Labour in Power 1945-51

Question 1

What is the first factor?

Answer 1

• Want

Question 2

What did the 1946 NI Act do? (K)

Answer 2

• Welfare State gained structure with the 1946 National Insurance Act, an extension from the 1911 NI Act.
• This included coverage for all adults and any events that could happen ‘from the cradle to the grave’ universally.
• As well, unemployment benefits and sick pay schemes were mandated.

Question 3

How was the 1946 NI Act not a good improvement? (K)

Answer 3

• There were still limitations to having benefits, for example, sickness benefits could only be claimed after 156 contributions had been made which both made them useless until these had been reached and could cause more sickness towards the person or more spread of sickness.

Question 4

How were benefits limited more? (K)

Answer 4

• The benefits were only for a limited period, not helpful for people facing long-term unemployment.
• As benefits were counted in 1946, these were kept the same and as prices rose after WWII, many people couldn’t afford anything with these benefits as it was too low.

Question 5

What do the limitations prove the 1946 NI Act is?

Answer 5

• These limitations make the 1946 NI Act very useless with sickness and unemployment benefits as they were not accessible to everyone who needed them despite being advertised as universal.

Question 6

What was further brought in to help the public?

Answer 6

• The National Assistance Act 1948 was brought in to help people who didn’t fall under the 1946 NI Act.
• Ended up being heavily relied on, for example, in 1949 48% of the act was supplementing pensions, and this increased in the late 50s to 68%.

Question 7

What does the Assistance 1948 Act suggest? (A)

Answer 7

• As the act was so heavily relied upon suggests that the 1946 NI Act wasn’t doing its job in supplying universal financial aid, making it unsuccessful as its main aim was not achieved.

Question 8

How did the Assistance Act have issues? (K)

Answer 8

• Implemented a means test which had a negative stigma around it, which made Brits reluctant to submit an application to receive the benefit.

Question 9

Did the Assistance Act make the reform more or less successful? (A)

Answer 9

• This made the reform less successful in its aim, however, it isn’t Labour’s fault that it was feared by the public.

Question 10

What act made the reform more successful? (K)

Answer 10

• 1945 Family Allowances Act passed.
• This gave struggling mothers who had 2+ children.
• No means test and only mothers were targeted as they spent more money on household than the fathers who were in full-time jobs or fighting in the war.

Question 11

How was the Act successful? (A)

Answer 11

• As women could gain benefits, this allowed them to ease the pressure of some women being single mothers whilst men were fighting in the war, which shows that the reform was more successful in improving social conditions in the nation.

Question 12

What is the evaluation at the end of the first factor?

Answer 12

• There were lots of developments to social security, especially through the Family Allowances Act.
• Still, overall, the reform was less successful because of the reliance on the Assistance Act, implying that the original act implemented was not working.

Question 13

What was the LOA at the end of the evaluation?

Answer 13

• Want was partially conquered through the reforms introduced by the Labour govt.

Question 14

What is the second factor?

Answer 14

• Disease

Question 15

Did Britain have good health?

Answer 15

• Disease was common and as there was no healthcare system, and many couldn’t afford healthcare, they would continue to work and let their illnesses get worse.

Question 16

What brought in the NHS and when?

Answer 16

• The National Health Act 1946, which introduced the NHS which became operational on the 5th of July 1948.

Question 17

What was the 3 aims of the NHS?

Answer 17

• Comprehensive
• Universal
• Free to all

Question 18

What did the NHS also provide Britain?

Answer 18

• The NHS gave the entirety of Britain dental and other medical prescriptions, with 8 million dental and 13.5m prescriptions prescribed in the first year.

Question 19

How was the NHS good towards the public (A)

Answer 19

• This is very positive and helpful as it allowed Britain to gain free prescriptions and medical care, which improved health that wasn’t possible beforehand, making the reform more successful.

Question 20

What does Klein argue?

Answer 20

He named the NHS the “jewel of the crown” out of all the reforms Labour introduced, meaning it was Labour’s best reform between 1945-51.

Question 21

What is the counter-argument against the NHS?

Answer 21

• Labour didn’t have enough money to fund the NHS.
• They had to find £358m annually to fund it, which was a massive oversight to launch a big service without anticipating the amount it would cost.

Question 22

What did the less money to supply the NHS cause?

Answer 22

• This resulted in adding costs for glasses and dental care, causing a divide in the party with the Schism arguing against the Gaiskillities on prices of glasses and dentistry.
• This argument went as far as MPs like Ernest Bevin who agreed with this stance of no payment for prescription resigned from Parliament.

Question 23

How is Klien’s argument weakened?

Answer 23

• However, Klien’s argument is weakened as many right-wing historians argue that giving access to free dental care and prescriptions was a waste of resources as many people would get things they did not necessarily need, causing high demand with little supply.

Question 24

Does the NHS still have problems with money today?

Answer 24

• Whilst the NHS gave access to life-changing healthcare, it is important to note how underfunded it was as the lack of money and efficient planning over budgeting back in the late 40s still affects the NHS today.

Question 25

What is the overall evaluation for the second factor?

Answer 25

• Labour made a wonderful decision to introduce the NHS, but because of its poor funding and planning, it eventually led to its downfall and many resignations within the party.
• Whilst labour was successful in introducing the NHYS, they weren’t successful in maintaining its high costs, making the reform less successful.

Question 26

What is the third factor?

Answer 26

• Housing

Question 27

What did Labour recognise in their manifesto, and did Labour want to help families?

Answer 27

• Labour recognised housing as a massive issue in their manifesto, as by 1946, the lack of affordable and liveable houses for families was so limited, that many squatted in older army camps which weren’t used.
• Labour wanted to solve this issue, so instead of prosecuting the families, they asked for local authorities to help by giving basic care and services to these families.

Question 28

Was Labour’s intervention helpful for families?

Answer 28

• This was somewhat helpful for the families that were struggling in these camps, whilst they focused on fixing the 700,000 destroyed homes and building additional ones for them.

Question 29

What did Labour promise, what were the limitations to the promise, and how did it affect squalor?

Answer 29

• Labour promised 200,000 homes annually, however, this promise was limited because building materials were costly and in high demand.
• As well as this, the lack of construction workers was an issue, as many men were injured or killed because of the war.
• This slowed down Labour’s progress significantly and the initial target was not met.

Question 30

What is further evidence that Labour was ineffective in tackling squalor?

Answer 30

• Between 1945-50, Labour was very close to meeting their promise of high-quality working-class family homes with approximately 1m houses in total, however, the previous point is further proven that this reform was ineffective as by 1951 the Census showed that 750,000 households were homeless.
• This shows that there was the same amount of homelessness 20 years prior, showing Labour’s lack of success.

Question 31

What is the counter against squalor? (positives)

Answer 31

• However, it cannot be ignored that Labour’s squalor reforms were somewhat effective as each house had gas and electricity, hot and cold water, back and front gardens and an indoor toilet.
• As well as this, they had kitchens, living rooms and usually 2 stories with separate bedrooms.

Question 32

What does Timmin argue?

Answer 32

• However, although there were some successful improvements, Timmins’s argument is correct as he states that “housing had been branded the welfare state failure” of Labour’s post-war govt, further showing that Labour was unsuccessful in its mission to improve housing.

Question 33

Were the squalor reforms successful?

Answer 33

• Despite best efforts in improving housing conditions, this was not enough to call the reform successful as there were high amounts of homelessness, as Labour had failed their promises to reduce homelessness rates, build more homes and improve the general public’s quality of life post-war.

Question 34

What is the overall evaluation for the third factor?

Answer 34

• Squalor is one of the 5 giants that Labour was somewhat successful in introducing reforms, but because of the failed promises and targets, they were not completely successful in tackling the general quality of life in Britain for families, and defeating the giant.