Why Libs Passed Social Welfare Reforms Flashcards
intro
During the early 19th century, the British Government (gov.) operated a ‘laissez-faire’ policy regarding social issues as many people in Britain believed that it was an individual’s own fault if they became poor and they should look after themselves. However, things started changing in 1906 when the Liberals came to power, with a focus on social welfare being part of their political agenda. Between 1906-1914, they introduced Social Welfare Reforms to address the rising concern of the extent of poverty in Britain. There were many reasons why the Liberals introduced social welfare reforms, such as new liberalism, Booth and Rowntree’s social surveys, fears over national security, and the rise of the Labour party and political advantage. This essay will argue that the social surveys were the most important reason the Liberals introduced social welfare reforms.
para 1 - KU
The first factor to be discussed is new liberalism. Liberalism originally stood for individual freedom with little gov. intervention. However, ‘New Liberals’ believed that gov. intervention was necessary to support those in need and that the gov. had a responsibility to do so. Social reform was not mentioned in the Liberal party manifesto in the 1906 election, which may be because their leader, Henry Campbell-Bannerman, had an ‘Old Liberal’ mindset. When he died in 1908, Herbert H. Asquith became Prime Minister, and reform started happening more fully.
para 1 - important A
It could be argued that new liberalism was important in the Liberal’s passing reforms as New Liberals proposed bills and pushed reforms through Parliament. Lloyd George and others truly believed that society should be fairer and that Britain would be more strong if this happened. Without New Liberals, it’s unlikely that there would’ve been any Liberal reforms at all.
para 1 - unimportant A
However, it could be argued that new liberalism wasn’t important as some say that they only introduced reforms for political advantage. The Reform Acts of 1832, 1867 and 1884 had changed British politics. Working class men (who could now vote) demanded that politicians listened to them, meaning that political parties had to deal with the poor’s concerns in order to get votes, even if they didn’t actually support them.
para 1 - E
Overall, new liberalism was important in the liberals passing reforms, but the social surveys were more important as new liberals were influenced by Booth and Rowntree’s findings, leading them to decide change was needed in parliament. This means that if it weren’t for the social surveys, new liberalism likely wouldn’t have happened and reforms wouldn’t have been passed through Parliament, suggesting that the social surveys were more important
para 2 - KU
The second factor to be discussed is Booth and Rowntree’s social surveys. At the end of the 19th century, multiple investigations were carried out highlighting the extent of poverty in Britain. Charles Booth partook in investigations from 1851-1903 that highlighted the high levels of poverty in the East End of London, finding that 35% of the city’s population lived in poverty. He argued that the extent of poverty was so bad that only the gov. could do something about it. Seebohm Rowntree, inspired by Booth’s work, carried out investigations into poverty in York. He published a report in 1901 showing 30% of York lived in poverty. Through his work, he drew up a ‘poverty line’ (the least amount a family could live on) and defined that there were two types of poverty - primary poverty where a family couldn’t afford basic necessities, and secondary poverty where a family earned enough to not fall into poverty but wasted it on items like alcohol.
para 2 - important A
It could be argued that the social surveys were important as they were vital in highlighting the extent of poverty in Britain for the first time. The surveys showed that poverty was inescapable, despite people’s best efforts. The surveys made people aware of poverty and provided written evidence of how the poorest in society lived.
para 2 - unimportant A
However, it could be argued that the social surveys weren’t important as Rowntree’s idea of ‘secondary poverty’ gave people opposed to helping the poor a reason not to. It allowed people to say that it was the poor’s fault they were poor. Booth and Rowntree raised awareness of poverty but not enough to stop it.
para 2 - E
Overall, the social surveys were the most important reason why the Liberals passed social reforms as Rowntree’s idea of primary poverty as well as the evidence that some families couldn’t afford basic essentials needed to survive created publicity and persuaded the Liberal gov. that action was needed. The surveys provided statistical evidence of the scale of poverty in Britain that the gov. couldn’t ignore, leading the Liberals to introduce social welfare reforms.
para 3 - Ku
The third factor to be discussed is fears over national security. In 1899, Britain became involved in the Boer War over the issue of British imperialism. Britain’s army was small and therefore required volunteers to fight for the country. When the war began, people rushed to sign up but almost 25% were rejected because they were physically unfit to serve. This worried the gov. and showed them that underlying issues, like poverty, impacted Britain’s ability to defend itself.
para 3 - important A
It could be argued that fears over national security were important as at the time, fears over national security were at the front of many politician’s minds. The suggestions of the 1904 Interdepartmental Committee on Physical Deterioration were implemented in the Liberal reforms and became Acts of Parliament, showing that fears over national security impacted reforms.
para 3 - unimportant A
However, it could be said that fears over national security weren’t important as the reforms partly undermined Britain’s war preparations as spending money on social policies took money from military spending, just as the arms race was increasing - which involved the building of the Dreadnoughts.
para 3 - E
Overall, fears over national security were important in the passing of reforms but the social surveys were more important as, although many of the reforms were targeted at young people who could serve the country if war with Germany did occur (e.g. health inspections,) a lot of reforms wouldn’t have helped Britain win a war, suggesting that national security wasn’t the only reason that reforms were passed. The social surveys, including Booth’s argument that if the gov. did nothing about poverty then Britain would risk a socialist revolution, ultimately lead to the Liberals passing reforms.
para 4 - KU
The final factor to be discussed is the rise of Labour and party advantage. From 1884, following the 1884 Representation of the People Act, most working class men could vote. As a result, the Liberals wanted to gain as many votes as they could so they could get into, and remain in, power. The Liberals faced increased competition from the Labour party who were also fighting to gain votes. The Labour Representation Committee, formed in 1900, gave working class men an original voice for the first time. Labour also offered a variety of policies targeted towards the working class, including better housing and an eight-hour work day.
para 4 - important A
It could be argued that the rise of Labour was important as some historians believe that Liberal politicians’ need for an advantage over Labour drove them to introduce reforms. Many agree that the growing voice of the working class resulted in the Liberals introducing reforms to have advantage over Labour, rather than for the benefit of the British people.
para 4 - unimportant A
However, it can be argued that the rise of Labour wasn’t important as it’s too simple to say that the Liberals only passed reforms to beat Labour. In the 1906 General Election, the Liberal manifesto made almost no mention of social reform, therefore working class voters must not of been voting for the Liberals with the hope of far-reaching reforms that would help most of the country.
para 4 - E
Overall, Labour’s rise and party advantage was important in social reforms being passed but wasn’t as important as the social surveys as in 1910, the Liberals were the party with the most working class support, suggesting they had no reason to see Labour as a threat since they remained the main choice for poorer voters. The social surveys were more important as they showed the public that poverty was a widespread problem across the UK, not just in London, showing that national action was needed.
para 5 - KU
Another factor is municipal socialism. In the second half od the 19th century, there was an increase in intervention by gov. bodies, both local and national, and as a result the public became used to the gov. intervening in their lives. Improvements were carried out by municipal (local) authorities, paid for by local taxation, with the aim of improvijg the lives of the people living there. City authorities across the country spent money improving services - hospitals were established and attemots to improve hosuing were made. In the 1850s, The Glasgow Town Council hah control of the city water supply, and by 1859 the city’s population were receiving clean piped water from Loch Katrine.
para 5 - important A
It could be argued that this was important because multiple local councils across Britian introduced social reforms which helped improve the lives of people in poorer communities. The success of these reforms showed that the national gov. Could do the same.
para 5 - unimportant A
However, it could be argued that this wasn’t important as this delayed national action by only giving small areas help in areas which needed it most. In addition, not all local councils participated in these social reforms, meaning their impact was limited.
para 5 - E
Overall, municipal socialism was important in passing the liberal reformsas it proved that gov. intervention (albeit local) could benefit citizens, however, the social suverys were more important as they layed the groundwork for this discovery by finding that gov. intervention was needed to tackle poverty and persuaded the Liberal gov. of the need for gov. action through statistical evidence that the gov. simply couldn’t ignore.
conclusion
In conclusion, the social surveys of Booth and Rowntree were the most important reason for the Liberals passing social welfare reforms. The surveys were more important than fears over national security because new liberals had been influenced by the findings of the social surveys, showing that if it weren’t for the surveys, new liberalism wouldn’t have happened and therefore reforms wouldn’t have been passed. The social surveys were more important than fears over national security as some of the reforms, such as Old Age Pension, wouldn’t have helped Britain win a war, meaning that there had to be other reasons for the reforms being passed - the social surveys were this reason. Finally, the social surveys were more important than the rise of Labour as the Liberal’s were the most popular party for poorer people in Britain, showing that Labour wasn’t that much of a threat to them and that the surveys were more important as they showed that national action was needed to stop poverty.
