Reasons for the Liberal Welfare Reforms [Isolated] Flashcards
What is the background for the Liberal welfare reforms?
Before 1900…
- poverty was very common in the country
- Laissez Faire; the idea that government shouldn’t be involved in hardship and poverty because it would raise taxes
- Self help; the idea that someone should be held responsible for their social standing and livelihood.
- charities believed in both of these
What is the line of argument?
The work of Booth and Rowntree was the greatest reason for the introduction of the Liberal Welfare Reforms.
What did Charles Booth do?
He set out to disprove the survey that said 25% of London was in poverty. He used robust methods of research and interviewing and found that 1/3 was in poverty instead, and only 3% was getting help but the Poor Law. He was able to prove that poverty was worse and a larger issue than initially thought. Even though he did find great findings, this was only in London and so was not representative of the whole country.
What did Seebohm Rowntree do?
He investigated the finding of Charles Booth in his home town of York. He found that 27% of York was in poverty which backed up the fact that poverty was a greater issue than initially anticipated. His findings in York showed that poverty was also a nationwide issue. Furthermore, he identified primary and secondary poverty which allowed the ‘deserving’ poor to be determined.
What was the Second Boer War?
This was a war fought over 3 years between the British army and the opposing army of farmers that were armed with only rifles. The length and struggle with this war made the government worry as the army had found such difficulty in defeating such a small and underarmed army. 25% of the volunteers for this war were rejected and this shows there was an issue with the public meeting the military requirements.
Why were the military requirements an issue?
There were minimal people meeting the requirements in place so the government had no choice but to change them. They lowered the height requirement from 5’3” to 5’. The lack of recruits caused fear for a war against an army that was equally equipped or sized. The government decided they had to improve the overall size and nutrition of the country as many people could not afford to eat a nutritional diet due to the large issue of poverty. They made changes to allow this but national security was not their main concern and this is proven through the introduction of acts such as the Old Age Pensions Act as the elderly were not going to volunteer or be recruited.
How would you evaluate national security?
The security of the nation may have been important during this time, but the numerous acts that the government brought in to improve the health of British citizens seemed more to be for the care of their health and the improvement of workers. Poor nutrition and health hindered the performance of workers in Britain and the government feared no longer being the dominant country as Germany and the USA were both growing rapidly.
What was municipal socialism?
This was the idea of using local government to further socialist aims. They would use tax to provide public services (transport, schools, water and gas.) Their efforts were seen as effective and so were influential in the planning of the Liberal Welfare Reforms.
What did Joseph Chamberlain do?
He was the mayor of Birmingham whilst it was a town and convinced the town to buy two gas companies. This was a huge success and once he had gained enough profit, Chamberlain bought a water company, this time focusing on the health of citizens rather than profit. In the next century the Liberals built on this idea. But, Chamberlain lost support after his failure of an improvement scheme as he failed to build enough replacement homes for the people whose city slums he knocked down for businesses and legal buildings. This shows that his influence was truly limited as he lost support and with that the interest of the Liberals.
What was the rise of Labour?
The Liberals were not seen to be prioritising planning for these reforms until the rise of Labour. They gained 18MPs within 6 years. Labour promised social and working conditions improvements and now with the working class voting, the Liberals feared loss of votes as Labour would cost them more votes than they would the Conservatives. They weren’t each other’s biggest competitor though and instead agreed to not run against one another in 30 constituencies which shows their greatest concern was actually the Conservatives as they aimed to prevent them gaining votes.
What was new Liberalism?
The idea of not avoiding government involvement and instead working on social issues. Lloyd George, Churchill and Asquith championed this as they moved to positions of leadership. The suggestion that this was the main reason for the Liberal welfare reforms is weak as most of them had been previously motivated by Chamberlain. On the other hand there were very little acts before 1908, which helps the arguments that these me were key in the influence of the reforms.
What are the reasons for your line of argument?
- They both found that poverty was a far greater issue than initially thought.
- Rowntree discovered that there were two types of poverty and allowed the government to determine who deserved their help - some caused their poverty as they earned enough but spent unwisely.
What is the balance for this essay?
- National Security - clearly wasn’t the main focus as acts were brought in completely unrelated to the cause e.g. Old Age Pension Act
- The Liberals strayed away from Chamberlain’s ideas when he lost support from his failed improvement scheme
- Conservatives were clearly the real competition as they teamed up with Labour
What are the factors in this essay?
- The Work of Booth and Rowntree
- National Security
- Municipal Socialism
- The Rise of Labour
- New Liberalism
What are the points for the Work of Booth and Rowntree?
- The finding of Charles Booth in London
- The finding of Seebohm Rowntree in York
