Topic Two - Creating a Welfare State 1918-1979 Flashcards
What is Welfare Provision?
- aid given in the form of money or necessities to those in need
- usually given to the old, young, sick or poor
What was the welfare state like in 1918?
- cannot be described as a true welfare state
- a ‘social service state’
- welfare reforms were far from universal
What is the Poor Law?
- a system of relief for the poor
- a clear distinction between the ‘deserving’ poor and the ‘underserving’ able-bodied poor
- workhouses a prominent part of Poor Law
What was the Poor Law replaced with?
Eventually replaced with The Welfare State in 1948 - after WW2
How did Housing provision change from the mid-Victorian era?
Local and National government had made efforts to improve housing
Why had there been a lot of slum clearance before 1918?
there had been concerns that slums promoted crime and disease
What major improvement was made in urban living standards from 1918?
the introduction of mains water and sewerage to homes
By how much did the amount of homes in Manchester with flushing toilets change from 1899 to 1914?
1899 - 1.4% of houses in Manchester had flushing toilets
1914 - 98% of houses in Manchester had flushing toilets
Why was the 1919 House and Town Planning Act introduced?
the government had promised returning soliders a ‘home for heroes’
What was the aim of the 1919 House and Town Planning Act?
- aimed to empower local authorities to use central government funds to meet housing requirements
How did the 1919 House and Town Planning Act fail?
- 600,000 estimated to be needed
- only 213,000 built before recession hit
What was the longer term impact of the failure of the 1919 House and Town Planning Act?
- ## the housing shortage grew worse as a result of the failure of the Act
What was the estimated shortfall of houses in 1923 because of the failure of the 1919 House and Town Planning Act?
shortfall of 822,000 houses in 1923
What acts were introduced to promote house building in Britain in the early 1920s?
- Conservative and Labour Housing Act in 1923 and 1924
- a further Labour Act in 1930
How did the Conservative and Labour Housing Acts in 1923/24 promote house building?
sought to use subsidies to encourage the construction of housing
How many homes were built between 1919 and 1940?
4 million - house building had been promoted by the Labour Act in 1930
What were public funds in the 1930’s used to do?
relocate people living in overcrowded areas
Where were the majority of public sector homes located?
- large cities
- e.g. Manchester and Liverpool
At which housing estate was there nearly disaster because of lack of jobs?
- the huge Becontree Estate
- a Ford factory was built nearby in 1931 and prevented disaster
What did unemployment peak at and when?
over 3 million in the early 1930s
What did unemployment never fall below in the interwar years?
one million (10%)
When was the self-funding National Insurance Scheme implemented?
- introduced in 1911
Who was not eligible for the National Insurance Scheme?
3.5 million troops returning from WW1
What difficult situation developed because of the troops inability to access the National Insurance Scheme?
- it would take time to redesign the scheme
- those who had fought in the War were left to rely on The Poor Law
What alternative was proposed to the National Insurance Scheme which would include troops?
- the government would hand out dole money
- dole money was to be paid out of general taxation
Why were the government resistant to handing out dole money?
- feared that this would encourage reliance on the state
What was the short-term solution to the failure of the National Insurance Scheme?
- dole money would be issued under a different name
- ‘The Out of Work Donation’
When was the ‘Out of Work Donation’ implemented?
1918-1920
Altough it was meant to be temporary, what two important precedents did the ‘out of work donation’ set?
- the Goovernment had a duty to support the unemployed
- Provided more money for dependents
What was the long term solution to the failings of the National Insurance Scheme?
Unemployment Insurance Act
What was the Unemployment Insurnace Act?
the idea that increasing the number of workers covered by insurance would eventually make the scheme self-funding
When was the Unemployment Insurance Act passed?
1920
Why was the Unemployment Insurance Act a failure?
- passed just as the post-war slump began to take ahold of Britain
When and why was the government forced to make extended payments for the Unemployment Insurance Act?
- by 1921
- they feared a revolution
Why did the government fear a revolution?
- Over 2.4 million workers had taken part in strikes in 1919
When and why was a ‘Seeking work test’ implemented in Britain?
- March 1921
- to limit the expense of dole payments being paid out and disguised as insurance under the Unemployment Insurance Act
What was the imapct of the ‘Seeking work test’?
By March 1930 - 3 million claims had been rejected because of the test
What did The Unemployment Act do?
seperated the treatment of ‘insurable’ from long-term unemployment
What was Part I of The Unemployment Act?
- Provided 26 weeks of benefit payments to workers who paid into the scheme
How many workers paid into Part 1 of the Unemployment Act?
14.5 million
What was Part II of the Unemployment Act?
Created an Unemployment Assistant Board to help people with no insurance benefits
How many people had the Unemployment Assistant Board (UAB) helped by 1937?
1 million
Did the government solve unemployment in the inter-war years?
- No - couldn’t stimulate economic growth
What event finally tackled unemployment in Britain?
- Re-armament in the build up to WW2 eventually solved the issue
When were state pensions introduced and by who?
- by the 1908 Pensions Act introduced by Neville Chamberlain (Minister for Health)
Why were State Pensions criticised?
- they were popular with those eligible over 70
- But they were criticised as they were means tested
- they did not support the widows and children of the deceased
