Why did the Liberal Government
introduce social reforms
1906-14?
Background
• In the years before WW1, the Liberal party were in power in Britain.
• They acted under the principles of ‘Laissez Faire’ – the popular idea that
individuals were responsible for their own wellbeing and that the Government
should have very little input on peoples everyday lives.
• At the dawn of the twentieth century there were no old age pensions,
unemployment benefits or family allowances. If the main wage-earner died or
could not work, a whole family could be plunged into terrible poverty. The state
would not interfere. Poverty was seen as the fault of the individual.
• Many believed the Government’s role was simply to maintain law and order and
protect the country from invasion.
• However attitudes towards poverty began to change and in 1906, the Liberals
decided to try and solve the problem of poverty by introducing a number of
reforms (changes in order to improve peoples lives).
Why?
• This essay focuses on the reasons why attitudes changed and
the reasons the Liberals decided to introduce these reforms
– not the reforms themselves.
• These are the different factors why they decided to
introduce them :
• The social surveys of Booth and Rowntree.
• Concerns over national security.
• Concerns over national efficiency.
• New Liberalism/Municipal Socialism.
• Political advantage.
Social Surveys of Booth and Rowntree.
• Two social surveys were published at the start of the 20th century that
aimed to find the extent and causes of poverty in British cities.
• Both surveys found a huge level of poverty and both also showed that
poverty was not simply the fault of the individual, and that there
were several other factors that caused poverty which people had no
control over.
Charles Booth – ‘Survey of Life and Labour in
London’
• Charles Booth, a wealthy businessman, carried out a huge
investigation in London. He believed that poverty was not that bad
and that it could be solved by charity.
• He found that over 35% of the population of the city were living in
poverty. (KU)
• He also found that only 3% of those in poverty were being helped by
the Poor Law (KU) – This law said each parish was in charge of their
own poor and they would receive some money from the church. It was
then changed in 1834, making people go into the workhouse, doing
several hours of manual labour a day in exchange for a little money
and clothing.
Seebohm Rowntree (York)
• Another wealthy businessman, Seebohm Rowntree, carried out a similar
study in York. He wanted to find out if Booth’s findings were typical across
British cities.
• He drew up a poverty line which was the least amount of money people
could live on and found that there was also 30% of people living under the
poverty line in York. (KU)
• Also created categories for those in poverty : primary and secondary. Those
in primary poverty did not have enough money afford the most basic
necessities. Those in secondary poverty had enough to stay above the
poverty line, but wasted it on treats and escapism, eg drinking or gambling.
However, he also blamed this on poverty itself. (KU)
Importance of Booth and Rowntree (Analysis)
• Methods – Used scientific methods and collected hard factual evidence
that could not be ignored – not based on opinion.
• Showed the true extent of poverty which could not be ignored.
• Also dispelled the idea that poverty was the fault of the individual and
there were several reasons for poverty – irregular wages, lack of work, old
age and sickness.
• Overall, and most importantly, the reports changed attitudes to poverty in
Britain. They provided politicians with evidence that couldn’t be ignored,
especially as they were widely read.
Historiography
• From J.R. Hay, The Origins of the Liberal Reforms.
‘The social surveys did tend to undermine the view that personal
character deficiencies were the primary cause of poverty.’
• From D. Fraser, The Evolution of the British Welfare State.
‘Booth and Rowntree gave to the growing public concern over poverty
the statistical evidence on which to build the case for state aid.’
Political Advantage
• In 1884, most working class men were given the vote. The Liberals
wanted to attract these votes and found that much of their support
then came from the working class. (KU)
• 1906 – Newly formed Labour party were now competing for the same
votes. (KU) They were a small party, but their growth showed that the
working class felt that the needed a separate party who would
represent their interests in politics. (A)
• Liberals had to appear sympathetic to working class as they could lost
a lot of support if they never believed in the principles of Government
intervention. It was therefore to the political advantage of the Liberals
to introduce reforms. (A)
Political Advantage - Evaluation
• In the early period of the Liberal Government and their process of
reforming, threat of Labour was not as important. But from 1909
onwards, due to high unemployment in Britain, Labour started to
grow and became a real threat to the Liberals, which meant they had
to do something to retain working class support.
New Liberalism
• A new generation of Liberal politicians were coming through the ranks of the
party, who did not believe in the old ideas of Laissez Faire. (KU)
• These were politicians who had a genuine concern for the poorer classes and felt
that it was their responsibility to help. (KU)
• New Liberals, such as Lloyd George, Winston Churchill and Herbert Asquith,
argued that there were circumstances in which it was right for the state to
intervene in people's lives. (KU)
• The “old Liberal” Prime Minister Campbell Bannerman died and was replaced by
Asquith in 1908. New Liberals with new “interventionist” ideas such as David
Lloyd-George and Winston Churchill were given important government jobs. (KU)
These appointments put new Liberals in position where they could make a
difference and influence policy decisions and are one of the main reasons why so
many reforms happened from 1908 onwards. (A)
New Liberalism – Analysis and Evaluation
• Reports of Booth and Rowntree feed new Liberalism – Provide new
Liberals with the evidence they need to campaign for reform and
move away from Laissez Faire attitude (Analysis linking factors ‘A+’)
• Some Historians argue that reforms were the result of political
opposition from rising Labour party. This is a harsh view and
underestimates the influence of new Liberals who had genuine
humanitarian concerns. (Analysis linking factors ‘A+’)
• Overall, new Liberalism is an important factor as they are key in
changing attitudes within Liberal party and driving reforms.
Municipal Socialism
• Socialism – Political system, opposite to Capitalism, in which property
and resources are owned and controlled by the state.
• Public work schemes to improve living conditions and public health
set up in late 19th century at local level – often set up and run by
Liberals.(KU)
• Fair allocation of gas and water supplies to make sure everyone could
live comfortably. (KU)
Municipal Socialism – Analysis and Evaluation
• Some argued that this could be developed at a national level to
improve living conditions and tackle poverty (A)
• New Liberals argued this and stated that there was already evidence
of it being successful and should be developed further (Analysis
linking factors ‘A+’)
• Overall, not a huge factor but still contributed to decision to reform
and aided New Liberals.
Concerns over national security
• Boer War 1899 – People rushed to join up to fight. Almost 25%
rejected on the grounds that they weren’t physically fit enough. (KU)
• Manchester – 8000/11000 turned away (KU)
• Also, British soldiers struggled to defeat small number of Boer
farmers. (KU)
• Government started to worry about Britain’s ability to defend itself –
especially as tensions started to rise in Europe in the years leading up
to WW1. (KU)
Concerns over national security – Analysis
and Evaluation
• Poor physical condition of recruits and the inability to defeat the Boers
highlighted the problem of poverty which was unearthed by Booth and
Rowntree, and ultimately showed the inadequacy of the current system to
deal with poverty. (Analysis linked to other factors ‘A+’)
• Overall this was an important reason for the Government to improve
conditions of those in poverty. If Britain was unable to defeat small bunch
of farmers and struggled to raise an effective army, this threatened their
Imperial supremacy and was particularly important as it became clear the
war in Europe was approaching before 1914. Also, first Liberal Reforms
dealt with free school meals to tackle this issue, which shows that this had
a direct impact on the decision to reform. (Evaluation)
National Efficiency/Britains place in the World
• By the end of the 19th century, Britain was no longer the world’s strongest
industrial nation – it had been taken over by USA and Germany. (KU)
• It was believed that if the health and educational standards of Britain’s
workers got worse then Britain’s position as a strong industrial power
would be further threatened.(KU)
• It became obvious that the Germans were more prosperous due to their
commitment to ‘national efficiency.’ Britain could rival Germany’s
industrial, economic and military dominance and this provided politicians
in Britain with evidence that state intervention had great benefits in
formulating an efficient nation. (KU)
• Germany had a system of social insurance, better education and old age
pensions. People began to ask why Britain could not also introduce these.
(KU)
National Efficiency – Analysis and Evaluation
• With the mishaps of the Boer War and a decline in the British economy and
industry (taken over by Germany and America) it was clear that Britain was
weak compared to its European neighbour, Germany, and conditions had to
improve. (Analysis linked to other factors – A+)
• A fit and well educated work force was needed to improve Britain’s
economic performance and stay a leading world power. (A)
• Politicians resented the idea that Germany had surpassed Britain and
wanted to make sure Britain improved.
• Overall, paired with national security concerns, the Government knew that
a large change was needed if Britain was to remain a leading world
superpower. This makes this factor a majorly important reason why the
Liberals introduced reforms.
Argument
• Reports of Booth and Rowntree were the most important reason for the
reforms as they highlighted how bad the issue was gave solid evidence to the
Government about the need for reform.
• Concerns over national security and efficiency also drove decision to reform as
politicians feared and resented the rise of Germany as a world power and
needed to change in order to have an effective work force and army.
• The rise of Labour also scared Liberal politicians as they did not want to lose the
support of the working class.
• However it is harsh to say the Liberals only introduced these reforms for selfish
reasons. The rise of New Liberalism and the example of municipal socialism
played a part in the decision to reform as it was clear that Government
intervention worked and politicians, like Lloyd George, had genuine concern for
the poor in Britain. The reports of Booth and Rowntree also fed new Liberals
and gave them evidence to argue their case.