Liberal social reforms 1906-1912 (welfare state)

Question 1

good things and limitations of the Free school meals act 1906

Answer 1

good things
- at least one good meal a day
- 14 million meals served in 1914
- replaced charity involvement

limitations
- health deteriorated during school holidays
- costly for the government
-only half of the britain’s local authorities set up a meal service

Question 2

good things and limitations of school medical inspections 1907

Answer 2

good things
- compulsory

limitations
-only provided regular medical checks, no treatment

Question 3

good things and limitations of school clinics 1912

Answer 3

good things:
- treatment now provided in school clinics

limitations
-treatment was very broad (go outside)
-left to local authorities to make measures work, who cared more about money than children
-varied throughout country

Question 4

good things and limitations of Children and Young persons Act 1908

Answer 4

good things:
-Gave children special status as “protected persons”
-parents could be prosecuted or neglect
-parents could no longer kill children to claim life insurance
-set up special courts to deal with child crime and special homes to house young offenders

limitations:
-‘neglect’ subjective
-little to do with the caused of juvenile crime

Question 5

good things and limitations of Old Age Pensions Act 1908

Answer 5

good things:
-A person over 70 with no other income would receive the 5 shillings per week.
-Had a good effect on the elderly
-650,000 people collected their pensions in the first year
-Number of people claiming outdoor relief fell by 80,000
-centrally controlled
-non-contributary

limitations:
-pensions could be refused to those who hadn’t worked to the best of their abilities - subjective
-many people didn’t live to 70
-amount received was below the poverty line

Question 6

good things and limitations of the Labour exchanges 1909.

Answer 6

good things:
- workers could sign onto a register when they were unemployed and find out about available work
-put 3000 into jobs every day by 1913

limitations:
employers didn’t have to advertise jobs

Question 7

good things and limitations of the National Insurance act pt1 1911

Answer 7

good things:
-provided compulsory health insurance for workers earning under £160/year
-if ill, an employee, and employee was paid 10 shillings for up to 13 weeks, then 5 shillings for another 13
-employee, employer and state contributed money to the scheme

limitations:
-after 25 weeks abscense from work, benefits were stopped
-no provision made for workers family
-many objected to compulsory payments they had to make

Question 8

good things and limitations of National Insurance Act pt 2 1911

Answer 8

good things:
- an insurance worker losing their job would receive 7 shillings/week for 15 weeks.
-To receive this, workers, employers and state contributed.
-many trades involved

limitations:
-cover was only provided for a limited time depending on contributions
-no provisions were made for workers family
-only covered certain trades
eg, domestic servants excluded

Question 9

things to assess if its a welfare state

Answer 9

universality= did the benefits cover everybody?
adequacy=was a substantial level of help provided?
central control= how far were the reforms controlled by the government?
modern comparisons=haw far do they compare to reforms after 1945?
responsibility=how far should the liberals take credit for the reforms they introduced?