Reasons liberal reforms were introduced - Social Campaigners Flashcards
Knowledge Point One
Before reports by Charles Booth, a businessman, and Sebolm Rowntree, a factory owner, were published, the majority of upper class people in Britain were unaware of the living conditions poor people faced or of the scale of poverty in Britain.
Knowledge Point Two
Booth found that 35% of people in London suffered from poverty, and helped to come up with the amount each family required to avoid this, while Rowntree found 30% of people in York also suffered from poverty.
Positive Analysis
Demonstrated to the government the severity and extent of poverty that many people in Britain faced, when the majority of people were unaware. This gave evidence to the government that this was a real problem that needed to be addressed and contributed to the pulling away from the ‘laissez - faire’ ideology and the introduction of support towards the poor.
Negative Analysis
Factor was less important in contributing to the introduction of liberal social reforms as Rowntree’s report included discussion of ‘secondary poverty’. This many that some poor families had enough money to live on, but wasted it on unessential items like alcohol and cigarettes. This gave the idea to some people opposed to helping the poor that it was their fault, and therefore reduced the impact the surveys had on the introduction of Liberal reforms.
Evaluation
social surveys did have somewhat of an influence on the introduction of liberal reforms as they were able to raise awareness of poverty and provide evidence to the government that for the majority of cases, it was not poor people’s faults that they were poor, however didn’t actually motivate the governent to do anything about it. New liberals were more important because they actually fought to introduce reforms.
