Success of Liberals

Question 1

List of factors

Answer 1

The young
The elderly
The sick
The unemployed

Question 2

The young

Answer 2

• Not long after school became mandatory, Labour argued that because attendance was mandatory, they should ensure that the children were well fed.
• Led to the introduction of the Provision of School Meals Act in 1906, which allowed councils to raise tax in their area to pay for free school meals.
• Children’s many health problems needed addressing, so the Liberal government introduced mandatory medical inspections for school children in 1907.
• However, treatments for any issues identified during these examinations was not covered, so poor children had no way of paying for treatment.

Question 3

The elderly

Answer 3

• Many of Britain’s elderly had no money to put into a pension, so had to work ‘till they dropped.’ David Lloyd George decided that pensions would have to be introduced.
• In 1908, Old Age Pensions Act was passed, which meant that by 1914, nearly 1,000,000 elderly people were receiving a weekly pension.
• The act gave people over 70 a weekly income of between one and five shillings, married couples received seven shillings and six pence, and pensioners with an income of over 60 pence received no pension.
• People over a certain age now received an income from the government which meant they could spend their last years poverty-free.
• However, pensions went to people aged over 70, when the life expectancy in 1911 was 49 for a man and 50 for a woman, which meant that the majority of people never lived to receive their pension.

Question 4

The sick

Answer 4

• In the early 1900s there was no free healthcare and people didn’t earn money while sick. In 1911, the National Insurance Act was passed based on a similar scheme in Germany. This brought with it the ‘sick pay’ scheme.
• This meant that those who fell ill could avoid missing food or losing their home, and could even afford proper treatment for their illness.
• Another aspect of the NI act meant that those receiving sick pay would also receive access to basic healthcare and treatment as well.
• This made treatment widely available for common and treatable conditions like tuberculosis.
• However, healthcare included with sick pay only applied to the workers themselves - meaning that if any of their relatives fell ill, they still had to pay.

Question 5

The unemployed

Answer 5

• Unemployment meant no money to pay for food or rent. Luckily, the second part of the NI act of 1911 created unemployment insurance, which meant that workers payed a little each week but received a larger amount for 15 weeks per year if they lost their job.
• Unemployment insurance alone helped many people lift themselves out of unemployment and therefore poverty.
• However it was only available to those working in engineering, construction and shipbuilding, meaning the majority of workers weren’t covered.
• In 1909, Labour Exchanges were introduced. These were places that the unemployed could go to see nearby job listings, so they didn’t have to go to workplaces to seek employment.
• This was a success as it made finding work a lot easier for the unemployed and by 1914, 3,000 people were finding work through Labour exchanges each day.