Essay - Labour Reforms Flashcards
Factor: overcrowding - the new towns act 1946
Overcrowding - the new town acts 1946
K The new towns act, 1946, this was a plan to build 12 new towns such as east kilbride and glenrothes and the labour government had big plans to build 240,000 houses a year. They did this as a way of tackling slum living conditions and with the intention of the soldiers coming back after the war to nice high quality houses
An important because with the provision of prefabs, new towns and council houses the labour government quickly and effectively tackled the post war housing shortage, providing over a million of britain’s families with homes.
A+ However labour never met their promise of building 240,000 houses a year to eradicate the problem of homelessness. Also housing shortages remained. In 1951, for example, there were still 750,000 fewer homes than there were families - roughly the same as the level in 1931
E Overall the labour governments record on building houses does not compare well with pre war-levels or with the achievements of the conservatives in the 1950s. Homelessness, poor housing and overcrowding were still serious problems at the end of 1951. Therefore, the labour party was not overly successful in dealing with the housing shortage facing britain.
Factor: the national insurance act 1946
The national insurance act of 1946
K The government realized they weren’t looking after their people well enough and so introduced the National Insurance Act of 1946, which was meant to help everyone ‘from the cradle to the grave’., it provided workers with 26 shillings a week (or 42 for married men) if they were to fall ill
A meant that anyone in a position unable to work could still receive a source of income
A+ However, the minimum contribution of the national insurance made the scheme unfit for its purpose as it was the people that were unable to pay the contributions that really needed it most. The scheme was also criticised for the large number of officials who were needed to operate it.This led to the national assistance act.
K national assistance act was created to be a ‘safety net’ for those that couldn’t keep up with payments towards the national insurance. It put contributions towards national insurance for those that couldn’t pay the contributions for themselves
A It meant the people that actually needed the help the most received it.
A+ many people were actually too embarrassed to apply for national insurance and didn’t claim it at all.
E National assistance helped those that needed help the most significantly as it provided them with more income, though the stigma behind applying for it meant many people in desperate poverty didn’t and so it didn’t help to eradicate the poorest of people.
Factor: The education act,1944
K The education act of 1944 saw the introduction of the 11+ examination, which was an exam for 11 year olds that placed children in certain types of schools depending on the results they achieved in the exam. The higher achieving scorers would attend academies or grammar schools whereas others would attend schools that would prepare children for a life in labour A it helped categorise children into schools depending on their abilities A+ However it meant that children's futures had been defined on their ability on one day when they were only 11 which was far too young, meaning thousands of children were labelled as failures from the age of 11 based one one exam one one day. K The labour government also thought children were able to leave school at too young an age. Thegovernment then increased the minimum age to stay in school up to 15. A year in school would give students a higher chance of gaining more qualifications and a better chance in life. A+ many of the working class children found themselves forced into schools with no opportunity to achieve qualifications so there wasn't much point in them staying the extra year, and they were forced immediately into the workplace at the age of 15. E Labour's education policy was actually largely designed by the conservatives , and based on the 1944 butler act. It was therefore not really a ‘labour reform’.
Factor: the national health service act 1946
K the act the labour government introduced was the national health service act, 1946. Many new hospitals were built and It was the introduction of the NHS (national health service) which provided medical care to british citizens for free
A It meant that people access to health was no longer dependent on their ability to pay, meaning poorer people could now access healthcare more easily
A+ new hospitals took many years to build meaning that it was a slow process and many weren’t even built until the 1960s. Therefore for some parts of the country ‘ universal care took a long time to filter through.
E Overall, Labour did successfully deal with the problem of disease considering the constraints of a post war economy, and this act was a rather successful one.
