Debates About Poverty & Concerns About National Efficiency (Social Issues 1900-1918) (Britain 1900-1951)

Debates About Poverty

Debate centred on how to deal with it
Lead to introduction of the Poor Law from 1905-1909
Poverty was seen a moral issue – widespread availability of private charities for deserving cases
Reports of Booth & Rowntree, Galt's photographs.
- Booth = Investegated poverty in London
  - Produced coloured maps to detail poverty rates.
  - Concluded 35% of Londoners lived below poverty line.
- Rowntree = Out of 46,000 people in York, 20,000 (over half) of people lived in poverty.
  - People shocked that a Cathederal city like York had such severe poverty.
  - Helped people understand poverty was far more widespread than just London, as many had believed.
Helen Bosanquet thought state aid would undermine existing charities and the self-reliance of the poor, instead increasing poverty
Fabians society and Beatrice Webb felt it was the job of the state to provide national minimum standards à very influential on later policy

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Concerns Britain was falling behind other nations
- Growth of European industry threatened Britain
  - Germany
Disaster of the Boer War
- Poverty = caused problems with army recruitment.
  - Of 11,000 men in Manchester offering war service, 8,000 were physically unfit to carry a rifle.
Poor health and urban problems weakened the racial strength and endangered the empire
Britain needed a moral awakening and “blood works” needed to be improved through eugenics and controls on immigration
Appealed to social reformers, some liberals and conservative supporters of empire so cut across the party lines.

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Brought greater awareness to the problems of poverty
It become important for governments to be seen dealing with them
Acted as a spur to government measures
Meant liberal reforms were accompanied by:
- An expansion of the navy
- Creation of new territorial army
- Changes to armed forces

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