Summary:
The Welfare state was set up in Britain to help the people gain a healther and better standard of living. The term applies to social programs pertaining to health, education, subsistence, pension and forms of social assistance
The Welfare State
In the years of 1945 to 1951 the Labour Government managed to set up a wide variety of Social Reforms. This soon became named the 'Social Revolution.' Labour was lucky to rise to power with 393 seats in the House of Commons, although the Conservatives only gained 213 seats. The reason for such a high number of votes towards the Labour was due to the radical change wanted that affected everyone during thee Second World War. People no longer wanted to have the Conservatives in power, as the conservatives would have kept the things the same, the Labour Party opted for radical change, and the people responded by putting the Labour Party in control. Another thing that had also affected people's votes was the idea that many social classes had actually disappeared because of the war effort. Another reason for the Labour party to be heavily voted for, is because of the depression that swept throughout Britain in the Inter War years, it was certainly clear that a radical change was needed, and the Labour Party were just the ones to do enforce it. The basis of the Labour Social Reforms was due the Beveridge Report of 1942. Sir William Beveridge had looked into the social insurance provision and wanted a social insurance policy, which would protect a mass of people from loss of income in all the major cases, unemployment, disease and old age. Beveridge's point was that people who had disabilities (unemployment, disease old age) would get a basic income, to help pay for food, clothing and the basic needs people in those day's needed. Beveridge came to the conclusion that everyone should pay into the scheme and everyone would therefore benefit. Want, Disease, Idleness, Squalor and Ignorance were all decided to be tackled, and without the degrading means of the 'means test'. These five problems soon became known as the "Five Giants." The way Beveridge saw it, there would be no need for an increase in taxes, as everyone would be paying for the benefit, and thereby his report was published very quickly. Even managing to push the war of the front page of newspapers.
During the war however, many things had already been done to help Britain. The Coalition government had published both the "White Paper on Social Insurance" and the "White Paper on Employment." Both heavily based on the Beveridge Report. As well as those two papers, the "White Paper of National Health" was also printed, and set out the principles of a free service, although, did not go much further than that. The Coalition Government did however manage to come up with and pass the Education Act of 1944, which made sure that free secondary education was given up to the age of 15. This also had bad affects, as the government had trouble dividing up the children into practical and grammatical studies, all based on an 11+ exam. The Education Act of 1944 although it was good for providing education up until the age of 15, it still caused an already growing gap between the children's societies. Again, the Coalition government established the Ministry of Town and Country Planning that made the organisation of new homes and towns more likely. Finally in 1945 the Family Allowance Act was introduced and although payments were not due to start until the subsequent year, the scheme paid 5 shillings to every child after the first one. It was a generous gesture yet one of the reasons it was put in place is because people were concerned that the birth rate would fall, and the gesture would prevent the falling. All these Acts did help, but only to some extent.
Labour had then won the 194 election with a sizable majority and proceeded to introduce the promised acts. Atlee, the prime minister had managed to put together a strong cabinet consisting off, Hugh Dalton (chancellor of the Exchequer) Herbert Morison (Lord President and leader of the House) Ernest Bevin (Foreign Secretary) Stfford Cripps (president of the Board of Trade and Chancellor of the Exchequer, after 1947.) Aneurin Bevin (The minister of Health) and James Griffiths (minister of National Insurance) were the two main members to introduce the Workmen's Compensations Acts; this scheme covered all workmen, with any injuries. The worker, the employer and the government all put 4d towards this. This act was good because it did not become a private matter. Tribunals were set up for difficult cases, and if not, 45 s a week were given for an injury, 16 shillings for a woman worker, and 7 shillings for a child worker. Like a few acts, the Labour Government only introduced this act, it was thought up by the Coalition government.
Another act put in place was a mixture of a number of social benefits, unemployment, death, sickness, pensions and maternity. This was the National Insurance Act (1946). All the citizens were entitled to collect these benefits and paying towards it was compulsory. There was a minimum amount that had to be paid before anyone to retrieve a grant, which already looked like a flaw in the act. Sickness benefits could only be claimed after 156 payments, so before those 156 payments, you were not covered for sickness. The amount you got was determined from whether you were employed, self-employed or unemployed. 26 shillings were given to those who were single and a couple received 42 shillings. Although, people who decided to go on strike or who refused the job, were not granted the unemployment benefit. This benefit did meet some people's needs, yet some claimed it didn't do enough. Beveridge hoped that Labour feared complaints of expense. These benefits were fixed for five years but as inflation increased (from the war), the good of prices got higher, and therefore the benefits, as they stayed at the same level, became more and more useless. In 1948 the figure for benefits was only 19% of a typical working mans wage, which was well below the substantial level, especially for old age pensioners. The Old Age Pensioners did find a way to get round this problem, although not a very logical one, they decided to work until 60 (women) and 65 (Men) to try and claim a higher benefit, and to increase there income. The problem seemed simple to solve, why not up the number of benefits, although that was a large problem because the M.P's found that if they raised the benefits, the contributions would become to high, and too many people would find it too expensive.
Many people then found themselves having to appeal to the National Assistance Board (replacement of the Unemployment Boards). The NAB was set up to help those people who the benefits did not manage to help enough. They were regarded as a 'Safety net' from the National Insurance Act. Many groups of people used this such as the disabled, the unmarried, mentally ill, and the dependants of criminals. The Old age Pensioners especially used this method and up to 48% of people, 25% of them Pensioners, claimed to the NAB. Although not as degrading as the means test, and only based at a personal basis, the 'Needs Test' was set up. This test was only set at one member, and that was the person claiming, not the whole family. The NAB could give out one payment, to buy bedding; clothing, ECT, or the NAB could give out weekly payments. There were also Reception centres set up for the Homeless. Although the payments were low, it was only set up as a safety net for the National Insurance Act and many welcomed it. The problem with so many people accepting it, and turning to the NAB was that the Conservatives claimed that it would cause Idleness, and "scroungers" and others complained that the effects on Friendly Societies and private Insurance Companies were not desirable. Where as the left hand side had decided, like Castle, that there should be a complete removal of all rights to benefits. By this time, the Conservatives had realised that they're lack of enthusiasm towards the idea to reform was what led them to loose the 1945 election. R.A Butler then said, ."..Shortly after the terrible period though which we have all passed together, to show the whole world that we are able to produce a social insurance scheme of this character."
The National Health Service was set up by Aneurin Bevan and was set up to insure that everyone had the right to free medical care, opticians, dental care and doctors. Medical help was definitely needed as many hospitals were out dated and had not been changed since before the war. World War Two had shown the faults of the old system when the injured needed medical help. The hospitals then had no modern equipment; there was a high shortage of beds. In 1939 though, 1000 new operating tables were built, although there had been no prior changing since the Liberal Reforms in 1911. With this act in place, les than half of the population was entitled to free medical care. Before, families would have had to pay, as they were not insured, they especially had to pas for dentist and optician fee's. An even bigger problem at the time was that the Doctors tended to set up businesses in well off area's, where they could be assured of getting paid. There was no attraction in setting up in poverty struck areas. Meaning there was a lack of medical services in the cities and large towns, leading to the working class suffering most. In a 1938 survey, it was shown that hospital services were in a bad way. Almost 1000 hospitals were run on a voluntary basis, dependant on charities and contributions. A further 1500 were run by local authorities, which charged a fee. Bevan had introduced the idea of free health care to the doctors, yet strangely enough, they were the most immune to opposing the idea. Bevan had to convince them that it was a good idea, and that they would have been well rewarded. Doctors then got a compensation of 66million when this outstanding amount of money which could have been used to be invested into the NHS. Bevan also had to guarantee them with a wage of £1000 plus an extra £2500 per annul. If an unfashionable and undesirable area then an extra £300 would be given out to try and convince doctors to stay in the area's which had the most working class citizens. Even more, an extra wag of 15shilloings per person was given. All this money could have been used to be invested in something more worthwhile, instead of trying to get the doctors to join the NHS. Although with that said, if the doctors hadn't have joined, then the people would have never received a valuable health treatment, free of charge. When the doctors finally found their price, they still received some private patients although the NHS became extremely popular. Lines halfway down streets were seen for doctors, opticians and dentists as people now had the right to free treatment. In 1945 a massive 7 million prescriptions were being given out each month, and by 1948, the number had doubled. 5million glasses were given out, 5-month waiting lists were around and there were 8million dental patients, surely this was enough to highlight the poor health that Britain had faced. The government had thought that after the NHS was introduced, the desire for health care would decrease and people would stop using the service quite as much, although this was not the case. The NHS was extremely expensive and it was under funded. The National Insurance Act didn't cover the cost and by 1949, only 9% of the cost was met by the National Insurance. By the year of 1950, the NHS was costing £358 million a year and the free service had to be changed slightly. A prescription fee was introduced to cover costs, and because these were introduced, Bevan resigned. These costs meant that plans for new hospitals, health centers and clinics had to be shelved. More qualified staff was also needed. At the start, the NHS could have been described as a great success because almost 9% of patients and doctors joined the scheme, it became instantly popular, the surgeries wee always busy, opticians and dentists could not keep up with the constant demand, the NHS had dealt with problems that would have been ignored previously and then everyone was entitled to free heath care. Although, on the other side, the NHS founders expected the cost to keep the NHS running to fall, after people became more 'healthy', not as expected, the opposite happened. Bevan resigned when charges were put in place, the NHS suffered from a lack of qualified staff, a shortage of money meant that many old hospital buildings were still being used and a lack of health centres increased the burden on hospital outpatient services.
The 1948 Children's act managed to improve the conditions for children taken into care. A local authority to supervise appointed a childrens officer the care children were given. Children were to be visited regularly and found suitable houses. All Children's homes had to conform to standards that were lain down by the Home Office. Child Care officers were even trained by central Training Council. As a prior Act, the Labour government set up the 1944 Education Act, although the Labour government did not pass it. It was shown beforehand that many children were not receiving much of an education and were leaving school to work. 20% of children were infected with lice and were very dirty. The new 1944 Education act provided a free secondary education until the age of 15. This turned out to be good as it was now compulsory which raised the standard of education for everyone. Pupils then had to sit an 11+ exam and depending on their result, they would either go to a grammar school (academically based) or a modern school (Technical Practice). Many negative points did arise however, like the division that resulted in name-calling. At the age of 11, way top much pressure was on for children to plan there lives out. The 11+ exams did tend to favour the middle class as the middle class could afford to hire a tutor, and get their children into grammar school, whereas the working class families didn't have that luxury. The Labour party had concentrated on schools while they also promoted the idea of 'day release' classes at college of Further Education and Technical Colleges. An extra expansion of Universities and Colleges also led to poorer students being given grants to allow the to get higher standard of education.
The provision of school meals and newly introduced medical care on the other hand, helped to boost not only a Childs education, but also they were becoming more healthier. Some people could argue that this was not down to the Labour government helping, as it wasn't a Labour Government law, it was the Coalitions governments act. The immediate problem that arose after the war of course was that20% of schools were damaged, also a shortage of materials and therefore the re-building of the schools was hindered. The baby boom also bought on a lot of pressure to build more schools. By 1958, 1176 schools were built, 928 of them were primary schools. Although all schools were supposed to be of equal value, in practice Grammar Schools has much more status that, 'modern' or 'technical' schools and so a 'two- tier' system of education developed. Labour's changes in education also created a shortage of teachers and school building.
The great shortage of housing before the war meant that many houses were destroyed, from the very few that were still standing. Very few houses had even been built since 1939. Since this was a health issue, Bevan was in charge to fix the problem. As it turned out though, he was too busy trying to fix the growing problems of the NHS. All these houses needed to be tackled, as one third of all houses were damaged or destroyed in the war. A total of 700000 were destroyed in the bombing, therefore making it a he task for the government. There were still a number of slums that needed to be tackled as well. The same problem with the building of schools was also seen, as there was a shortage of building materials, and these materials had grown expensive. The working class for once were targeted first, as the source materials were priorities for building council houses to rent out. These houses that the government intended to build were to be of a high standard, they were to be spacious, 100 ft2 x 800ft2. By 1951 four council houses were built for every private house built, in 1951, more houses were being built in Britain that in another European country. The critic's said it was unfair to target the working class, a housing act of 1949 demanded that the housing should be fit for all. 'Prefabs' (kit houses) were built as a temporary solution to proper houses, they lasted about 30 to 40 years. They had good amenities, electricity, gardens and sanitation. Unfortunately, the housing shortage was not solved, some families had to resolve to squatting in disused army camps when things got desperate. In 1946, the New Towns Act set out to tackle the over population in towns and cities. New towns were set up with good shops, good houses and good leisure facilities. There were a total of twelve built in the United Kingdom. Two were built in Scotland. These towns were built close to large cities, to be part of the suburbs to deal with the 'overspill.' Labour tried to protect private tenants through the acts of 1946 and 1949 and rent tribunals were set up to sort out any complaints. Then the Town and Country Planning Act in 1947 encouraged the mass building of council houses. Grants of up to 75% were given out as well as subsidies. This time, 750 000 houses were still short, although a massive 700 000 houses had been built. The 750 000 shortage was the same as what the shortage rates had been in 1931, before the bombing in the Second World War. Therefore proving squalor to be on the way to be solved as one third of housing had been destroyed, that equivalent had therefore been built up. A massive triumph for the Labour Party.
After the war, and due to the depression, there was a mass of unemployment in 1930's and the Labour Party decided to stop this happening again to connect the community tightly. The Labour Party soon became committed to, "maintenance of a high stable level of employment after the war." This previous practice was a continuation of the 944 White Paper on Employment Policy. The figure that Beveridge had thought of to keep unemployment at was 3%, an almost impossible figure. Although, strangely enough, by 1946 Labour had managed to get unemployment to a level of 2.5%. Te Chancellor of the Exchequer, Dalton said that, "he greatest revolution bough about by the Labour Government." The policy was therefore likely to succeed, even though Beveridge had previously said it to be impossible. There were many reasons to why low unemployment was achieved, not just because the Labour party enforced it. It could have been due to the post war boom, or to the marshal aid. Although it looked like clean sailing, it wasn't, as there was rationing on both bread and potato's, fuel shortages were also experienced during the winter of 1947. Inflation also haunted Britain again, although this did come across as a problem, it wasn't as bad as expected, as the Labour got even more credit because of the harsh challenge that the Labour Party ha to get Britain out of at that time of need. Even by 1951, the food was still rationed and the pound had devalued and other economic problems were faced. Labour still managed to keep unemployment down and use the money earned to tackle grants.
The Welfare state was introduce to gain a minimum standard of living for everyone, and as far as it can go, the Labour Party successfully introduced the Welfare state to Britain. The welfare state was set up for a reason, and tried to help five main problems within the United Kingdom. Want, referring to the problems of poverty, Squalor, referring to the problem of housing, Idleness, referring to the problem of unemployment, Ignorance, referring to the problems with education and finally, Disease, referring to the health of the citizens. Each of these five 'giants' was tackled and each had a different rate of success.
Bevan tackled disease by setting up the first of the NHS hospitals. Before the NHS was set up there was no free medical treatment, no chance for the working class to be healthy. Doctors lived outside of towns, so they were ensured to get paid, making it even harder for the working class to get medical treatment. Although the doctors all had to get bribed ridiculous numbers of money to move to do a free service, the money could have been spent more wisely yet when doctors finally agreed many people benefited from the service. Although only in place for a while, man people welcomed the free service, and people begun to live longer, although a prescription fee had to be introduced, prices were still down, and the working class now had a better chance to live longer and be healthier.
Ignorance was not so well tackled, as many peoples lives still depended on an eleven plus exam. Health care was introduced which became a good thing, and school meals being provided meant that children automatically became healthier. The fact that schools were free was a big plus and especially up until the age of fifteen. The only possible way to have improved the education service at that time would to have been to get rid of the eleven plus exam. The education service did, however bring a bad division of children from a young age, this must of introduced a sense of discrimination from an earlier age that may not have been about before the introduction of this act. Although this act had it flaws, it definitely helped the society as the country became more educated.
Squalor was amazingly tackled. Thousands of houses were destroyed during the Second World War, yet the Labour Party managed to build them all back up again, building no more slums. As slums were destroyed during the war as well it left the building of more houses to be more upmarket therefore meaning that the standard of living had improved greatly. Working class people were finally targeted to be helped first and new towns were even built to help with the 'overspill'. Although not nearly enough houses were built, an enormous development had been started.
Idleness was well tackled, if it was due to the Labour Party that will never be known. Unemployment went from a staggeringly high figure to a small 2.5% that Beveridge himself said could never be achieved. The best part that the Labour Party got to say was all down to them, was the fact that they had kept the unemployment at such low levels even when Britain was going through a lot of economic problems, including rationing and the devaluating of the pound.
Want was tackled very well, The National Insurance Act was set up, and helped many people got benefits, the fact that everyone could gain benefits was a plus. Since it was compulsory to all, everyone benefited when they needed to. One problem remained, that you could only gain a sickness benefit after a minimum of 156 weeks. The fact that the benefits weren't upgraded as the inflation started, made a lot of people resent the benefit system, because old age pensioners really couldn't live on the small benefit they were getting. Family allowance also helped as people were now covered from, 'Cradle to Grave' and it benefited larger families, and poorer families who wanted to send there children of to work by granting the mother a bit of money for each child. The Industries Act was good, for the worker, although when it came to the payment of the employer, the employee and the government, there were debates about the reasons. Employers got annoyed because they felt they didn't need to pay for the workers health, although, in the long run, work places became safer. A better thing about the payment of the workers is that there was a sense of equality, as women and children also received a benefit. The National Assistance Act, although maybe only set up to help the National Insurance Act it still benefited people, because the inflation had made it hard for the working class and the weekly or one off payments really did help, although, like the conservatives pointed out, it did seem like a high number of people relied on the NAB.
Overall, the Labour did manage to introduce a well-made Welfare state. The most important thing that the Welfare State managed to do, was bring the problems Britain faced to the attention, so that other people could work to make Britain a better place.
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