Liberal Reforms

Question 1

School medical inspections

Answer 1

1907

Question 2

Children’s Act (Charter)

Answer 2

1908

Question 3

School clinics now to provide free medical treatment for children

Answer 3

1912

Question 4

Labour Exchanges Act (Job centres)

Answer 4

1909

Question 5

National Insurance Act Part I - Sickness

Answer 5

1911

Question 6

National Insurance Act Part II - Unemployment

Answer 6

1912

Question 7

Pensions Act

Answer 7

In the 1908 Budget; became law in 1909

Question 8

The People’s Budget

Answer 8

1909

Question 9

Two general elections held to generate support for their reforms

Answer 9

1910

Question 10

Reduction of the power of the House of Lords

Answer 10

1911

Question 11

Liberals win the election by a landslide

Answer 11

1906

Question 12

Free school meals introduced

Answer 12

1906

Question 13

What was the Victorian authorities’ attitude to the poor?

Answer 13

Laissez-faire - this meant that they tried to stay out of people’s lives and avoid interfering.

Question 14

What percentage of the population could be classed as very rich in 1900?

Answer 14

Only about 3%

Question 15

What was the only real source of relief offered by the state to the poor before the introduction of the liberal reforms?

Answer 15

The Poor Law. Workhouses were set up to provide food and shelter for the poor. Conditions were awful though and people feared this type of help.

Question 16

What other form of help was available to the poor, aside from going into the workhouse?

Answer 16

Private charities. By 1905 there were nearly 800 private charities in London alone. Some like Barnardoes were set up specifically to help children.

Question 17

Name the different causes of poverty

Answer 17

Old age, unemployment, illness, low wages, disability, large families, one-parent families and orphans.

Question 18

Who were the Salvation Army?

Answer 18

A Christian organisation who went to the poor directly hoping to spread the word of God. By 1878 they had 45 branches. By 1900 they were running their own training centres, farms and labour exchanges (job centres)

Question 19

What did the Salvation Army discover?

Answer 19

They found that some of the causes of poverty were beyond the control of ordinary people. It was not their fault they were poor. William Booth described poverty in terms of three circles; those who lived by crime, those who lived by vice and the starving, homeless but honest poor.

Question 20

What did Charles Booth discover?

Answer 20

He was based in London and was interested in researching poverty. He set up his own team of paid investigators. Over 17yrs his team investigated the lives of 4, 000 people and published their findings. They found that 31% of Londoners were living below what he called the ‘poverty line’. By this he meant that they did not have enough money to buy food, shelter and clothing.

Question 21

What was the most important finding from Booth’s work?

Answer 21

That 85% of people living in poverty were poor because of problems relating to unemployment and low wages. In other words it wasn’t their fault (as many Victorians had believed)

Question 22

Who was Seebohm Rowntree?

Answer 22

He belonged to a family of York-based chocolate manufacturers. He was a Quaker and believed in treating his workers well. He was interested in the work of Charles Booth and wanted to see if the same findings applied in York.

Question 23

What did Rowntree discover?

Answer 23

He calculated that a family of 5 could live on 21 shillings a week. Using this he found that around 28% of York were living in poverty. He said there were two types; primary poverty (those who never stood a chance, they just didn’t earn enough) and secondary poverty (those families on the edge who were just about getting by).

Question 24

How many people in York were living in poverty according to Rowntree?

Answer 24

28%; 10% lived in primary poverty whilst 18% lived in secondary poverty.

Question 25

Why was the work of the social reformers important?

Answer 25

They were generally wealthy, influential individuals who were able to speak to politicians directly and convince them of the need for action. Rowntree for example was a close friend of the leading liberal MP Lloyd George and his family owned several newspapers.

Question 26

Why had poverty become an important issue by 1906?

Answer 26

1) The work of the social reformers had shown there was a need for action
2) The attitude of the ‘New Liberals’ e.g Lloyd George. They believed it was the government’s role to help.
3) The Boer War highlighted how weak Britain’s fighting force was. They were skinny and not well fed.
4) The birth of the rival Labour Party put pressure on the Liberal government to do more to help the poor.

Question 27

Which sections in society did the Liberal Reforms aim to help?

Answer 27

Children, the sick, the unemployed and the elderly.

Question 28

What was the Free School Meals Act (1906)

Answer 28

Local councils were given the power (not forced) to provide free meals for children from the poorest families. These meals were to be paid for from local rates which meant taxes had to rise. By 1914 over 158, 000 children were receiving free meals once a day, every day.

Question 29

Describe the School medical inspections (1907)

Answer 29

Doctors and nurses went into schools to give pupils compulsory medical checks and recommend treatment. Checks were free but until 1912 parents had to pay for treatment (clearly a huge limitation)

Question 30

Describe the School clinics initiative of 1912

Answer 30

In this year a network of school clinics was set up to provide free medical treatment for children. This was necessary because some parents could not afford the treatment they needed from their free health check. This meant that taxes had to rise again to pay for it.

Question 31

How did the Children’s Act (Charter) of 1908 help children?

Answer 31

It made children ‘protected persons’ which meant parents could be prosecuted for cruelty to them. Poor law inspectors were made responsible for checking up on children who had suffered neglect. Children who had committed a crime would now be sent to borstals rather than adult prisons. Children under 14 were not allowed into pubs, nor could children under 16 be sold cigarettes.

Question 32

How did the Labour a Exchanges Act of 1909 help people?

Answer 32

It meant that people could now go to labour exchange (job centre) instead of trekking from workplace to workplace to find a job. This made the process a lot more efficient. By 1913, 3, 000 people per day were finding work through the Labour Exchanges.

Question 33

How did the National Insurance Act Part I (1911) help people?

Answer 33

It set up an insurance scheme that aimed to prevent poverty resulting from illness. Workers could insure themselves against sickness and draw money if they fell ill and couldn’t work. Certain low paid jobs had to join and three parties paid in; the worker, the employer and the government. Taxes had to rise to pay for this.

Question 34

How did the National Insurance Act Part II (1912) help people?

Answer 34

This aimed to prevent poverty resulting from seasonal unemployment. It was open to certain trades like shipbuilding and engineering where there was lots of seasonal work. Workers, the employer and the government all paid in.

Question 35

What did the Liberal Government do to help the elderly?

Answer 35

In 1908 they set up the Pensions Act. This gave weekly pensions from government funds to the elderly. The promise was made in the 1908 budget and became law the following year. Everyone over the age of 70 was eligible but most people would not live that long. You did not have to pay in so essentially this was a gift from the government. Taxes had to rise to pay for them.

Question 36

What were the 5 big criticisms of the pensions scheme?

Answer 36

1) You had to be over 70 to receive one
2) You had to have an income of below £21 a year (on a sliding scale up to £31 2s then you received nothing)
3. You had to be British and have lived there for 20 years at least
4) You couldn’t ever have been in prison the ten years before claiming
5) You were not eligible if you had ever been found to have habitually failed to work

Question 37

What were the criticisms of National Insurance?

Answer 37

It didn’t cover everyone (only 10 million men and 4 million women).
It was only for those on low incomes.
It was only for those making the contributions; dependents could not claim
The NI part II only covered a small number of professions.

Question 38

Why were the reforms controversial?

Answer 38

Many people still believed that people should look after themselves. They thought it was wrong for the government to step in and that it might make people lazy.
Conservatives opposed the cost and thought it was too socialist (like communism)
Some workers resented the deductions from their wages
Labour Party criticised the fact workers had to fund their own benefits and believed the wealthy should pay

Question 39

Why were two general elections called in 1910?

Answer 39

To generate popular support for the reforms and to show opposition to the House of Lords who had opposed the budget in 1909