britain liberal reforms

victorian approach to welfare

poverty is caused by personal failings

• lack of sympathy

• gov should promote self reliance and LA help

  • workhouses = labelled pauper, hated by WC, punishment and deterence not help

samuel smiles 1859

heaven helps those who help themselves

self help methods

• WC culture was to help each other

• collective bargaining

• friendly societies

  • form of mutual insurance that would help u when sick or unemployed

• trade unions

• co-ops

reasons for change in attitudes

• new info on poverty

• national efficency

• threat of socialism

new attitudes to poverty

• middle class investigators

• sensationalist accounts of poverty

• more reliable data

• Charles Booth

  • surveyed London 1899-1903

  • found poverty more widespread than thought = 30%

  • also uncontrollable factors e.g., old age

• Seebohm Rowntree

  • studied York

  • investigated WC budgets

  • found structural issues causing poverty

national efficency

• Boer War showed health of nation lacking as found 40% volunteers unfit

• eugenics movements

• other countries increasing welfare e.g., germany which had good production

  • prompted by great power rivalry = fear falling behind

threat of socialism

• growing strikes and militancy

• power of WC increasing through agency of TU

• rise of labour party and new liberalism

rise of labour

• ILP 1893

• LRC 1900

• LAB 1906

parties pushed to left to appeal to new electorate

• 40 MPs by 1910

new liberalism

• state must intervene

• DLG

• personal liberty from poverty

liberal landslide

1906

• 399 MPs vs 183 in 1900

  • CONs down from 402 to 157

  • because of FPTP system not landslide in share of votes

• rise of new radical ideas

• LAB gain 27 seats

OAP 1908

• 70+ entitled to a pension from the state

  • can’t have been in workhouse

  • moral clauses

  • can’t have refused work

children acts

• 1906 School meals = compulsory 1914, LAs had to provide free school meals

• 1907 = children medical inspections

• 1908 Children Act = can be punished for neglect and LA more power in child welfare

working classes acts

• 1911 Health Insurance = LA only medical help not hospital, funded by gov, worker and employer, 16-70yrs earning less than £160/year

• 1909 Trade Boards and Labour exchanges

• 1911 Unemployment Insurance = gov, workers and employers fund, stamps as proof of payment, trades with cyclical employment, 7 shillings for 15 weeks

how popular were the liberal reforms

• lots of gov publicity = propaganda-ish, need to get public onside

• people loved pensions

• anti-gov media targets NI schemes

• hostile to childrens act = gov interfering with home life

why were people hostile to the liberal reforms?

• contextualises WC expectations for gov

  • poor law hated so skeptical

  • TAX

• left say gov should fund

• children act = gov shouldn’t interfere in home life and targets WC

how radical were the reforms?

NOT

• means tested

• school meals have limited impact = doesnt cover holidays

• low payouts

• pensions meant to supplement income

RADICAL

• more intervention than victorian

• affects many lives = 1mil have pension by 1914, 2 mil insured for NI, 13mil insured for sickness

• some think socialism

• people’s budget 1909

  • showdown between gov and other powers

  • HOL blocked causing consitutional crisis

constitutional crisis 1909

how progressive were the reforms

• influence of eugenics

  • 65,000 insistutionalised as defectives and can’t contest or breed = seen as kinder than forced sterilisation

• 1913 mental deficency act

  • uncontroversial at the time

  • power over “mental defectives“

  • moral panic

long term benefits of LIB reforms

• benefits of WW1

  • solved unemployment

  • women’s work

  • power balacne shift to TU

  • inflation but wages more than prices

  • life expectancy rose from 49 1911 to 56 1921

• still poor law stigma

welfare in interwar years

• officially ends poor law

• high taxation to pay for war but doesnt go down

• gov spending up

  • 1913-14 = £22.5 mil

  • 1921-2 = £179.5 mil

  • 1933-4 = £204 mil

Martin Pugh

• Elderly appreciated and found pensions empowering

• This meant the state had to keep pensions going rather than restrict them

• Boosted economy because still spending not work house

• All 3 parties benefitted and said they were responsible but conservatives heckled for not doing it earlier

• Post offices become busier

• People take extremely good care with pension books

keith laybourn

• new provisions because:

  • poor law and philanthropy failings

  • rise of labour party

  • WW1

  • immense problem of unemployment

• created new relationship between state and philanthropic bodies

• by 1914 accepted that reforms are necessary

  • balance between public and private sectprs legitimized by experiences of war

• still some hostility that poor and unemployed should be given help but menial aims of poor law seen in the means tests, the anomalies bill and other legislation

• millions failed to properly benefit due to means tests

• STILL state now dominated welfare provisions