Creating A Welfare State 1918-1979 Flashcards
The Extent and Nature of Social Welfare Provision 1918-1939
Welfare provision in 1918
- Based primarily on the workhouse
- Old age pensions, unemployment, sickness benefits had been introduced to limited degree
The Extent and Nature of Social Welfare Provision 1918-1939
Workhouses
- Principal form of social service for elderly, sick, and destitute
- Most had hospitals attached
- Abolished by Local Government Act of 1929
- Closed by 1930
The Extent and Nature of Social Welfare Provision 1918-1939
Unemployment Insurance Acts of 1920 & 1921
Extended unemployment insurance to cover most workers for 15 weeks
The Extent and Nature of Social Welfare Provision 1918-1939
Justification for Unemployment Insurance Acts of 1920 & 1921
- Need to support unprecedentedly high levels of unemployment
- Fears that widespread poverty may lead to revolution like in Russia in 1917
- Popular desire to support former servicemen and their families
The Extent and Nature of Social Welfare Provision 1918-1939
Retrenchments in Welfare Provision in the 1930s
- Onset of Great Depression = more demand on welfare provision
- Welfare less affordable due to reduced tax revenue (more workers unemployed) = vicious cycle
- Aim of successive governments was to retrench in line with provision of May Report of 1931
The Extent and Nature of Social Welfare Provision 1918-1939
National Economy Act 1931
- Significantly reduced entitlement to & provision of benefits
- Introduced means test for those whose insurance entitlement had run out
- Placed 6 moth cap, after which benefits had to be reapplied for
The Extent and Nature of Social Welfare Provision 1918-1939
Means Test
- Took all household income into consideration when assessing benefit - included child’s income & elderly pension
- Bitterly resented as humiliating and unfair
- Attracted official & unofficial snoopers who checked on claimants to ensure destitution
- Any suspected of abusing the system could have benefits cancelled
- 1932 National Hunger March = 3000 unemployed men walked to London to demand end to means test & start of job provision
The Extent and Nature of Social Welfare Provision 1918-1939
Hunger Marches
- Many joined these walks from their homes, usually in depressed areas, to London to publicise their plight
- 1936 Jarrow March: hundreds marched to London, but their benefits were cut during the journey due to not registering for work
- Jarrow = impoverished shipbuilding town in North-East
The Impact of War, the Labour gov., and Consensus 1939-1964
The Impact of WWII
- State increasingly took responsibility for people’s welfare during war - organisation of evacuations, rationing, ensuring health
- Increasing agreement that there should be no return to pre-war poverty
- 1942 Beveridge Report = blueprint for post-war social welfare
The Impact of War, the Labour gov., and Consensus 1939-1964
The Beveridge Report
- Asserted 5 giants that needed to be overcome if social conditions were to improve
- 5 Giants = squalor, ignorance, want, idleness, disease
- Advocated universal benefits & end to means test
- Beveridge argued for flat rate of contributions from all wage earners to pay for comprehensive welfare benefits - covering unemployment, sickness, pensions, and family based benefits
The Impact of War, the Labour gov., and Consensus 1939-1964
The work of the Labour Government 1945-1951
- Credited with creation of modern Welfare State
- Widespread new provisions led to idea that state would care for citizens ‘from the cradle to the grave’
- Crucial factor with the post-war consensus
The Impact of War, the Labour gov., and Consensus 1939-1964
Family Allowances Act 1945
- Created monetary child benefits for the first time
- Payable to the mother, not the father - non-working mothers gained income independent of their husbands
The Impact of War, the Labour gov., and Consensus 1939-1964
The National Insurance Act 1946
- Made unemployment benefits and sickness benefits available to all workers
- Paid state pension to all men over 65 and all women over 60
- £1 for single people and £1.75 for married couples
The Impact of War, the Labour gov., and Consensus 1939-1964
The Industrial Injuries Act 1946
Gave workers the right to be compensated by the Ministry of National Insurance for accidents and injuries in the workplace
The Impact of War, the Labour gov., and Consensus 1939-1964
The National Assistance Act 1948
- Offered welfare benefits to those who were not covered by National Insurance
- The homeless, the disabled, unmarried mothers, and pensioners living in poverty were able to claim
The Impact of War, the Labour gov., and Consensus 1939-1964
Creation of the National Health Service 1948
NHS offered free and comprehensive health cover for all, funded from compulsory National Insurance scheme taken directly from wages
The Impact of War, the Labour gov., and Consensus 1939-1964
The Welfare Consensus 1939-1964
- Broad agreement between major parties over role of state and provision of welfare
- Cons. OMs 1951-1964 supported maintenance of welfare provision
- Some members of Cons. party (eg. Treasury minister Enoch Powell) advocated cuts in welfare, but were in a minority
The Impact of War, the Labour gov., and Consensus 1939-1964
PM Macmillan (1957-1964) on Welfare
- Agreed there should be not return to pre-war poverty
- Believed wealthier classes had moral responsibility to help provide for those in poverty
- Understood that any cuts to welfare would be unpopular and lose electoral support
Reasons for Increasing Challenges to state welfare provision 1964-1979
The New Right
- Political consensus over welfare provision began to break down in early 1970s
- NR suppoerters argued social welfare trapped people in dependency culture
- Argued growing welfare bills were diverting resources from economic growth - undermining GB’s long-term economic performance
Reasons for Increasing Challenges to state welfare provision 1964-1979
Welfare provision 1964-1979
- Labour gov 1964-1970 refused to cut welfare - increased tax to pay for it
- Cons. gov 1970-1974 appeared equally committed to it
- 1970 Family Income Supplement: for poorer families, offered means tested rebates
Reasons for Increasing Challenges to state welfare provision 1964-1979
The National Insurance Act 1970
- Introduced generous package of welfare benefits - extended welfare
- Gave pension rights to 100K who had not been covered by 1948 National Assistance Act
- Introduced attendance allowance for people who needed long-term care at home
- Established invalidity benefit for disabled people
- Increased child allowance given to mothers
- Made rent subsidies available for low-income families in private accomodation
Reasons for Increasing Challenges to state welfare provision 1964-1979
Challenges to welfare provision
- Many felt it was wrong for taxpayers to pay for welfare benefits
- Many felt it was inefficient way of spending money due to no tangible benefits - economic problems worsened, they felt the gov should retrench
- Many argued welfare caused dependency - people could no longer help themselves, eg. by finding work
Reasons for Increasing Challenges to state welfare provision 1964-1979
Increased Costs
- As part of terms of 1976 IMF loan, Labour gov had to retrench and cut welfare budget
- Emerging consensus that GB could no longer afford to provide welfare ‘from the cradle to the grave’
- Former consensus replaced by a new one of reduced welfare provision
Reasons for Increasing Challenges to state welfare provision 1964-1979
Changing Attitudes
- Many younger people less inclined to endorse collectivist thinking that emerged from GD & WWII - supported policies favouring the individual, not the community
- Many criticised welfare claimants as ‘scroungers’ irrespective of individual circumstances
- ‘Aspirational’ working class - goals were to increase standard of living, buying own homes, and enjoying consumerism - little sympathy for policies that meant higher taxes
- When Thatcher became Cons. leader in 1975, she embraced NR thinking onwelfare - hoping to appeal to aspirational voters
Health Provision 1918-1945
Ministry of Health
- Established in 1919
- Responsible for co-ordinating health at a regional level and administering funds raised by National Health Insurance scheme
Health Provision 1918-1945
Local Government Act 1929
- Introduced by Minister of Health Neville Chamberlain - most important medical reform of 1920s
- Passed responsibility for Poor Law hospitals to local authorities
- Made local authorities also responsible for areas such as running of venereal disease clinics, child welfare, dentistry, schools’ medical services, and school meals
Health Provision 1918-1945
Hospitals
- Various forms of hospital provision in inter-war period
- Public infirmaries managed by local authorities
- Charitable hospitals which relied on public subscriptions
- Specialist teaching hospitals
- Private hospitals
- Sickness insurance schemes did not normally fund hospital treatment for dependants (eg. wives, children)
Health Provision 1918-1945
GPs
- Most charged for diagnosis and treatment - some treated poorer patients for free
- Many, known as ‘panel’ doctors, trated those covered by National Insurance schemes - only covered employee for treatments, not his family
Health Provision 1918-1945
Healthcare in the Depression
- Less than half were insured against illness in 1929
- The uninsured were supposed to rely on private health insurance - if they could afford it
- Traditional remedies and medicines sold over the counter were common
- In most deprived parts of GB (eg. Tyneside), poor livind conditions led to higher incidences of illness and premature death
Health Provision 1918-1945
Healthcare by 1939
- 1929-1939: Public health seemed to be improving
- Infant Mortality Rate in England & Wales dropped from 14.3/1000 1906-1910 to 12/1000 1936-1938
- Different picture in poorer areas - during 20s & 30s, maternal mortality rates were 50% higher in low income groups than in middle class
- By 1939, Ministry of Helath was discussing plans for regional health boards centrally managed by gov
- Medical Journal ‘The Lancet’ advocated for national system of healthcare
- It would take WWII to create consensus that led to the NHS
Health Provision 1918-1945
The Emergency Medical Service
- Founded in 1939 to provide first aid and casualty clearing stations for those wounded in air raids
- Allowwed government to dictate provision in all hospitals
- Resulted in creation of national system
- Gov planners adopted this as basis for plans for post-war healthcare system
Creation and Impact of the NHS 1945-1979
The National Health Service Act 1946
- Established NHS on certain principles
- Healthcare would be available to all
- Healthcare would be free at point of delivery or when treatment was necessary - NHS would be paid for by direct taxation, not insurance
- All local authority, voluntary, and private hospitals were merged into one unified sytem
- NHS hospitals would be run by regional hospital boards managed by executive committees - local health authorities provide services eg. ambulances, vaccinations, community nursing
Creation and Impact of the NHS 1945-1979
What would the NHS offer?
- Curative & preventative care
- Mental & physical healthcare
- Hospital care, general practice surgeries, dental care, and other specialist services such as opticians
Creation and Impact of the NHS 1945-1979
Co-operation of doctors
- Most categories of healthcare professionals accepted NHS
- Bevan struggled to get co-operation of doctors - had to compromise for their support
- Consultants/specialist doctors who worked on referrals were allowed to remain private, and were allocated beds in hospitals for their patients
- GPs continued to be self-employed
- Regional health boards were dominated by consultants
Creation and Impact of the NHS 1945-1979
Provision
- Creation of NHS did not immediately lead to equal provision across the country
- NHS inherited existing infrastructure - distributed unequally
Creation and Impact of the NHS 1945-1979
The Development of the NHS 1951-1979
- Macmillan’s Cons. gov introduced the Hospital Plan in 1962
- Sir Keith Joseph, Cons. Secretary of State for Social Services, introduced NHS Reorganisation Act in 1973
- Dr David Owen, Labour Minister of State for Health, established Resource Allocation Working Party
Creation and Impact of the NHS 1945-1979
1962 Hospital Plan
- Creation of 90 new hospitals
- Redesign and modernisation of 134 hospitals
- Refurbushment of 356 hospitals
Creation and Impact of the NHS 1945-1979
1973 NHS Reorganisation Act
- Introduced new management structure to the NHS
- Led to significant growth in management costs 1974-1979
Creation and Impact of the NHS 1945-1979
Resource Allocation Working Party
Identified areas of health deprivation, allocating additional resources to neediest areas
Creation and Impact of the NHS 1945-1979
Impact of the NHS
- Improvement in healthcare - reductions in all categories of disease, except those associated with old age
- Facilitated medical advances - life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and heart disease had much better recovery rates
- Incidences of infant mortality and post-natal complications significantly reduced
- IMR = 30/1000 in 1950 -> 10/1000 by 1980 -> 3.8/1000 in 2016
Creation and Impact of the NHS 1945-1979
NHS Spending
- Spending on NHS increased under both Labour & Cons Govs
- 1955-56: 2.9% of GDP
- 1975-76: 4.9% of GDP
The Challenge of Medical Advances 1945-1979
Expansion of Treatments 1948-1964
- Demand for NHS services grew rapidly from 1948
- Critics - it would encourage people to seek medical advice for flimsy reasons
- Millions of glasses and false teeth were prescribed - shows that many could not afford such items before
The Challenge of Medical Advances 1945-1979
Prescriptions and Drugs
- September 1948: number of prescriptions rose to 13.6M from 6.8M in the previous June
- 1949-1964: more medicines became available = increasing NHS drug costs
- NHS spent 250% more on drugs in 1964 than in 1951
- Vaccinations increased scope of NHS provision - pre-1939, smallpox was the only routine vaccine. By 1964, vaccines against TB, diptheria, polio, tetanus, and whooping cough were universally available
The Challenge of Medical Advances 1945-1979
Challenges facing the NHS: Infrastructure
- 1948-1960: little investment in modernising NHS hospitals, and little done to tackle inequalities in provision
- During 60s & 70s, gov attempts to remedy this were only partly successful
- Increasing demand on NHS resources as new treatments developed, leading to rising expectations and growing costs
- Gov spent less on health than other European countries
The Challenge of Medical Advances 1945-1979
Challenges facing the NHS: Treatment & Staffing
- Increasingly high-tech medical equipment led to new challenges
- Numbers of consultants and nursing staff increased by 66% 1964-1979
- Technical staff increased by 300%
- NHS staffing increased from 407K in 1951 to 1M in 1979
The Challenge of Medical Advances 1945-1979
Challenges facing the NHS: Ageing population
- As the population aged, demands on the NHS increased
- NHS performed 24K hip replacements in 1979
The Challenge of Medical Advances 1945-1979
Challenges facing the NHS: Major Surgery
- Advances in surgery increased demand for NHS services
- 1964-1979: important advances in ordgan surgery such as heart bypasses and organ transplants
- 1979: NHS performed 800 kidney transplants and 5K heart bypasses
The Challenge of Medical Advances 1945-1979
Crisis in the NHS?
- Growing demand for NHS services due to medical advances and the ageing population
- Healthcare provision remained unever across the country & across different branches of medicine - in particular, problems in mental health care
- By late 70s - no longer assumed that economic growth would continue and support increasing spending on healthcare
- NHS ultimately protected by widespread consesnus that it was an indispensable part of British life
Education policy, 1918-1943, and the 1944 Education (Butler) Act
Education before 1918
- Pre-1918 - provided by Local Education Authorities, variable provision
- 1918 Education Act - transferred funding from LEAs to central government
- Hoped that standardised resourcing and pay/conditions for teachers would improve school standards
Education policy, 1918-1943, and the 1944 Education (Butler) Act
Hadow Committee 1926
Highlighted variable quality of provision. Recommended:
* Abolition of elementary schools, with division into primary and secondary - transferring at age 11
* Raising of school leaving age to 15
Education policy, 1918-1943, and the 1944 Education (Butler) Act
Hadow Committee 1926: Failures
- Not adopted because of cost and local authorities retaining responsibility for education - some provided elementaries of variable quality
- Class sizes could be huge - here, the only form of learning was learning by rote
- Elementary was free
- Some authorities provided secondary or technical schools to which children transferred at 11 - variable quality of education
Education policy, 1918-1943, and the 1944 Education (Butler) Act
Secondary Education
- Generally preserve of middle class children
- 1918-1944: education compulsory to age 14
- By WWII, only 13% of WC kids aged 13+ were in school
- Bright WC kids could get scholarships for grammars
Education policy, 1918-1943, and the 1944 Education (Butler) Act
Impact of WWII
- Beveridge Report of 1942 - identified ignorance as one of the great ‘evils’ that affected Britain
- Many branches of armed services had to teach basic literacy & numeracy to lower ranks
Education policy, 1918-1943, and the 1944 Education (Butler) Act
Butler Act, 1944
- Made access to secondary education possible for less wealthy kids
- State secondaries would no longer charge fees
- Cost of mass education pait for by general taxation
- Compulsory education was extended to age 15
- All WC kids had free/compulsory secondary education
Education policy, 1918-1943, and the 1944 Education (Butler) Act
Tripartite System
- Grammar schools - provide academic curriculum for all kids who could pass 11+, also to provide route into greater opportunities for WC kids
- Secondary Moderns - tended to educate majority of lower MC and WC kids - generally fewer resources and less well-qualified teachers, 75% of kids in post-war
- Technical Schools - intended to educate MC for life in scientific or engineering work - few actually built due to cost - 3% of secondary school students
The Development of Comprehensive Education to 1979
Problems with the Butler Act
- Many saw tripartite system as socially divisive
- Grammars received most resources, SMs underfunded w/ unsatisfactory curriculum
- Grammars took 20-25% of the most able students, rest went to SMs or TSs
- Crowther Report - 80% of SMs deficient
- Few TSs ever built - 3% of pupils at height, mostly male
The Development of Comprehensive Education to 1979
Comprehensive Schools
- Critics hoped for fullly comp. schools - kids of all classes at same school, no 11+
- Comps intended to offer ‘grammar schools for all’ (Harold Wilson)
The Development of Comprehensive Education to 1979
Early Comprehensives in the 1950s
- 1950s: inc. in # of comps. in mainly Labour local authorities
- First purpose-built comp opened at Kidbrooke in 1954
The Development of Comprehensive Education to 1979
Reports into Edcuation Provision
- 1959 & 1963: Cons. gov comissioned 2 reports
- Added weight to argument that best way to ensure equality of educational opportunity was to develop comprehensive schooling
The Development of Comprehensive Education to 1979
The Crowther Report 1959
Recommended:
* Raising school leaving age to 16
* Creating country colleges for post-16 education & more tech colleges
* Developing more 6th form courses
The Development of Comprehensive Education to 1979
The Newsom Report 1963: ‘Half our Future’
- 50% of children receiving comparatively poor educational provision
- Found failings in educational provision, esp. in poorer areas
- Some inner city schools had high teacher turnover - disadvantaged students had little continuity
- Schools should develop curricula suitable for all pupils
- Links between deprivation & poor attainment should be investigate more
The Development of Comprehensive Education to 1979
The Development of Comprehensive School 1964-1979
- Labour gov 1964-1970 committed to development of comps - recognised they couldn’t force LEAs to adopt them
- Circular 10/65: encouraged them to do so, through financial pressure
- Most Leas abolished selection and created comps due to this
The Development of Comprehensive Education to 1979
Criticisms of Comprehensives
- Some felt educational standards were slipping
- Black Papers: Cons. educationalists criticised ‘progressive education’
- ‘Yellow Book’ 1976 - gov sponsored, lamented standards and behaviour in schools, criticised lack of accountability
- PM Callaghan speech at Ruskin College - advocated nat. curriculum, greater accountability
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
Accessibility in the inter-war period
- Oxbridge remained largely for the privileged, but ~20 provincial unis took on MC & WC
- Funded through grants/scholarships offered by LEAs & Charities
- Another route, esp. for bright WC, was gov funded teacher-training grants
- Recipients known as Recognised Students in Training - agreed to follow degree w/ postgrad teacher training w/ commitment to teaching after
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
Percy Report 1945
Recommended:
* Science & engineering courses should be further developed
* Unis be dramatically expanded to cater for increase in students due to Butler Act
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
Barlow Report 1946
- Too few scientists and engineering students to fulfil future positions - eg. in industry and research
- Argued for gov-funded uni expansion
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
Impact of Percy & Barlow Reports
- By 1960s still too few science courses - many unis prioritised arts
- Widely felt that # of science and tech courses insufficient to meet future need
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
Robbins Report 1963
- Warned Britain was being overtaken by other countries in terms of uni performance
- Recommended a goal of 5x more student places by 1980
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
University Expansion in 1960s & 1970s
- Both Labour & Cons supporters agreed w/ expansion of uni provision & that gov should pay for tuition and student grants
- 1960s saw expansion of unis - eg. opening of UEA in 1963 and creation of 32 polytechnics focusing on scientific subjects and vocational courses
- Teacher training & art colleges upgraded
- # of students grew - taking advantage of generous financing
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
The Open University
- Opene in 1971
- Based almost exclusively on distance learning - people could study degrees at home
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
Universities in the 1970s
- Both Cons & Labour cut uni funding due to retrenchment policies
- # of uni students continued to grow - partly due to rising population, rising expectations, and continued grants/tuition fees
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
Statistics of First Degrees awarded in UK
- 1920: ~4K
- 1950: ~17K
- 1970: ~51K
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
Issues in looking at statistics of first degrees awarded
Don’t show:
* Total numbers who took first degree and failed
* Drop out numbers
* Those taking postgrad study
Nevertheless show significant increase in numbers of students earning degrees
The Growth and Social Impact of University Education 1918-1979
Impact of Extension of University Education
- Dramatic impact on social mobility
- Opened up professions to bright students who may not have had opportunity to study - extended opportunity for more to rise beyond their background
- Huge cost - lead to retrenchment in 1980s
