the elderly reforms

Question 1

what had prompted calls for help to the elderly

Answer 1

• social reformers such as Charles Booth, supported by radical politicans such as Joseph Chamberlain (conservative).
• chamberlain had argued in his proposals for tariff reform that the funds raised would go towards pensions in 1903

Question 2

what year was the old age pensions act

Answer 2

1908

Question 3

detail the old age pensions act

Answer 3

• those over 70 were given 5 shillings (25p) per week for an income of less than £21
• payments were only made to those with an income of less than £31 per year
• was on a sliding scale for incomes between £21-£31
• married couples could only claim 7s and 6d- assumed living costs for a couple would be cheaper than two single people

Question 4

why wouldnt you receive a pension

Answer 4

• under 70
• earned more than £31
• you had been to prison in the last 10 years- so convicts may struggle
• claimed poor relief in the last year
• not worked regularly

Question 5

impact of old age pensions

Answer 5

• by 1914, 970,000 elderly people had claimed their pensions
• led to two major changes- a new attitude of the responsibility of the state, and a realisation that state welfare needed to be linked to contributory insurance