From Paupers to Pensioners

Question 1

When did Victoria reign?

Answer 1

1837-1901

Question 2

What kind of nation did Queen Victoria leave behind?

Answer 2

height of empire.
diplomatic influence unrivalled.
economic strength.
London as the financial centre.
pound as global currency.

Question 3

what happened to manufacturing output?

Answer 3

in decline from 1860, overtaken by USA in 1900

Question 4

who began to rival Britain militarily?

Answer 4

Germany

Question 5

what was invasion literature?

Answer 5

fantasised about what if Britain was under foreign rule

Question 6

When did Edward VII reign?

Answer 6

1901-1910

Question 7

what coincided with the Edwardian era?

Answer 7

birth of cinema.
new technologies.
new culture more obsessed with the image rather than the word.

Question 8

how many cars were sold per year by 1912?

Answer 8

20,000

Question 9

who crossed the channel in July 1909?

Answer 9

Louis Bleriot

Question 10

what was the Victorian approach to poverty?

Answer 10

Poverty caused by personal failings.
Govt should encourage self-reliance (Poor Law).
Belief in the virtue of self-help.
Limited the amount of sympathy that could be extended to people.

Question 11

what is a pauper?

Answer 11

someone dependent on poor relief

Question 12

what was the workhouse?

Answer 12

not dissimilar to prisons.
built on principle of segregation.
diet was bad.
system designed to be a deterrent.

Question 13

key principles of ‘heaven helps those who help themselves’?

Answer 13

hard work.
perseverance.
self-restraint.

Question 14

collective self-help?

Answer 14

institutions designed to protect, created by the working-class

Question 15

friendly societies?

Answer 15

mutual insurance clubs that provided benefits to their members

Question 16

new attitudes to poverty?

Answer 16

rapid urban growth.
more scientific and rigorous investigations into poverty.
elderly as one of the biggest deprived groups.
hypothesis that other regions had same level of poverty as London.
poverty not caused by moral failings.

Question 17

national efficiency?

Answer 17

growing concern about the physical fitness of the nation.
40% of Boer War volunteers deemed unfit.

Question 18

what did the Second Boer War do?

Answer 18

Galvanised the British into new attitudes on poverty and welfare.

Question 19

who launched the boy scouts?

Answer 19

Robert Baden Powell- ‘Scouting For Boys’

Question 20

Who was Francis Galton?

Answer 20

Eugenics movement

Question 21

threat of socialism?

Answer 21

growth of trade unions and strikes.

Question 22

Reform Acts?

Answer 22

1832, 1867, 1884
all increased the size of the electorate (only adult men)

Question 23

Rise of Labour Party?

Answer 23

1893- ILP
1900- LRC
1906- Labour Party
Keir Hardie
challenge to 2-party system

Question 24

Liberal reforms for children?

Answer 24

1906 School Meals permitted
1907 School Medical Inspection
1908 Children Act
1914 School Meals compulsory

Question 25

Liberal reforms for the old?

Answer 25

1908 Old Age Pensions

Question 26

Liberal reforms for the working-class?

Answer 26

1909 Labour exchanges
1909 Trades Boards
1911 National Insurance Act- health and unemployment

Question 27

pre-decimal currency?

Answer 27

1 pound (l) divided into 20 shillings.
1 shilling (s) divided into 12 pence.
1 pence (d) divided into 4 farthings.

Question 28

typical working-class wage?

Answer 28

1 pound a week

Question 29

Old Age Pensions 1908?

Answer 29

weekly payment of up to 5s, 7s 6d for married couples.
people aged over 70
earning less that £31 10s per annum

Question 30

Health Insurance?

Answer 30

funded by govt, employer, and worker.
those aged between 16 and 70, earning less that £160 per year.
sickness benefits (10s for men, 7s 6d for women, first 26 weeks).
full medical treatment by local doctor

Question 31

Unemployment insurance?

Answer 31

funded by govt, employer, worker.
covers trades where fluctuations in employment were greatest- building, construction, shipbuilding.
7s per week for 15 weeks

Question 32

who was sceptical of the reforms?

Answer 32

working-class

Question 33

Children Act 1908?

Answer 33

state powers of parents, working-class not supportive

Question 34

opposition to insurance?

Answer 34

‘it’s criminal to take poor people’s money and use it to insure them’- Sidney and Beatrice Webb

Conservatives and classical liberals

Question 35

why were the reforms not radical?

Answer 35

school meals had limited impact.
pensions as a supplement to other income.
benefits set at low level and partly paid for by workers.
Means testing.

Question 36

why were the reforms radical?

Answer 36

more interventionist.
1m had pension by 1914, 2m insured for unemployment, 13m for sickness
some thought it was socialism

Question 37

Earl of Rosebery view on pensions?

Answer 37

‘it is, of course, socialism pure and simple’

Question 38

1913 Mental Deficiency Act?

Answer 38

powers to deal with mental defectives who were: without viable means of support, guilty of criminal offence, habitual drunkards, pregnant with illegitimate child whilst in receipt of poor relief

Question 39

benefits of war?

Answer 39

unemployment solved.
balance of power shifts to trade unions.
women work.
wages increase faster than prices.
life expectancy for men rose between 1911 and 1921 from 49 to 56

Question 40

welfare advances between the wars?

Answer 40

unemployment insurance extended.
pensions extended.
end of the Poor Law (workhouses abolished).
taxation remains high.

Question 41

rate of income tax 1914-1919?

Answer 41

6% to 30%

Question 42

govt welfare spending 1913-1934?

Answer 42

£22.5m to £204m

Question 43

interwar welfare state (yes)?

Answer 43

provision extended.
hated poor law abolished.
taxation high to fund welfare.

Question 44

interwar welfare state (no)?

Answer 44

means testing extended, many refused relief or were ineligible.
stigma on receiving relief.
spending increased but due to high unemployment- doesn’t mean treatment of individuals improved.