Liberal Reforms: The Liberal Reforms passes (Old, Young, Workers, Unemployed)

Question 1

What was passed in 1906?

Answer 1

Free school meals

• allowed local authorities to provide food; this meant that children would have 1 good meal a day. In 1914, 14 million meals were provided.
• However only 50% of local authorities set up the service, so not nationwide success.

Question 2

What was passed in 1907?

Answer 2

School medical service

• every local education authority had to set up a school medical service. From 1912 this was extended to provide treatment in school clinics as well.
• However it was left to the local authorities to organise this, therefore the medical care varied around the country.

Question 3

What was passed in 1908?

Answer 3

The Children and Young Persons Act

• the act gave children special status as protected persons, and their parents could now be prodecuted for neglect.
• it was also illegal to insure a child’s life.
• special courts were also set up to deal with child crime. Special homes or Borstals were set to house young offenders, so they could not be sent to adult prisons.

Question 4

What was life like for children before Liberal Reforms were passed?

Answer 4

• children were helped in limited ways
• orphans were looked after in workhouses and some charities (mainly Christian, i.e. Salvation Army) helped poor families with children

Question 5

What else was passed in 1908? and what were the advantages?

Answer 5

Old Age Pensions

• people over 70 with no income would receive 5 shillings/week
• their state pension made them independent for the rest of their lives
• in the first year 650,000 collected their pensions
• number of people collecting outdoor relief fell by 80,000
• new principles: non-contributary
• poverty was being tackled by direct funding from the government, rather than from local rates

Question 6

What were the disadvantages of Old Age Pensions Act?

Answer 6

• income of 31 pounds/year did not qualify
• only British people living for over 20 years qualified
• pension could be refused to people failed to work at their best ability
• poor people could not afford private pensions

Question 7

What was life like for old people before the Liberal Reforms?

Answer 7

• old people were vulnerable
• essentially when people stopped working they were threatened with life below the poverty line
• the old could rely on their families (though this put strain on young people), charities and many ended up in workhouses

Question 8

What was passed in 1909?

Answer 8

Labour exchanges

• workers could sign on to a register when they were unemployed, and they could find out about available work

Question 9

What happened in 1913?

Answer 9

Labour exchanges were putting 3,000 people into jobs every working day.

Question 10

What was life like for the unemployed before the Liberal Reforms?

Answer 10

• the workers and the unemployed, like all the other improverished groups in society, had little support
• they could volunteer for labour exchanges and could claim outdoor relief -money/food/clothing or goods, given to alleviate poverty without the person having to enter a workhouse

Question 11

What was passed in 1911? (edit)

Answer 11

The National Insurance Act

• sick pay
• health insurance. All men and women with lower paid manual and clerical jobs earning 160 pounds a year had to join.
• they payed 4d out of each week’s wages
• each payment earned them a stamp
• employers added 3d/stamps & the gov. 2d
• workers received 26 weeks of sick pay - 10 shillings/week from the friendly society + free medical care
• unemployment benefits dealt with unemployment and underployment

Question 12

What was life like for the workers before the Liberal Reforms?

Answer 12

• the workers and the unemployed, like all the other improverished groups in society, had little support
• they could volunteer for labour exchanges and could claim outdoor relief -money/food/clothing or goods, given to alleviate poverty without the person having to enter a workhouse