Key Features of Attlee's Welfare State

Question 1

Education Act

Answer 1

1944, R.A. Butler
Free secondary education for all, leaving age 15
Ministry for Education established
Three tiered (tripartite) system

Question 2

Family Allowances Act

Answer 2

1945
Mothers given non-means-tested payment of 5 shillings a week for each child after 1st
Principle of child benefits created
Payable to mother- campaigning by Eleanor Rathbone (MP), improved status of married women + mothers

Question 3

New Towns Act

Answer 3

1946
Allowed gov to designate areas as new towns
12 planned to reduce overcrowding including Hatfield, Letchworth, Milton Keynes, Hemel Hempstead
Didn’t solve homelessness- same level in 1951 as 1931 (population growth)

Question 4

National Insurance Act

Answer 4

1946
Unemployment + sickeness benefits for all workers, state pension for men over 65, women over 60
Universal- everyone covered, no means testing
Everyone made contributions- funded by universal contribitory system, but same for all (penalising poor)

Question 5

Industrial Injuries Act

Answer 5

1946
Financial relief + compensation for injured workers absent from work
Paid by gov, not employers

Question 6

National Assistance Act

Answer 6

1948
Financial assistance for unemployed + not covered by NI
National Assistance Board- financial support for homeless, disabled + unmarried or single motheres
Also provided to elderly not paid into pension scheme
Means tested, but less rigorous than 1930s

Question 7

National Health Service

Answer 7

1948
Free access to doctors, dentists, opticians, and hospitals
3,100 hospitals, and 360,000 staff
Prescription charges for glasses and dental work- Gaitskell
By 1950, spending £358 mil a year

Question 8

Housing Act

Answer 8

1949
Local authorities empowered to buy homes for improvements
75% of costs paid by national government
700,000 council houses built between 1945-51
But homelessness and poor housing still an issue- 750,000 fewer houses than needed in 1951