1 / 7

The Labour Welfare Reforms 1945 - 1951

The Labour Welfare Reforms 1945 - 1951. Background info, including WW2. Social Welfare before 1945. Legacy of Liberal welfare reforms, 1906 – 1914 Move away from individualism to collectivism Acceptance of need for government to intervene, to address social problems

katharinel
Download Presentation

The Labour Welfare Reforms 1945 - 1951

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Labour Welfare Reforms 1945 - 1951 Background info, including WW2

  2. Social Welfare before1945 Legacy of Liberal welfare reforms, 1906 – 1914 • Move away from individualism to collectivism • Acceptance of need for government to intervene, to address social problems • BUT – only certain sections of society benefited; only intended for the poorest; some benefits means-tested ie had to prove poverty

  3. Legacy of Liberal welfare reforms, 1906 – 1914 • National Insurance – expanded over the years to be available to most manual workers • Unemployment Assistance Board created to help address unemployment • Old Age Pensions – increased amount • Large-scale government investment in housing eg 700,000 council houses built between 1931 and 1939 • Free milk, free school meals, many government –funded schools

  4. Influence of WW2 • Conservative-led coalition government had to control all aspects of life  greater acceptance of state intervention for all (not just the poor) • Higher taxation (50%) to pay for war effort • War Socialism – creation of new government departments / bureaucracy • Public’s assumption that: - pre-war poverty unacceptable - deserve ‘reward’ of a better Britain

  5. Influence of WW2 • Unifying aspect of WW2 – all classes worked together for war effort; all classes suffered effects of bombing / loss of loved ones; middle classes shocked by poor condition of evacuees • Beveridge Report 1942 – massively popular with the public (635,000 copies sold); chimed with the desire for a better (post-war) Britain; Churchill less keen

  6. Beveridge’s 5 Giants WANT (poverty) DISEASE(health) IDLENESS (unemployment) IGNORANCE (education) SQUALOR (bad housing)

  7. Conservative-led Coalition Government’s response • Proposal of a national health service • Acceptance of need for government intervention to regulate labour market • Proposal for comprehensive insurance scheme • Education Act 1944 • Family Allowances Act 1945

More Related