The Labour Welfare
Reforms 1945 - 1951
Background info, including
WW2
Social Welfare before 1945
Legacy of Liberal welfare reforms, 1906 –
1914
• Move away from individualism to
collectivism
• Acceptance of need for government to
intervene, to address social problems
• BUT – only certain sections of society
benefited; only intended for the poorest;
some benefits means-tested ie had to
prove poverty
Legacy of Liberal welfare reforms,
1906 – 1914
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National Insurance – expanded over the years
to be available to most manual workers
Unemployment Assistance Board created to
help address unemployment
Old Age Pensions – increased amount
Large-scale government investment in
housing eg 700,000 council houses built
between 1931 and 1939
Free milk, free school meals, many
government –funded schools
Influence of WW2
• Conservative-led coalition government
had to control all aspects of life  greater
acceptance of state intervention for all (not
just the poor)
• Higher taxation (50%) to pay for war effort
• War Socialism – creation of new
government departments / bureaucracy
• Public’s assumption that:
- pre-war poverty unacceptable
- deserve ‘reward’ of a better Britain
Influence of WW2
• Unifying aspect of WW2 – all classes worked
together for war effort; all classes suffered
effects of bombing / loss of loved ones; middle
classes shocked by poor condition of evacuees
• Beveridge Report 1942 – massively popular
with the public (635,000 copies sold); chimed
with the desire for a better (post-war) Britain;
Churchill less keen
Beveridge’s 5 Giants
WANT (poverty)
DISEASE (health)
IDLENESS (unemployment)
IGNORANCE (education)
SQUALOR (bad housing)
Conservative-led Coalition
Government’s response
• Proposal of a national health service
• Acceptance of need for government
intervention to regulate labour market
• Proposal for comprehensive insurance
scheme
• Education Act 1944
• Family Allowances Act 1945