Section One: Chapter 3 Flashcards
What was societal structure like in 1906
still divided roughly into 3 classes
- upper class = wealthy landowners whose families had dominated society for gernations + new addition of factory owners etc
- middle class = upper middle class was either factory owners/entrepreneurs etc while the lower middle class consisted of non manual employees (shop assistants etc)
- working class = various forms of manual work, made up around 75% of the population
Outline Charles booths work on poverty
first to carry out scientific estimates of poverty in 1889
- interviewed 4000 people + concluded the extent of poverty in London was closer to 30.7% (unemployed, unable to afford shelter,food etc) than the gov estimate of 25%
- rowntree concluded the main cause of this unemployment was economic
Outline rowntree’s work on poverty
built on Charles Booth’s work
- investigated poverty in York + found 28% of yorks population was also living below the poverty line
- concluded that people need to earn21 shillings a week in order to stay above the poverty line
What were the overall conclusions of both rowntree and booth on poverty
people could fall into poverty through factors beyond their control
- they argued it was not the weakness of the individual (idleness/wastefulness) that caused poverty but economic forces: irregular work, low wages, sickness etc
- the findings from both men contributed to the growth of new liberalism
What were the new taxes introduced in the budget of 1909 and why were they necessary
necessary to pay for the expensive liberal social reforms (which would cost around 16 million)
- DLG, chancellor of exchequer introduced reforms designed to tax the rich
- income tax on a sliding scale - known as ‘progressive taxation’
- tax on cars according to horsepower
- an inheritance tax on estates worth over £5000
- it became known as the ‘peoples budget’ (met resistance in the hol)
What were the reasons for the liberal governments social and welfare legislation
at the start of the 20th century, there was virtually no state provision for the poor because of the policy of ‘laissez faire’
- for many, the ‘poor law’ remained their last resort, offering ‘outdoor relief paid to the needy or the parish workhouse.
What liberal social reform was introduced in 1906
education act (provision of meals)
- local authorities given power to provide free school meals for needy children
- enabled hungry children to concentrate more + learn better.
- 1914 - 14 million free school meals a year were bring provided
- however, it was permissive and not compulsory
What liberal social reform was introduced in 1908
- old age pensions act + children’s act (made parental neglect illegal)
-provided a pension of 5 shillings a week for single persons - scheme was non contributory, so paid out of general taxation, enabled those too ashamed of being labelled ‘pauper’ to get help
- however, only paid to the elderly poor, the amount was on a ‘sliding scale’ so only eh poorest got the full amount. + pensioners had to be of ‘good character’
What liberal social reforms was introduced in 1909
- trade boards - boards set up to fix minimum wages + inspect conditions in certain trades.
- initially covered 200,000 but there were too few inspectors to enforce rigorously
- labour exchanges - set up places where workers looking for a job and employers looking for workers could meet. 2 million workers were registered by 1914. But it was staminate that for every worker that found a job, 3 did not
What liberal social reforms was introduced in 1911
- national insurance (unemployment) act and national insurance (sickness act)
- the national insurance sickness act included a state organised compulsory scheme by which workers + employees paid weekly into a national fund.
- it covered around 13 million workers + the scheme paid out a weekly sickness benefit of 10 shillings a week for 13 weeks
- however, it only covered workers aged 16-60
What other liberal social reforms was introduced from 1906-11
- merchant shipping act
- shops act (1911)
- coal mines act (1908 +1911) - improved safety regulations + reduced working day to 8 hours
What were the positive effects of the liberal social and welfare reforms
- the liberals did as they had intended - created a basis minimum
- Churchill called this a ‘lifebelt’
- most poor families gained something from the legislation introduced
What were the negative effects of the liberal social and welfare reforms
- there was no reform to education
- housing remained in short supply despite some slum clearance
- no attempt to reform the poor law
