long-term illnesses, which makes the reforms less successful.

Question 14

What is a final group?

Answer 14

• Another group that was covered by the social and welfare reforms introduced by the Liberal Government is the unemployed.

Question 15

What is the K1 point of the unemployed?

Answer 15

• Throughout the early 1900’s many people were unemployed leaving them in poverty, meaning they were unable to pay for food and rent.
• This was a problem for people with seasonal jobs, as during the off-season they were unemployed and would have to struggle to pay for rent and food.

Question 16

What is the K2 point of the unemployed?

Answer 16

• This is when the Government introduced the National Insurance Act of 1911 which created unemployment insurance which was contributary where workers had to pay 2.5p of their weekly wages and if they lost their jobs, they would receive 7 shillings.
• This was created for industries such as shipbuilding, engineering and construction.

Question 17

What is the A point of the unemployed?

Answer 17

• This reform was successful as it was useful to those in the targeted industries as it gave them financial security and the benefit allowed them to maintain a good standard of living and pay rent while looking for a job.

Question 18

What is the A+ point of the unemployed?

Answer 18

• However, these acts are limited, which made the reforms less successful as the National Insurance Act of 1911 only covered certain industries and the cover only lasted 15 weeks, meaning people with unemployment longer than this would be struggling, which makes the reforms less successful.

Question 19

What is the line of argument for the conclusion?

Answer 19

• In conclusion, these reforms that the Liberals made to deal with the issue of poverty during the early 1900’s was successful.

Question 20

What is the first relative rating?

Answer 20

• Even though the payments of the pensions were too low, and it excluded many people from being able to have a pension, the reform was successful as it introduced pensions which were noncontributory and helped many old people save for retirement and be able to live comfortably with being able to pay for necessities once retired.

Question 21

What is the second relative rating?

Answer 21

• Although the sick pay only paid for 26 weeks and many who had long-term illnesses wouldn’t benefit from it, the National Insurance Act of 1911 was still very successful because if a worker became too ill to work, they would still be able to live and pay rent and not starve while ill.

Question 22

What is the third relative rating?

Answer 22

• Although the unemployment benefits only helped certain industries, and only lasted a certain amount of time, the National Insurance Act of 1911 was still a successful reform for the unemployed as they were able to maintain a standard of living and pay their rent while looking for a job.

Question 23

What is the final sentence of the conclusion?

Answer 23

• Overall, the Liberal Reforms of 1906-1914 were effective in dealing with the problems of poverty in Britain in the early 1900s because the National Insurance Act of 1911 helped the unemployed by giving them financial security and maintaining a good standard of living while looking for a job.
• With the sick as they provided contributory sick pay, which people could now afford to pay rent and food while being sick.
• The old also benefitted from the Liberal Reforms with the introduction of the Old Age Pensions Act in 1908 which introduced non-contributary pensions which helped them be financially stable when retired, which wasn’t available beforehand.