Lecture 5: The Evolution of the Post-War Welfare State Flashcards
Welfare state =
‘state in which organised power is deliberately used through politics and administration in an effort to modify the play of market forces in at least three directions. first, by guaranteeing individuals and families a minimum income irrespective of the market value of their work or property; second, by narrowing the extent of insecurity by enabling individuals and families to meet certain social contingencies (for example, sickness, old age and unemployment) which lead otherwise to individual and family crises; and third, by ensuring that all citizens without distinction of status or class are offered the best standards available in relation to a certain agreed range of social services.’
Classic welfare state, Beveridge Welfare state
– distinguished from embryonic welfare state
Classic welfare state period =
after 1945
Most important moment in the story of Welfare and Britain =
publication of the Beveridge Report in December 1942 – official title of the report was “Social Insurance and Allied Services”
William Beveridge =
led the investigation, went further than the remit - Argued social insurance was ‘one part only of a comprehensive policy of social progress. Social insurance fully developed may provide income security, it is an attack upon Want. But Want is only one of the five giants on the road to reconstruction. The others are Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness.’
Beveridge talked about five giants =
want, ignorance, disease, squalor and idleness – yet report only fundamentally addressed want, it was an attack on want
Disease =
believed free National Health Service should be set up
Idleness =
full employment, unemployment should not go below 3%
How radical was the post-1945 welfare state?
Expectation of change after WW2 Raft of legislative measures Expanded role of the state Adoption of principle of universality New approach to economic policy
Expectation of change after WW2:
- Beveridge report = blue print for what came after
- Expectation of change after WW2 – optimism and hope – war created changes in attitudes, raised awareness about health and welfare, particularly seen through policies of evacuation
- Labour politicians were welcoming of report and the change
- Conservatives response muted but didn’t respond negatively
- Labour won 395 MPs in 1945 – never won an election out right at this point – if there was ever going to be radical changes in legislation this was the government perceived to do that
Legislation:
- 1946 National Insurance Act – allowances for sick, aged, unemployed
- 1948 National Health Service Act – created free national health scheme funded by taxation. Key architect = Nye Bevan, Minister for Health 1945-51 – polls suggested greatest achievement of the labour government
- 1944 ‘Butler’ Education Act – raised school leaving age to 15 and abolished fees for secondary education – Ellen Wilkinson (Minister for Education 1945-47) – spoke of need for ‘removing from education those class divisions which are the negation of democracy’ – second most expensive welfare service after 1945
- Tri-partite education system, system quite quickly got a bad name yet at the time it was a radical and different idea
- “Parity of esteem” –
- Extent to try and reduce gender inequalities in terms of education – both sexes began to be taught similar educations
WW2 = turning point (Expanded Role of the State)
- Welfare became institutionalised and one of the governments primary activities
- Brought about new role of the government – questioned how much control should have over society
Adoption of principle of universality:
- Everyone pays National Insurance – removes stigma of benefits
New approach to economic policy
- John Maynard Keynes
- Links to idleness (five giants in Beveridge report) – important that unemployment remained low as otherwise other aspects of welfare wouldn’t run as smoothly
- Governments commitment to a ‘high and stable level of employment’ – symbolic change from inter war years
- Only on four occasions between 1945 and 1975 did unemployment exceed 3%
How radical was the post-1945 welfare state? Not really:
Built on existing ideas
Traditional role for the state: contributory rather than distributive
Private hospitals and schools remained
Limited by the new economic climate
Principle of subsistence compromised
Educational inequality continued
Built on existing ideas (not new thinking)
- Labour requested to reform other areas, old cabinet in the Labour government thus they were part of earlier goals for social justice. For example, in education reform not unexpected – several inter-war reports had put forward for different types of schools
- Reflects the demands of pre-war progressive thought
Traditional role for the state: contributory rather than distributive
- National insurance based on weekly payments
- NHS = exception as funded by taxation
Private hospitals and schools remained
- Labour government criticised for preserving ideas of privilege
- Arguably, failure to eradicate private schools perceived as one of Labour’s greatest missed opportunities
Limited by the new economic climate
- Britain remained dependent on American loans – issues of financial crisis
- New welfare loans = expensive, particularly the NHS
Principle of subsistence compromised
- Criticisms have led to some historians condemning reforms e.g. Rodney Lowe
Educational inequality continued:
- Local authorities continuously spent more on grammar schools – grammar schools and secondary modern schools not equal
- Geographical inequality
- Led many to believe that Labour’s educational policy only largely benefitted the middle classes
- 1950s = new definition of inequalities – equality of outcome
Attlee government:
- Criticised by Marxist academics (e.g. Ralph Miliband)
- Criticised by feminist academics (e.g. Elizabeth Wilson) – welfare state structured along deeply gendered lines e.g. single mothers excluded from National Insurance Act
Conclusion:
1940s – welfare state had limitations but continuation of state welfare made a huge difference to peoples lives – post modern census – set the scene for new affluent society
Asa Briggs: ‘The Welfare State in Historical Perspective’
“A welfare state is a state in which organised power is deliberately used in an effort to modify the play of market forces in at least 3 directions”
Social Insurance and Allied Services (Beveridge Report), December 1942
Argued social insurance was one part only of a comprehensive policy of social progress
How radical was the post-1945 welfare state?
S. Fielding - “after 1942 Labour covered itself with the pages of the Beveridge report”
1945 Election:
Labour had 393 MPs and a majority of 146
Welfare state post-1945:
1946 National Insurance Act: allowances for sick, aged, unemployed 1948 National Health Service Act: created free national health scheme funded by taxation. Key architect = Nye Bevan, Minister of Health 1945-51 1944 'Butler' Education Act = raised school leaving age to 15 and abolished fees for secondary education Ellen Wilkinson (Minister for Education 1945-47): spoke of need for "removing from education those class divisions"
Weaknesses of welfare state:
Rodney Lowe, “The Welfare State in Britain since 1945” (1993) = Beveridge report was conservative, illogical, and ultimately impractical”
1959: grammar school places for 35% children in SW; 22.4% in NE
1950: 60% of children of professionals/businessmen won grammar school places compared to 10% of working class children
Attlee govt criticised by Marxist and left wing historians e.g. Ralph Miliband
