post-war welfare state

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Outline:

  • background: WW2
  • beveridge Report: 
  • - social insurance and allied services (1942) 
  • 1945-1951: post-war welfare legislation
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WW2 Background:

  • war which involved all the citizens of a country and not just it professional army (Fraser 2003) 
  • 'Common risk were widely experienced, bombs were no respecters of class or property' (Glennerster 2000) 
  • 'evacuation was part of the process by which british society came to know itself' (Fraser 2003)
  • 'Shock of public opinion over the condition of some of the evacuees rivalied the outcry after the boer War with it dislosures of sickness and low physical standard" (Titmuss 1950) 
  • No return to 1930s: 
  • - mass unemployment
  • A question of survival, not only military survival. 
  • The state had managed society through a period of danger and scarcity (Glennerster 2000) 
  • - 'we have wont the war, now we can win the peace' 
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WW2 Background:

  • war which involved all the citizens of a country and not just it professional army (Fraser 2003) 
  • 'Common risk were widely experienced, bombs were no respecters of class or property' (Glennerster 2000) 
  • 'evacuation was part of the process by which british society came to know itself' (Fraser 2003)
  • 'Shock of public opinion over the condition of some of the evacuees rivalied the outcry after the boer War with it dislosures of sickness and low physical standard" (Titmuss 1950) 
  • No return to 1930s: 
  • - mass unemployment
  • A question of survival, not only military survival. 
  • The state had managed society through a period of danger and scarcity (Glennerster 2000) 
  • - 'we have wont the war, now we can win the peace' 
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Beveridge's vision

'Minimum of subsistence and care for the whole population' (Thane 1996)

  • broader focus than just social insureance. 

5 Giant Evils: 

1) Want = social insurance 

2) Disease = NHS 

3) Ignorance = Education 

4) Squalor = Housing 

5) Idelness = Full employment 

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Beveridge's vision

  • Assumprions: Full emplyment, NHS, Family allowance, and adequate housing. 
  • ' in some respects these accompanying conditions made more political impact than the social insuracne proposals themselves' (Hill 1993) 
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Beveridge's vision

  • Assumprions: Full emplyment, NHS, Family allowance, and adequate housing. 
  • ' in some respects these accompanying conditions made more political impact than the social insuracne proposals themselves' (Hill 1993) 
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Social security Proposals: Social insurance:

  • Unification --- one weekly payment to cover all major risks: 
  • - unemployment, sickness, disability, accident, old age and death etc (I.e funeral benefits) 
  • Flat rate benefits; flat-rate contribution:
  • - intended to re-distribute over time rather than between people 
  • Subsistence-rate payments:
  • - additional private proivision if people chose. 
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Social security Proposals: Social insurance:

  • Unification --- one weekly payment to cover all major risks: 
  • - unemployment, sickness, disability, accident, old age and death etc (I.e funeral benefits) 
  • Flat rate benefits; flat-rate contribution:
  • - intended to re-distribute over time rather than between people 
  • Subsistence-rate payments:
  • - additional private proivision if people chose. 
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Social Insurance: Provision for Women:

  • single emplyed women th have insurance status, similar to men: 
  • married women would receive benefirs based on thier husbands insurance records. 
  • married working women would be given a choice o options, but with lower benefits and lower contributions on the basis that they were less likely to be incurring rent and other houshold expenses (Thane 1996) 
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Social Insurance: Provision for Women:

  • single emplyed women th have insurance status, similar to men: 
  • married women would receive benefirs based on thier husbands insurance records. 
  • married working women would be given a choice o options, but with lower benefits and lower contributions on the basis that they were less likely to be incurring rent and other houshold expenses (Thane 1996) 
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Social Security proposals: Social Assistance:

  • residual role for social assitance, which would decline in importance over time: 
  • -some already out of workforce 
  • - some would never work 
  • creation of a National assistance board and with it the final abolition of poor Laws. 
  • Both insurance and assistance benefirs would be provided through a new ministry for social security, 
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Criticism of the BR:

  • Subsistence standard:
  • - a conservative standard 
  • - a departure 
  • treatment of women: 
  • - reliant on insurance of Men 
  • ome proposals - e.g dependents allowances during unemployment and alloance for ill housekeeping - not actually implemented. 
  • Inabilitiy of insurance principle to achieve universally: 
  • - inclusion of disabled, vigrance, moral weakings. 
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Criticism of the BR:

  • Subsistence standard:
  • - a conservative standard 
  • - a departure 
  • treatment of women: 
  • - reliant on insurance of Men 
  • ome proposals - e.g dependents allowances during unemployment and alloance for ill housekeeping - not actually implemented. 
  • Inabilitiy of insurance principle to achieve universally: 
  • - inclusion of disabled, vigrance, moral weakings. 
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Reaction to the B.R

  • Opposed by Churchill: 
  • - wary of strength of post-war economy 
  • - desire to focus on the winning of the war. 
  • Widespread popular support: 
  • - sold in hundereds of thousands 
  • - distributed to troops 
  • Beveridge himself sought to promote his scheme. 
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Reaction to the B.R

  • Opposed by Churchill: 
  • - wary of strength of post-war economy 
  • - desire to focus on the winning of the war. 
  • Widespread popular support: 
  • - sold in hundereds of thousands 
  • - distributed to troops 
  • Beveridge himself sought to promote his scheme. 
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Post- war developments:

  • immediatley after the war, Churchill announce the introduction of family allowances, paid 5s (25p) for the second and susequent child (Hill, 1993) 
  • Labour's victory at the 1945 election 
  • commitment to full employment: 
  • - ' no longer an act of god or the market' (2000) 
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Post- war developments:

  • immediatley after the war, Churchill announce the introduction of family allowances, paid 5s (25p) for the second and susequent child (Hill, 1993) 
  • Labour's victory at the 1945 election 
  • commitment to full employment: 
  • - ' no longer an act of god or the market' (2000) 
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National insurance Act 1946

Departure from Beveridge: 

  • intended unlimited duration - 6 months/1 year
  • intended pension earned after 20 years -- act allowed for 10 years 
  • benefits not at susistence level, but to provide 'reasonable insurance against want' 
  • greater role for National Assistance than intended: 
  • - failure to raise value of national insurance benefits with Veveridge expectations meant that national assistance became an essential part of the social security from 1948 onwards; (harris 2004)
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National insurance Act 1946

Departure from Beveridge: 

  • intended unlimited duration - 6 months/1 year
  • intended pension earned after 20 years -- act allowed for 10 years 
  • benefits not at susistence level, but to provide 'reasonable insurance against want' 
  • greater role for National Assistance than intended: 
  • - failure to raise value of national insurance benefits with Veveridge expectations meant that national assistance became an essential part of the social security from 1948 onwards; (harris 2004)
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creation of NHS:

  • NHS opposed the british medical association, on grounds it would limit private fee income: 
  • -favoured extension of health insurance 
  • Consultant allowed to retain private fee income, byt as an extra -- not as primary wage 
  • Continued to be opposed by BMA --- determination of Bevan
  • GPs continued to be private, but recieve annual NHS payment for each patient they took on at surgery: 
  • - hospitals nationalised = free percriptions 
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creation of NHS:

  • NHS opposed the british medical association, on grounds it would limit private fee income: 
  • -favoured extension of health insurance 
  • Consultant allowed to retain private fee income, byt as an extra -- not as primary wage 
  • Continued to be opposed by BMA --- determination of Bevan
  • GPs continued to be private, but recieve annual NHS payment for each patient they took on at surgery: 
  • - hospitals nationalised = free percriptions 
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Education:

  • 1944 Education Act provided the abolition of all secondary fees, which had been a barrier for W/C education prior to the war (Harris 2004) 
  • free education for all 
  • raised the school leaving age in two stages from 14 to 16 (Glennerster) 
  • better educated nation 
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Education:

  • 1944 Education Act provided the abolition of all secondary fees, which had been a barrier for W/C education prior to the war (Harris 2004) 
  • free education for all 
  • raised the school leaving age in two stages from 14 to 16 (Glennerster) 
  • better educated nation 
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Housing:

  • Concern with mass homelessness: 
  • 200,000 houses had been destroyed in the war. 
  • Further 250,000 badly damaged during the war (Glennerster 2000) 
  • 1 million housed built between 1945 and 1951 
  • - 'efforts to achieve more than this were frustratd by a combination of labout shortages, economic difficulties and high prices' (harris 2004) 
  • Harris (2004) suggests that labout's \failure to build more than just over a million new homes played a major role in it fall from office in the autumn of 1951' 
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Housing:

  • Concern with mass homelessness: 
  • 200,000 houses had been destroyed in the war. 
  • Further 250,000 badly damaged during the war (Glennerster 2000) 
  • 1 million housed built between 1945 and 1951 
  • - 'efforts to achieve more than this were frustratd by a combination of labout shortages, economic difficulties and high prices' (harris 2004) 
  • Harris (2004) suggests that labout's \failure to build more than just over a million new homes played a major role in it fall from office in the autumn of 1951' 
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Towards 1951:

  • Budgetary difficulties follwoing Korean War 1950. 
  • it was proposed that charges for dentures, spectacles and prescriptions would be levied in order to reduce expenditure. 
  • - cabinet accepted charges for there but not for prescriptions. 
  • Bevan resigned in opposition both to the attach on a free health service and the increase in military bbudged (Hill 1993) 
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Towards 1951:

  • Budgetary difficulties follwoing Korean War 1950. 
  • it was proposed that charges for dentures, spectacles and prescriptions would be levied in order to reduce expenditure. 
  • - cabinet accepted charges for there but not for prescriptions. 
  • Bevan resigned in opposition both to the attach on a free health service and the increase in military bbudged (Hill 1993) 
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