welfare 1918-79

• government assistance was based on a mix of victorian poor laws and welfare from pre-war liberals
• unemployment insurance introduced in 1911 (7 shillings a week for 15 weeks a year) 
  • this only covered about 10% of male population
• women workers were also allowed to claim, and maternity allowance was provided
• the view that the government should provide becomes more popular during ww1
• ministry of reconstruction - after ww1 there was a desire to create something close to a welfare state but economic issues of the 1920s (eg geddes axe) put a stop to this
  • worked in collaboration with other ministries to deal with issues raised by ww1 such as healthcare,housing, education and employment

unemployment

• national insurance act 1911
• other alternate was to hand out dole money 
• unemployment insurance 1920 increases the number of people covered by insurance
  • however 
• attempts made to limit this act such as the introduction of a seeking work test in 1921 
  • 9 years later it had rejected 3 million claims
• 1929 local government act sets up PACs
• means test introduced in 1931 - hated for being intrusive and unfair -- by the end of the year 400k had been rejected
• 1931 unemployment act helped long term unemployed with aid from the unemployment assistance board
• government has to deal with unemployment during the depression of the 1930s as the number was increasing until 1936
• massive impact of mass unemployment on people's lives

• state pensions introduced by the 1908 pensions act for over 70s but had to have worked most of your life
• 1925 widows,orphans and old age contributory pensions act gives 10 shillings a week to those between 65 and 70, and widows and children
  • self employed allowed to join the scheme from 1937
• lack of changes suggests it was a good job but the government were more worried about unemployment

• 1919 housing and town planning act aimed to build new houses for returning soldiers
• only 213k homes were built before the geddes axe of 1922
• estimated shortfall of 822k homes in 1923
• housing acts of 1923 and 1924 aimed to encourage house building in private sector - ensured 4m homes were built between 1919-40
• quality of housing much improved but jobs not provided on some estates

• further housing acts in 1933 and 1935 designed to promote new housing and end overcrowding in old housing areas
• 1930s - extension of slum clearance
• 1940s - had to overcome property damage inflicted by german bombing
• 1946 new town act set up local corporations to build towns
• 1947 town and country planning act
• 1957 rent act scrapped rent control on 810k homes
• 1972 housing finance act ensured local councils charged a fair rent to tenants in council houses
• 1980 housing act enabled council house tenants to buy their homes

impact of total war on welfare

• ww2 led to a wide consensus that welfare provision needed a radical overhaul - existing system was seen as unfair and inconsistent
• total war prompted total solutions such as universal rationing which were successful so people believed these universalist solutions should continue into peacetime
• evacuation of poor city children to the countryside opened rural middle class eyes to poverty
• success of a state directed war economy increases the popularity of state intervention to improve peoples lives
• war forced a coalition government - inclusion of labour ministers eg atlee led to greater cooperation over wartime policy
• severity of the depression in 1930s

main recommendations

• tackle 5 giants - WANT through national insurance, IGNORANCE by better education, DISEASE through NHS, SQUALOR through better housing, IDLENESS through full employment
• state welfare to be centralised and regulated by the government 
• funded by compulsory insurance payments
• very popular - sold 635k copies

overall reasons for welfare - labour government, the beveridge report, ww2, poverty in the 1930s eg jarrow march

• family allowances act 1945 - gave mothers 5 shillings a week for each child apart from her first
• national insurance act 1946 - created a compulsory universal contributory system to help pay for pensions,benefits for unemployment and maternity etc.
• industrial incident act 1948 - gave additional cover for workplace injuries
• national assistance act 1948 - established the national assistance board to provide financial help for the most vulnerable (eg the blind, deaf and single mothers) who hadnt been covered by the 1946 insurance act
  • led local authorities to provide services for such groups
  • 250k more people able to claim a higher rate of benefits after 1948
  • OFFICIALLY have a welfare state

• advertised new benefits through the free family guide to national insurance pamphlet, sent to 14m homes with 50m distributed by 1949
• uptake - 88% of those entitled to family allowance applied for it in 1949
• tackled absolute poverty but relative poverty remained a problem 

• problem - by 1966 welfare was at 5% of GDP - wilson increased taxation to meet this demand
• national insurance act 1970 - benefits included: pension rights to 100k not covered by the 1948 national assistance act, attendance allowance for those who need long-term care at home, increased child allowance to mothers and rent subsidies for low-income families

cost of welfare increased because...

• baby booms in 40s and 60s meant more care and education costs for children
• increase in average life expectancy 
• new social groups eg single parent families and low wage earning families
• higher standard of living prompted demands for a higher minimum standard of life for the poorest
• growing size of the welfare state meant more bureaucracy to make it work

left wing

• angry about persistence of privilege in healthcare and education
• attack the welfare state as inadequate when relative poverty replace absolute poverty

right wing (new right)

• argued welfare provision trapped people in a state of dependency 
• argued it hindered britains economic growth
• welfare and freedom meant it was wrong for taxpayers to pay for benefits

changing attitudes

• young people didnt endorse the collective attitudes after the war and favoured the individual
• large section of the working class wanted to improve their lives
• margaret thatcher became party leader in 1975 and embraced the new right thinking