GB Theme 2

What did the 1920 Unemployment Insurance act say?

National insurance provision was increased from 4 million people to 11.4 million - non-contributors were now covered, which had never happened before

Why was the role of government larger than envisaged?

Lloyd George assumed insurance to be self-financing as it would be paid for by contributions from employers and employees

How was this justified?

• To support high levels of employment
• Extreme and widespread poverty might cause a revolution similar to the 1917 Russian Revolution
• Desire to support soldiers who'd fought and risked their lives in WW1

Why did the size of the welfare budget become controversial?

• British government was struggling to afford social welfare policies
• Snowden proposed 10% cuts to benefits
• Foreign secretary Arthur Henderson led a cabinet revolt against the cuts which brought down the government

What did the 1931 National Economy act say?

Introduced means testing for unemployment benefits to limit the overall cost of them

Why was means testing despised?

• Disqualified short term workers - this created a poverty trap as being unemployed was better than only being paid for the short term job
• Benefits could only be claimed for 6 months so people needed to keep reapplying

What type of payments did the act introduce?

Transitional payments

Who were these payments authorised by and why?

Public Assistance Committees to ensure people didn't abuse the system

What did these require the people to do?

Sell their valuables and use their savings

Why did this measure cause working children to leave the home?

Families would lose their benefits even though the children's payments wouldn't provide for the whole family

What happened as a result of the means test?

Hunger marches to London (the most famous being the Jarrow crusade from Tyneside)

What did the 1934 Unemployment Act say?

It built on changes from 1931:

• Continued distinguishing between short and long term employment
• Reversed the 10% cuts in benefits
• Restored employment benefits to 1930 level
• Created the Unemployment Assistance Board for long-term unemployed
• Continued means test but payments were made at a lower rate

What did the Unemployment Assistance Board do?

After 6 months, long-term unemployed people could sign up for further benefits

What did the cut in long-term benefits lead to?

Large public protests - 300,000 people protested in South Wales alone

Consequently, what was introduced in 1935?

Standstill regulations - suspended the cuts in benefits

What happened by 1939?

Unemployment dropped and the worst of the Depression had passed - 3 million in 1933 to 1.4 million in 1939

What had the political parties accepted in the 1930s?

The government has a crucial role in providing unemployment benefits

What effect did evacuation and rationing have?

Government control and sectors of society were brought together due to rationing

What mistakes did the government initially make with evacuation?

Evacuees' needs were not catered for - i.e. children from poorer homes did not have spare clothes or bedding. However, the government learned from this and ensured children were equipped with items and social services if they were distressed

Why was the rationing system advantageous?

People could buy items such as biscuits, tinned fruit and fish to add variety to their diet. Overall, the health of the British improved as unhealthy items were less available

What are examples of rationed foods?

Bacon, cooking fat, butter, sugar, meat, tea, jam and eggs

Why was social welfare provision better in the war years as opposed to the 1930s?

One-third of the population couldn't eat well during the Depression years but during the war years, people saw living standards improve even with rationing

What were the 5 giants identified by the 1942 Beveridge Report?

Squalor, ignorance, idleness, want and disease

What was it the 'blueprints' for?

A new relationship of co-operation between the state and individual

What did the Report advocate?

Universal benefits and no means test

What was the 1945 Labour slogan?

Let us face the future

The state would care for its citizens from 'cradle to ____'

Grave

What did the 1945 Family Allowances Act say?

Created child benefits (5 shillings per child) that the mother could control rather than the father

What did the 1946 National Insurance Act say?

It was based on the principal of universality:

• A 25p charge was levied on the wages of all workers
• Unemployment and sickness benefits were available to all workers
• Paid a state pension to men over 65 and women over 60

What did the 1946 National Injuries Act say?

Gave the right for workers to receive compensation for accidents and injuries in the workplace (2,425 people were killed each year with 1/4 of the deaths being in mines)

What did the 1948 National Assistance Act say?

It covered those not covered by national insurance as they didn't work. It also replaced the Public Assistance Committees with a centralised National Assistance Board. Finally, responsibilities for social welfare were transferred to local authorities, promoting the welfare of handicapped people

What was arguably the best achievement of Attlee's welfare legislation?

NHS in 1948

Why was there consensus from 1939-64?

There was broad agreement on welfare provision - the centre and left of the Conservative party saw it as an 'essential ingredient of modern Britain'. Macmillan was a significant advocate as he didn't want to return to poverty

Why did the economic decline of the 60s and 70s challenge the welfare state?

Callaghan, Wilson's chancellor, discovered an £800 million budget deficit due to war and welfare spending. Wilson didn't cut welfare spending so taxpayers were charged more, which led to resentment against welfare spending

What were the right-wing challenges the welfare state faced?

Conservatives, most importantly Sir Keith Joseph, believed the welfare state limited individual freedom (it was 'the enemy' of individual freedom)

Why did the Institute of Economic Affairs oppose the welfare state?

They believed it led to economic inefficiency - the government spent money less efficiently than private businesses

What is the idea of a dependency culture?

People were becoming more dependent on the state and welfare created a class with no aspirations, goals and self respect. This contributed nothing to the economy

What did the 1970 National Insurance Act say?

Extended welfare by:

• Giving pension rights to those not already covered
• Introduced an attendance allowance for people needing long-term care at home
• Established invalidity benefit
• Increased child benefits
• Made rent subsidies available for low-income families

What welfare policies did Wilson introduce in 1974-76

• 25% rise in pension rates
• Freeze in council house rents
• Invalid care allowance
• Universal child benefits for ALL children including firstborns

What were the policies of Callaghan's government?

• 1976 Supplementary Benefits Act - new pension rights
• IMF insisted on cutting welfare spending and £2.5 billion cuts were made
• Housing and education budgets cut

Which political party was the first to advocate free healthcare?

Labour (in 1919)

What was created in 1918?

The Ministry of Health

What did the 1920 Dawson Report suggest?

A network of state-funded and organised hospitals

What did the Ministry of Health act create?

An MRC (Medical Research Council) for Tuberculosis

What did the 1926 Royal Commission on National Health Insurance recommend?

A regional, rather than national, structure for healthcare

What did the 1921 Tuberculosis Act say?

Provision of TB sanatoria was compulsory

How much longer did the middle class man live than the working class man?

12 years

What did uninsured people have to rely on?

Private healthcare

For what reasons was the 1929 Local Government act important?

• Passed responsibility for Poor Law hospitals to county and borough councils
• Poor Law infirmaries could be turned into public hospitals
• Local authorities had responsibilities for other areas of health, like dentistry, school meals, child welfare etc.

Why was the Act a vital moment in public health provision?

It enabled local authorities to provide medical care to the entire population of an area

What proportion of the population was insured against illness in 1929?

Less than half

What happened in deprived areas during the Depression?

The extreme poverty and hunger led to more illness and in some cases, death

How were the priorities of the Ministry of Health and local authorities different?

Ministry of Health focussed on hospital funding whereas local authorities focussed on preventative health, diet and hygiene

What did the Political and Economic Planning think tank find about Britain's healthcare?

It lagged behind other countries, like Australia and New Zealand

What was the 'Lancet' medical journal advocating in 1939?

A national healthcare system

What was founded in 1939?

The EMS (Emergency Medical Service)

What did the EMS provide?

Free, national healthcare which acted as a plan for the post-war healthcare system

How did attitudes change within the medical profession?

Many doctors preferred to stay clear of government, but the central organisation and additional funding proved to be attractive

What did the 1944 White Paper recommend?

A new national health system paid by general taxation

Why was there a consensus between Conservatives and Labour in 1945?

They wanted to create an NHS

What did the 1946 National Health Act say?

Created a plan for the NHS to be put in place in 1948

What 3 compromises did Bevan reach with unwilling doctors?

• Consultants could continue working privately with allocated hospital beds for private patients
• GPs could avoid being local authority employees
• Regional health boards would be appointed rather than elected, and made up of upper middle class

What were the 3 tiers of the NHS?

• Hospital services
• Primary care
• Community services

How many new hospitals did Macmillan create in 1962?

90

What did the 1973 NHS Reorganisation act say?

Introduced a new management structure to the NHS, leading to increased management costs

Why did Bevan resign in 1951?

Prescription charges

What did Dr. David Owen establish from 1974-6?

The Resource Allocation Working Party identifying areas of deprivation

What did the Conservatives do that they hadn't before?

Spend the same on the NHS as Labour - usually they limited public expenditure

What impact did the NHS have on the public?

• Increased life expectancy
• Improved attitudes towards healthcare and educated people

What did the 1979 Merrison Report find?

Hospitals received 70% of NHS funding, but other services like GP surgeries and preventative health programmes received less

What was the belief that there were regional inequalities in healthcare?

Postcode lottery

What did the 1980 Black Report say?

There were significant differences between middle and working classes' healthcare between 1949-72

What is dandruff syndrome?

People using the NHS for minor reasons, causing the cost to build up

What did the 1959 Mental Health Act say?

Refer to mentally ill patients as 'mentally ill' rather than 'insane'

Why was the 1962 Hospital Plan unequal?

Most hospitals were built in London

What are examples of vaccinations produced by the NHS?

Diptheria, TB, Rubella, Measles

What did the Lewis Report recommend?

• School leaving age of 14
• New country colleges to provide vocational training for people up to the age of 18
• Divide the curriculum for more able and less able kids

What did the 1918 Education Act do?

• Most costs of education were transferred from LEAs to central government
• Raised leaving age to 14
• Extended educational provision

What did the 1921 Education act say?

• Consolidated previous legislation
• Raised the leaving age to 14 (1918 act didn't do it immediately)

What did the 1926 Hadow Committee say?

• Abolish elementary schools
• Create primary and secondary schools
• Children to be transferred from primary to secondary schools at 11 years old

Why were its recommendations not immediately adopted?

High cost and the responsibility of LEAs - some elementaries were kept because classes could be huge and learning was better this way

Between 1918-44, which class were secondary schools the preserve of?

Middle

What percentage of children were in education in 1931?

20% (before the age of 14 at which they could leave)

What did the 1936 Education act say?

• Raised school leaving age to 15
• The Church of England and Catholic Church created schools
• Religious instruction deemed necessary to teach by the government

What did the 1938 Spens Report say?

• 10% of students went to secondary schools
• Class-divided schools were failing children
• 2x as many children went onto higher education in Germany

What did the Fabian Society find in terms of class?

• There were major variations in the provision of education across Britain
• Children from a lower class could be stuck in a cycle of poverty as they didn't get the best quality of education
• Despite offering more free places, grammar schools were still largely out of reach of lower classes (uniform cost etc.)

Which of Beveridge's '5 Giants' affected education?

Ignorance

Why did WW2 require better educated soldiers?

Technological complexity of warfare increased

What did the 1944 Butler Education Act say?

• First, it addressed the giant 'ignorance'
• It created the tripartite system of grammar schools, technical schools and secondary moderns

What is one advantage and disadvantage of grammar schools?

• They were open to any children who could pass an 11+ exam
• They could provide a good opportunity for lower classes
• BUT they were criticised for still being socially divisive

What is one advantage and disadvantage of secondary moderns?

• They offered lower middle classes / working class appropriate curricula
• They could develop close ties with local colleges to offer students vocational courses
• BUT the teachers were less qualified and they had fewer resources
• Only 318 children during the post-war period went on to do A-levels

What is one advantage and disadvantage of technical schools?

• They could create a technocratic class who could help the country adapt to new technologies
• They provided an option for those who were more practical
• BUT few technical schools were ever built
• 3% of secondary students went to technicals

What did the 1959 Crowther Report say?

• Recommended the leaving age to be 16
• More county colleges were created for post-16 education with more 6th form courses

When did the first comprehensive school open?

1954 - Kidbrooke

What did the 1963 Newsom Report say?

• There were lots of failings in the provision of education in both deprived areas and for lower-ability students
• Newsom recommended more focus on teaching lower-ability students and better teaching in deprived areas
• More options for lower ability students and students should not take exams when deemed inappropriate

What did Anthony Crosland say?

He wanted to f

What did Directive 10/65 do?

Create comprehensives

What did Wilson proudly achieve to do with education?

Created the University of the Air (Open University)

What did Directive 10/65 not do?

Compel LEAs to create comprehensives

What were CSEs?

Introduced to divide students between academic and non-academic - a national exam would distinguish between these people. GCE and CSE people were separated in secondary moderns