Why was the Welfare Consensus Increasingly Challenged in the 1960s and 70s?

Question 1

Factor 1: Increasing Cost

Cost Increases

Answer 1

Post war baby boom
Life-expectancy increased (64-74 women, 59-69 men)
Provision extended to new social groups
Growth in bureaucracy- so wage bill

Question 2

Factor 1: Increasing Cost

Challenges

Answer 2

Many, esp right wing, argued gov had to curb spending
Tax and spend approach based on full employment self-funding welfare, but high unemployment undermined this

Question 3

Factor 1: Increasing Cost

Statistics

Answer 3

Cost in 1939 had been 0.6% of GNP, risen to 8.8% by 1970
Deficit reached £800 million by 1970s
Inflation increased- 25% by 1975

Question 4

Factor 2: Right-Wing Challenges

Attitudes

Answer 4

Conservatives - Sir Keith Joseph - argued the welfare state restricted freedoms
Argued the state was the enemy of individual freedom, so growth in welfare negative- more money in tax from rich to support poor

Question 5

Factor 3: Welfare, Efficiency, and Inflation

Efficiency

Answer 5

Joseph + right-wing members of the Institute of Economic Affairs opposed welfare- led to economic inefficiency
Argued gov spending was less efficient than private businesses + contributed to economic inefficiency

Question 6

Factor 3: Welfare, Efficiency, and Inflation

Inflation

Answer 6

Joseph argued welfare spending required borrowing- inflation
In response to inflation, welfare spending was increased- this exacerbated the issue
Claimed only was to break cycle was by cutting gov spending, esp on welfare

Question 7

Factor 4: Welfare and Dependency

Dependency Culture

Answer 7

Radical Conservatives (Joseph + Thatcher) claimed welfare created a ‘culture of dependency’, encouraging people to live on benefits
Argued it promoted economic decline- people gave up work

Question 8

Factor 4: Welfare and Dependency

Poverty

Answer 8

Argued it perpetuated poverty- content to live on small handouts

Question 9

Factor 4: Welfare and Dependency

Moral Problem

Answer 9

Argued it created a moral problem- robbed recipients of self-respect gained through work, initiative, and independence
Claimed it created an underclass

Question 10

Factor 5: Opponents of Welfare

Media

Answer 10

Not just Conservative Party
Press- Times, Telegraph, Financial Times- criticised excessive welfare spending

Question 11

Factor 5: Opponents of Welfare

Public

Answer 11

W/c and m/c saw welfare as an issue- opposed higher taxes
Many w/c aspiration, less class loyalty
Generational shift- less likely to hold collectivist values

Question 12

Factor 5: Opponents of Welfare

Election Campaign

Answer 12

Conseravtives in election presented welfare as bad for the recipient, the economy, and society
So consensus was abandoned