liberal reforms - COMPLETE Flashcards
what reforms did the liberals pass?
- free school meals
- ## school medical inspections
give some background to the introduction of free school meals.
compulsory education brought to light that children from slum areas were too hungry to learn.
prior to 1906 it was illegal for local authority school boards to provide free school meals.
what did an 1889 report indicate regarding hungry schoolchildren?
that over 50,000 pupils in london alone were attending school “in want of food”.
what was the first reform passed by the liberals?
the provision of school meals act (1906)
what did the provision of school meals act do?
allowed local authorities to provide school meals to needy children.
gave them tax raising powers to pay for school meals.
was the school meals act compulsory?
no - it only encouraged the provision. in fact, roughly half of authorities in britain did not act and by 1939 less than 50% were providing free school meals.
what did fraser, a historian, say about the school meals reform?
“only a small measure and produced only limited progress”
what did a 1907 survey show regarding schoolchildren?
that they gained weight during school terms and lost weight during holidays
what suggests that the school meals act was effective?
- a 1907 survey showed that children gained weight during school terms and lost weight during the holidays
- in 1914 the government face local authorities grants to cover half the cost of the service
- by 1914, 14 million school meals per annum were being provided for 158,000 children
- the service is still in use today
what suggests that the school meals act was not effective?
- because it wasn’t compulsory, roughly half of authorities in britain did not act
- “only a small measure and produced only limited progress” fraser, historian
- by 1939 less than 50% were providing free school meals
what did the liberals introduce to tackle very frequent outbreaks of disease?
the school medical inspections act
what did a 1908 government report find regarding children’s health?
- 50% of children with medical problems had not been treated
- 80% of them had defective teeth
- 30% had lice or nits
- 9% had tickets due to inadequate
- 50% of recruits to Boer War (1899-1902) were unfit to serve
what was the name of the act that made school medical inspections compulsory and when was it passed?
the education act, passed in 1907
what did the education act (medical inspections) specify?
that schoolchildren must receive at least 3 inspections during their school years
what was ineffective about the education act?
no such measures were introduced for life after school
did not improve health conditions of adults or school leavers
what was effective about the education act?
helped improve national health levels in children
by 1914 most authorities were providing some medical treatment for children
what did some people think about school medical inspections and their ineffectiveness?
it was simply pointing out to children their ailments without providing treatment - it was cruelty
what did the children’s charter do?
- banned children under 14 from entering pubs
- children under 16 were forbidden to smoke or drink alcohol, or beg
- borstals or corrective schools were set up to deal with child criminals, to keep them away from adult criminals
- children were tried in juvenile courts
- probation officers were employed to guide young offenders when they were released from borstals
what percentage of old people ended up in poorhouses in some areas?
roughly 50%
what were the requirements to get a pension?
- be 70+
- be british (no passports/birth certificates to prove it)
- had lived in britain for 20 years
- had not been in prison in past 10 years
- had not avoided work in the past
- had not been detained for drunkenness in past 10 years
what did the old age pension scheme pay out?
5 shillings per week
what was effective about the old age pension scheme?
- no insurance contributions were necessary - it was a right
- 75% decrease of old people in poorhouses between 1906-1913
- “it removed the dreaded threat of the workhouse” richard shannon
- in 1914 nearly one million people applied for pension, double the 1908 figure
- most of the exemptions had been swept away by 1911
what was ineffective about the old age pension scheme?
- pension still fell below most existing poverty lines
- only half a million people qualified in 1908
- many people did not reach 70; life expectancy in low 50s in many places
- appeared to have been designed so the least number could benefit from it - too expensive to have a lower age, most money going into war preparation
what was the national insurance (part 1) scheme?
workers, their employer and the state would all contribute money (4, 3, 2) so that when the worker needed time off work because of illness, they could use this money to get by without their wage
when was the national insurance part 1 passed?
1911
how much did the national insurance scheme pay out?
10 shillings per week for 13 weeks then 5 shillings per week for a further 13 weeks
including the pay, name the things that the national insurance part 1 scheme entitled sick workers to
free medical treatment (from approved doctors)
maternity benefit
sanatorium treatment for TB
was the national insurance part 1 scheme compulsory?
yes
how effective was the national insurance scheme part 1?
- huge improvement on existing provision as it replaced nothing
- along with unemployment insurance, had greater impact on reducing poverty
- workers more likely to seek medical help, whereas may have gone untreated before
- many workers receiving medical treatment for the first time
- 10 million men and 4 million women covered
what was ineffective about the national insurance part 1 scheme?
- no provision for hospitals
- failed to include dependents in scheme (mostly women) so it was not enough for families
- another tax on already low wages
- flat rate contributions (everyone playing the same) hurt poor more than rich
- government admitted it was only a beginning
what was a labour exchange?
a place where unemployed people could find jobs and claim benefits after signing on
why and when were labour exchanges introduced?
1909, because unemployed people had to walk from factory to factory in search of a job which was very inefficient and dispiriting
furthermore, factories had difficulties matching jobs with suitably skilled employees
what was effective about the labour exchanges?
by 1913 there were 430 labour exchanges in britain
by 1914 the exchanges were dealing with 2 million workers per year
called a “great success” by rees, a historian
what was ineffective about labour exchanges?
workers initially feared that they were an employers tool to recruit strike breakers
why was the national insurance act part 2 released in 1911?
unemployment was the major cause of poverty and seasonal layoffs were very common
what was the NI act part 2?
insurance for workers in trades which were worst hit by seasonal unemployment or trade depression such as shipbuilding, engineering, construction
how many men did the NI part 2 scheme apply to?
over 2 million
was the NI part 2 scheme compulsory?
yes - workers in these trades had to join the scheme
how much was paid out by the scheme and who paid for it?
workers, employers and the state each contributed
and workers could get 7 shillings a week for up to 15 weeks in any one year
how effective was was the NI part 2 insurance scheme?
marked advance son previous help for unemployed
helped soften the worst effects of unemployment and fave workers some sense of security
what was ineffective about NI2?
only lasted for 15 weeks for ”not genuinely seeking work” even though there was no work in the area
amount paid not enough even for basic living
“merely a lifebelt” - RC Birch, historian
workers in the scheme would get nothing if dismissed due to their conduct
yet again, contributions were flat rate - everyone paid the same
what does “flat rate” mean?
everyone pays the same
name the acts introduced to protect workers
workmen’s compensation act 1906
coal mines act 1908
trade broads act
shops act 1911
why were the 4 workers acts introduced?
because low pay, long hours and exploitation of workers existed in a number of industries
what was the workmen’s compensation act (1906)?
employers were liable to pay compensation for industrial diseases contracted by the workforce
what was the coal mines act (1908)?
gave coal workers an eight hour day
what was the trade boards act?
fixed minimum rates for per hour and piecework rates
covered 200,000 workers, mostly non-unionised women
employers were fined for paying less
what was the shops act (1911)?
gave shop workers a half day off and reasonable meal breaks
how effective were the 4 workers acts?
taken together, these laws were a significant improvement of working conditions for millions of workers
what were some general criticisms of the reforms?
they were modest
only covered certain categories of people
government did little about poor state of housing and public health
