Reasons why the Liberals introduced Social welfare reforms Flashcards
Essay plan
Intro - arguing for social investigators
P1 - Social Investigators
P2 - Impact of New Liberals
P3 - National Security and efficiency
P4 - Rise of Labour/fear of other political parties.
P1 - Social Investigators - Points of KU
- Booth and Rowntree investigated poverty in areas such as York and London and came to the conclusion that the cause of poverty was not ‘inborn’ and was actually due to reasons outside of the poor peoples control. The investigations in London revealed that ⅓ of London’s population lived in poverty.
- By collecting evidence Booth and Rowntree made a supported claim that poverty was not caused by lifestyle choices and bad habits, like gambling, smoking, drinking, but was caused by problems like illness, unemployment, low pay and children.
P2 - Impact of New Liberals - Points of KU
- Traditionally, the views of the Liberals were views such as ‘laissez faire’ But the early 20th century saw the growth of a New Liberal philosophy which argued for government intervention to tackle the problem of poverty was changing attitudes. The New liberals drew on the work of Hobhouse and Green who had argued the old Liberal tradition of laissez faire could no longer cope with the demands of modern Britain and argued for positive freedom and government intervention.
- New liberals that were included in this type of thinking included: Asquith, Churchill and Lloyd George, who all played a major role in the reforms, who all took up 3 major roles: Asquith became PM, Churchill became President of the board of trades (and future PM) and Lloyd George became Chancellor
P3 - National security and efficiency - KU
- Concerns regarding national Efficiency/security were raised by the Boer war - 25% of volunteers for the army were unfit for service. This problem was much worse in urban areas as one General claimed 2 ⁄ 3 of volunteers from Manchester were virtual invalids.
- This created a panic throughout the UK which initiated for the Government to take immediate action so much so that in 1904 the government commissioned reports into the problems of ill health, their subsequent findings reinforced those of Booth and Rowntree’s.
P4 - Rise of labour/fear of political parties - KU
- Some historians claim political pragmatism lay behind reform. By the early 20th century ⅔ of all adult males had the vote. The electorate was overwhelmingly working class - those most affected by poverty.
- By 1900 the Labour Party was beginning to be established. By the 1906 election it had won 29 seats, all from urban areas with a significant working-class population.
Social Investigators Evaluation KU
This is also supported by the fact that Rowntree was friends with leading new Liberals like Lloyd George, who as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1908 was behind many of the reforms introduced to address the problems identified by Rowntrees studies.
New Liberals Evaluation KU
However their amount of action is arguable as the liberals had no planned programme for Social welfare reforms which could indicate a lack of action.
National Security and Efficiency Evaluation KU
The Germans had a long established welfare programme from the 1880s onwards. Lloyd George studied the German system and used it as a blueprint for reforms such as National Insurance and Old Age Pensions.
Rise of Labour/fear of other political parties Evaluation KU
. In evaluation, while the fear of other parties did play somewhat of a role, evident in Lloyd George stating “It is time we did something to appeal to the people, it will help to stop this electoral rot”. Yet, as the Liberals did not mention social reforms in the election manifesto, there is not enough clear evidence that pressure from other parties were a major driving force, and therefore, not more important than the role of Booth and Rowntree.
