THE WELFARE STATE - Fortrose Academy History 福利国家福特罗斯书院史

The Five Giants



Beveridge talked about the need to tackle the 5 giants but his report only dealt with want. Other problems were: Disease Idleness Ignorance Squalor
Churchill’s Government

Took over during Britain’s “darkest hour” Failure at Dunkirk affected Britain’s morale Labour MPs played a prominent role in Churchill’s cabinet: Attlee; Bevin; Morrison; Greenwood; Dalton and Alexander
THE WELFARE STATE
1. World War II and the Beveridge Report
The War: Evacuation




Evacuation of cities began in Sep 1939 1.5 million children were evacuated Children were mainly from poor inner-city areas 20% of Liverpool’s evacuated children had lice Many children had little knowledge of sanitary habits Neville Chamberlain felt “ashamed of having been so ignorant of [his] neighbours”
The War: equality of sacrifice


Both rich and poor suffered from bombs 61,000 civilians lost their lives to bombs 4M homes were destroyed Rationing applied to everyone, regardless of social class Total war mean women and men of all classes did war work - together
Quotes – civil servants/MPs


“A dangerous optimism is growing up about the conditions it will be possible to establish here after the war…” Churchill “It is because we are convinced that the nation wants this plan and that the nation ought to get it, and that we can afford it, that we have put down this amendment” Griffiths (Labour)
Three White Papers



White papers are proposed Bills of Parliament Educational Reconstruction (July ’43) National Health Service (Feb ’44) Social Insurance (Sep ’44) These proposals laid the principals of the Welfare State, with two becoming law before the end of WWII
Family Allowance Act (1945)




Churchill’s “caretaker” government brought in family allowance Was to prevent a drop in the birth rate Provided 5s per week for each child after the first Very small amount of money even by 1940s standards Allowance was the legal entitlement of the wife
Quotes - Historians


“the Luftwaffe was a powerful missionary for the welfare state” AJP Taylor “the true freedom lay in freedom from want, from disease, from ignorance, from squalor and from idleness. Here in the totality of the vision, was the revolutionary element of the Beveridge Report” D.Fraser
Churchill’s response


Churchill was pre-occupied with winning the war The impression of the time was that the govt. did not want to discuss the Report Churchill spoke on radio about a national insurance scheme that would protect people from the “cradle to the grave” but did not mention Beveridge’s recommendations The Conservatives lost a lot of support in ’43 elections
Battle against Ignorance


1944 war time coalition passed Education Act which Labour then introduced. Leaving age up from 14 to 15. All children get secondary education without paying fees. 11+ ( “Qualie” ) decided future between grammar & secondary modern. ( senior & junior secondary in Scotland ) Big criticism was that secondary moderns offered an inferior education & future opportunities.
Social Policies



National Milk Scheme: set up in June ’40. Granted nursing and expectant mothers halfprice milk. Eventually very poor women would be granted free milk. Provision of school milk & meals: school meals and milk became free for all pupils Immunisation: From 1941 all children could be immunised free of charge – infant mortality levels were greatly affected
The Beveridge Report 1942



Officially known as the Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services Sold 635,000 copies Dealt with social issues of the time and was to help reform the social security system Aimed to put an end to the dreaded means test
Battle against Want




Lab. Passed 1946 National Insurance Benefits were set up for unemployment, sickness, maternity and widows. Now there was a comprehensive insurance scheme for sickness & unemployment benefit, retirement & widows’ pensions and maternity grants. All adults of working age paid weekly contributions – supplemented by employers and the state. Old age pensions although costly were also brought in for women aged 60 and men 65 The Industrial injuries Act provide payments to those temporarily hurt and long term payments for those put permanently out of a job In 1948 a National Assistance Board was set up to help those for whom insurance did not do enough eg pensioners whose pensions did not keep up with the rise in cost of living.
Social policies (continued)

State nurseries: set up so that women could return to war work Old Age & Widows’ Pensions Act: set up in 1940 to supplement the income of 3/4M Determination of Needs Act: set up in 1941 to provide benefit for those who were in poverty; means test no longer included the extended family
Beveridge and social security



The government should strive to help anyone in need, regardless of age, class or geography Every adult in the country would have to pay the same proportion of insurance tax to cover the proposed benefits scheme All insurance schemes would be combined so that there is only one monthly payment
The War: social security



A healthy workforce was needed to help win the war State services became available to all members of society Churchill’s coalition took over in May 1940 – remember Churchill was instrumental during the Liberal reforms of 1906 - 18