issue 4 đŹđ§ Flashcards
Background info before liberal reforms
The liberal government had passed a series of ground breaking social welfare reforms to support the old, the young, the unemployed, employed and the sick. These reforms made a substantial move away from Laissez-faire policies of the past towards collectivism.
Factors which led to social welfare reforms
- concerns over poverty through reports of Booth and Rowntree
- national security + national efficiency
- growth of âNew Liberalismâ
- challenge from labour and political advantage
- municipal socialism
Concerns over poverty through reports of Booth and Rowntree â Knowledge
- In 1900, Charles Booth published his survey in London which revealed that 30% of the urban population was living below the âpoverty lineâ and had insufficient income for bare essentials.
Seebholm Rowntreeâs survey of York revealed similar findings, with 27.8% of population was shown to live in poverty in 1899
Furthermore, Booth and Rowntree revealed that poverty was caused by low wages, unemployment, old age, unemployment and illness and that the Young suffered due to poverty of their parents.
Concerns over poverty through reports of Booth and Rowntree â analysis and counter-analysis
This contributed to passing liberal reforms as It proved move and for all that far more people were living in poverty than once thought and consequently, New Liberalism gained support with Churchill and Lloyd George believing that the state should intervene
This was vital to passing of liberal reforms as the reforms were in place to help the groups such as the old, young, sick and unemployed
National efficiency + security â knowledge
After the Boer war ended, it was shown that out of the thousands who volunteered for Queen and country, 25% were rejected on medical grounds. In Manchester, 8000 men were rejected and only 1200 were eventually accepted.
The royal commission on Physical training in Scotland 1903 set out to investigate physical conditions of children in Scotland. They compared height and weight of children in Aberdeen, Boston, Edinburgh and Britain. It was shown that although Aberdeen seemed to have been about average to the rest of Britain, Edinburgh children were seriously under weight and height.
Germanyâs former chancellor Otto Von Bismarckâs welfare reforms were passed in 1880s, which provided Germans with a system of welfare benefits and old age pensions. Some questioned why Germanycould afford welfare reforms and Britain couldnât when Germany was a fairly new country. It was also believed Britainâs workers couldnât keep up with national competitors, such as USA and Germany.
National efficiency + national security â analysis and counter- analysis
These findings contributed to passing welfare reforms shed a light on the horrifying state of health of the population and at a time when other countries such as Germany were building up their armed forces, Britain seemed potentially weak and therefore threatened.
This investigation contributed to the passing of liberal reforms as it stimulated concerns over âphysical deficiencyâ of the British children and future generations
This contributed to Britain passing liberal reforms as it shows Britainâs position as a strong industrial power would be threatened if its workersâ health and education standards deteriorated.
However, it can be argued that politicians had more cynical motivations for passing welfare reforms ad they may not have been thinking about the well being of the public
National efficiency + national security â evaluation
Clearly, such fears over national efficiency and national security reinforced concerns that had already been generated by Booth and Rowntreeâs reports and put even more on Liberals to pass reforms. Therefore Sydney wood is correct when he argues, âThose who believed it was morally wrong to allow widespread poverty to exist in Britain were therefore joined by others who saw the state of poverty as weakening Britainâs place in the world.â
Concerns over poverty through reports of Booth and Rowntree â evaluation
These findings of Booth and Rowntree were absolutely crucial to the decision to pass liberal welfare reforms because they led to a major shift in public as more and more people, including New Liberals believed that the government had a responsibility to look after the âdeserving poorâ.
Growth of New Liberalism â knowledge
By the beginning of the 20th century, philosophers such as J A Hobson and T H Green moved away from âOld Liberalismâ and believed that the government had a responsibility to help the poor. They argued, âthe purpose of state action is to free its citizens from hindrances and disabilitiesâ
In turn, Herbert Asquith appointed Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George to his cabinet and were both prominent New Liberals who believed it was their duty to help the âdeserving poorâ
Growth of New Liberalism â analysis and counter-analysis
This contributed to passing of liberal reforms as opinions were gradually shifting towards the poor and, in turn, a new generation of Liberal politicians were influenced by this thinking
These new liberals contributed to passing of liberal reforms as since they were both committed to welfare reforms, they were mainly responsible for increase in state intervention and reforming legislations that tackled poverty in the old, young, sick and unemployed
However, some historians argue that since the Liberal manifesto from the 1905 election made no mention of social welfare reform at all, it can be argued that the influence of the New liberals was limited
Growth of New Liberalism â Evaluation
Indeed, emergence of New liberals was significant in passing liberal reforms as thinking of Hobson and Green influenced Churchill and Lloyd George who, in turn, were wholly committed to reform and brought it into being. However, it can be argued that without reports of Booth and Rowntree, no one wouldâve know about the dire situation poor people were enduring and would never have been inspired to take action in the first place. This is argued by Peter Murray âNew Liberalism was given a powerful impetus by the discoveries of Booth and Rowntree
Challenge from Labour Party and political advantage â knowledge
In the early 20th century, The Labour Party was rising in popularity and presented a challenge to Liberals as they were competing for the same section of voters who wouldâve otherwise voted liberal.
In 1907, three Liberal seats were lost to Labour in by-elections.
Rise of Labour Party and political advantage â analysis and counter-analysis
The rise of Labour Party contributed to passing of Liberal reforms as Labour was promising to improve living conditions for the poor if they were elected.
This contributed to passing social reforms as the by-election results proved that if the Liberals didnât promise in their manifesto to help address poverty, they could lost at the next election to Labour Party
However, some historians argue that the threat from Labour can be overstated. Indeed, the Liberals managed the problem of Labour by developing a secret electoral act with the Labour Party as early as 1903, so social reform from 1906 was not necessarily a reaction to Labour
Challenge from labour and political advantageâ evaluation
To evaluate, whilst there is a perception that the threat of Labour encouraged Liberals to pass a series of reforms, in truth, the nature of liberalism was changing long before the formation of the Labour party in 1900. There was disagreement over the extent of reform but Liberal politicians were moving towards a reforming programme
Municipal socialism â knowledge
Municipal socialism is used to describe the government led social reform that developed in the UK. Cities such as Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester used rates to fund improvements to living conditions of ordinary people and clean water to residents in 1855 with the passing of the Glasgow corporation waterworks act.
Joseph Chamberlain was mayor of Birmingham in 1872. He took decisicive action to clean slums and provide clean water
