The Liberal Reforms

Question 1

When was School Medical Inspections introduced, who was it for and what was it?

Answer 1

1907
Children
Local authorities could introduce a series of free medical tests for children in schools.

Question 2

When was the Education Act introduced, who was it for and what was it?

Answer 2

1907
Children
Gave poor children the opportunity to go to school for free.

Question 3

When was the Children’s Act introduced, who was it for and what was it?

Answer 3

1908
Children
It provided protection for children. It was a legal requirement to look after children properly and authorities were given power to intervene in cases of child abuse.

Question 4

When was the Pensions Act introduced, who was it for and what was it?

Answer 4

1908
The elderly
Provided a small pension for everybody aged 70 or above.

Question 5

When was the Labour Exchanges Act introduced, who was it for and what was it?

Answer 5

1909
The unemployed
Labour exchanges were set up to help the unemployed find work.

Question 6

When was the National Insurance Act pt 1 introduced, who was it for and what was it?

Answer 6

1911
Workers (sickness and low pay)
Gave workers the right to free medical treatment and sick pay (10s per week for 26 weeks) if they paid 4d per week.

Question 7

When was School Medical Inspections introduced, who was it for and what was it?

Answer 7

1912
Children
Free medical treatment was given to school children.

Question 8

When was the National Insurance Act pt 2 introduced, who was it for and what was it?

Answer 8

1912
Workers (sickness and low pay)
Gave workers the right to unemployment pay (7s 6d per week for 15 weeks) if they paid 2.5d per week.

Question 9

What were the positive effects of Free School Meals?

Answer 9

Schools meals rose from 9 million to 14 million in 1914.
Local authorities were given a grant from the treasury to fund 50% of the cost of the meals.
Publicly-funded welfare service was set up to replace charity involvement.

Question 10

What were the positive effects of School Medical Inspections?

Answer 10

School boards could act against parents who sent their children into school sick.

Question 11

What were the positive effects of the Education Act?

Answer 11

Grammar schools received money to reserve 25% of places for poor children.

Question 12

What were the positive effects of the Children’s Act?

Answer 12

Penalties were imposed on ships for selling tobacco or alcohol to children.
Child begging was outlawed.

Question 13

What were the positive effects of the Pensions Act?

Answer 13

People over 70 with an annual income of £21-£31 would get 1-5s pension per week.
By 1914, 1 million people were receiving pensions.

Question 14

What were the positive effects of the Labour Exchanges Act?

Answer 14

There were 83 labour exchanges operating by February 1910.
430 Labour Exchanges were operating by 1913.
By 1914, 3000 people were given work every day from Labour Exchanges.

Question 15

What were the positive effects of the National Insurance Act pt 1?

Answer 15

Provided compulsory health insurance for workers earning under £160 per year.
Employee paid 4d, the employer 3d and the state 2d per week.
Free medical treatment was offered.
Maternity benefit of 30s was offered.

Question 16

What were the positive effects of School Clinics?

Answer 16

Free medical treatment was given to school children.

Question 17

What were the positive effects of the National Insurance Act pt 2?

Answer 17

Workers paid 2.5d, employees 2d and the state 3d per week.
Many trades were involved with this Act.
The scheme were compulsory for trades.
After 1 week of unemployment, the worker would get 7s per week for 15 weeks.

Question 18

When was Free School Meals introduced, who was it for and what was it?

Answer 18

1906
Children
This allowed local authorities to provide free meals to children who qualified.

Question 19

What were the limitations of Free School Meals?

Answer 19

By 1914, less than half of authorities had no school meal service - it was an optional service for authorities.

Question 20

What were the limitations of School Medical Inspections?

Answer 20

Doctors could recommend treatment, but parents had to pay for the necessary treatment.

Question 21

What were the limitations of the Education Act?

Answer 21

Children were chosen for scholarships through an entrance exam, poorer children were less educated, so didn’t do well in these exams.

Question 22

What were the limitations of the Pensions Act?

Answer 22

There were conditions:
People had to be British and have lived in the UK for over 20 years,
People had to have not been imprisoned in the last 10 years,
People had to have not avoided work,
People had to have avoided detention under the Inebriates Act in the last 10 years.
Many pensioners had no birth certificates, so couldn’t prove their age.

Question 23

What were the limitations of the Labour Exchanges Act?

Answer 23

You’re not guaranteed an ideal job - most jobs advertised were low-paid and/or seasonal.

Question 24

What were the limitations of the National Insurance Act pt 1?

Answer 24

The employee had to pay 4d per week out of their wages.

Question 25

What were the limitations of the National Insurance Act pt 2?

Answer 25

Workers had to register at a Labour Exchange to receive benefit.
If dismissed for conduct, no benefit was paid.

Question 26

What were the attitudes to the poor before 1900?

Answer 26

It’s was believe that if people were poor, it was their fault.
The only help for the poor was Workhouses - there was lots of stigma surrounding these.
There was no unemployment benefit.
There were no pensions - old people without savings or family usually ended up in the workhouse.
Many people couldn’t afford doctors or medicine.
Large numbers of people were malnourished. Out of all the men recruited for the Boer War, 50% were malnourished.
Housing in poor areas were poor, so people became ill, so couldn’t work and lost their jobs.

Question 27

Who was Rowntree?

Answer 27

Social reformer
Published ‘Poverty, a Study of Town Life’ in 1930
Found that in York 28% of the population were living below the poverty line.

Question 28

Who was Booth?

Answer 28

Social reformer
Published ‘Life and Labour of the People’ in 1889
Found that the main causes of poverty were unemployment and low wages.
Found that 30% of people in London were living in poverty.

Question 29

Why did poverty become a political issue?

Answer 29

Social reformer - such as Rowntree and Booth were rich, so had influence within the government.
The Boer War - 75% of men who volunteered for the army were unfit.
Germany - had a good system of state welfare for workers and was passing Britain as a great industrial power.
The growth of trade unionism - politicians feared that workers may turn to Communism or rebellion if standard of living didn’t improve.
The Labour Party were growing stronger - it was attracting working class votes.
In the 1906 election, the Liberals had a landslide victory over the Conservatives; in 1910 the Liberal Party didn’t get a majority, so had a coalition with 42 Labour MPs.

Question 30

What did the Old Liberals (before 1900) believe?

Answer 30

Laissez-faire - the government shouldn’t interfere.

Self-help - if the poor want to improve their lives they should work harder and save more.

Question 31

What did the New Liberals (after 1900) believe?

Answer 31

Interventionism - duty of the government to help the poor.

State help - it’s not the poor’s fault that they’re poor, so they should be helped.

Question 32

Why were Lloyd George and Churchill significant?

Answer 32

New Liberals

Worked hardest to drive bills through to help the poor.

Question 33

What was the 1909 People’s Budget?

Answer 33

Raised duties on tobacco and spirits, raised income tax by 16% and introduced 20% tax on profits from selling land to help pay for the reforms - the idea was put forwarded by Lloyd George, but put in place by Asquith.

Question 34

What was the Parliament Act 1911?

Answer 34

When the House of Lords refused to pass the People’s Budget, an Act was passed which stated that the House of Lords couldn’t refuse a bill passed 3 times in parliament and there would be a general election every 5 years, instead of 7.

Question 35

What were the positive effects of the Liberal Reforms?

Answer 35

First time national taxes were used to help the poor.
The idea of state help was introduced.
The scheme was introduced across the country.
The reforms didn’t have the same stigma as the Poor Laws (workhouses).

Question 36

What were the negative effects of the Liberal Reforms?

Answer 36

There were limitations to the reforms.
Workhouses weren’t abolished until 1930.
Hardly any of the reforms benefitted the whole nation.