Social and Cultural Developments

Question 1

Give examples of social welfare reforms

Answer 1

• 1924: the Public Assistance system, which provided help to the poor and destitute, was modernised.
• 1925: the state accident insurance system, introduced by Bismarck to help those injured at work, was extended to cover those suffering from occupational diseases.
• 1927: a national unemployment insurance system was introduced to provide benefits for the unemployed, financed by contributions from workers and employers.

Question 2

List the problems with social welfare

Answer 2

• very expensive: in 1926, the state was supporting 800,000 disabled war veterans, 360,000 war widows and over 900,000 war orphans.
  -> along with old age pensions.
• welfare system needed a large and expensive bureaucracy to administer it.
  -> taxes increased after 1924 but there was a limit to how much the better-off were prepared to pay for welfare expenses.
  -> led to those administering benefits to use methods to limit expenditure.
  -> E.g. mean tests were tightened up and there was an increase in delays in paying benefits.
  -> those in need of support, including large numbers of war veterans and families, felt they were being humiliated by the welfare system.
  -> undermined their support for the Weimar Rep.