History- Laws Protecting Working People Flashcards
The National Insurance Act on 1911
In 1911 Lloyd George introduced the National Insurance Act. Lloyd George got a lot of the ideas for this Act from a similar scheme running in Germany.
Was to help workers pay for health insurance. Insurance is the pay for treatment and provide sick pay when people with fieldwork. National insurance act said the government would top of the money that work is paid into insurance schemes.
the Act covered workers earning less than £160 per year.
Each week workers paid four old pence out of their wages into a central fund. Employers added 3p per week and the government added another two old pence per week.
Sick pay of up to 10 shillings per week was paid to male workers if they were off work ill for more than four days. This sick pay would be paid for several months. The worker was also entitled medical attention.
Women didn’t pay as much in or get as much out, because they didn’t earn as much in the first place.
Women were paid seven shillings 6p a week sick pay. They also got a one off maternity grant of 30 shillings.
Names of workers on the national insurance scheme were put on a special list known as a doctors panel. Doctors were paid a sum by the government for every patient on the panel.
The scheme was organised through organisations approved by the government – friendly societies, trade unions and private insurance companies.
The scheme caused controversy – Conservatives said the government had no right to force people to contribute from their wages, and many socialists said there should be higher taxes on rich people to pay for it instead of workers having to contribute. But it was still passed.
Ten million workers now had health insurance.
Part two of the national insurance act provided unemployment benefit for workers in shipbuilding, iron founding and construction. These were industries where workers were quite regularly out of work for several weeks at a time. It was a contributory scheme. Employers and employees each paid 2 1/2p per week into an unemployment fund and the government one and three quarter pence.
In return workers will pay seven shillings per week for up to 15 weeks in any one year if they were unemployed. Payments started from the second week of unemployment.
The Trade Boards act of 1909 set a minimum wage
Winston Churchill and William Beveridge put together the trade boards act in 1909 to help sweated (like sweat shop) industry workers.
The Act set up trade boards for each of the sweated industries.
Every board was made up of equal numbers of workers and employers, and a neutral chairman.
The boards job was to decide on a minimum wage for the industry.
Employers paying less than a trade board laid down could be fined.
Factory inspectors made sure the act was put into practice.
By 1914 1/2million workers were covered by the trade boards and so had the security of the minimum wage.
The labour exchanges act set up job centres
Churchill and beveridge also worked together on the labour exchanges act. This was passed in 1909 too.
Labour exchanges were like job centres. Unemployed workers could go there to find out about job vacancies.
Within five years there was a network right across Britain.
1 million jobs per year were filled through the exchanges.
