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How
successful
were
the
Welfare
Reforms
of
the
Labour
government
1945-1951
in
meeting
the
needs
of
the
British
people?
During
the
beginning
to
the
middle
of
the
20th
Century
there
were
slow
advances
in
the
government
meeting
the
needs
of
the
British
population,
although
they
did
not
help
everyone
and
help
solve
everything.
The
government
hired
Sir
William
Beveridge
who
produced
a
report
in
1942
(Report
of
the
Inter-Departmental
Committee
on
Social
Insurance
and
Allied
Services1)
which
identified
5
giants
of
poverty,
these
were;
Want,
Disease,
Ignorance,
Squalor
and
Idleness.
This
essay
will
elaborate
on
the
meaning
of
each
of
these
points
while
coming
to
the
conclusion
if
specific
Welfare
Reforms
that
the
Labour
government
introduced
between
1945
and
1951
were
in
fact
effective
in
meeting
the
needs
of
the
British
People.
In
1946
the
Labour
government
introduced
the
National
Insurance
Act
part
one,
this
was
their
first
real
step
in
helping
meet
the
needs
of
the
population.
The
Act
was
introduced
with
the
aim
to
support
people
from
the
cradle
to
the
grave.
It
entitled
every
British
worker
(who
paid
156
weekly
contributions)
to
sickness
pay,
this
was
50p
per
week
for
the
first
13
weeks
and
then
half
that
for
the
next
13
weeks.
This
was
aimed
to
tackle
want,
this
was
the
fact
that
it
was
expected
that
the
government
would
interfere
to
stop
people
falling
below
the
poverty
line
and
give
them
basic
that
were
essential
for
living.
This
Act
can
be
argued
as
being
ineffective
due
to
the
terms
and
conditions
that
workers
had
to
abide
by,
such
as
they
had
to
pay
156
weeks
worth
before
they
were
eligible.
It
can
also
be
argued
to
have
failed
in
providing
workers
with
enough
money
to
help
their
families,
as
if
you
had
been
ill
for
over
13
weeks
you
would
only
receive
25p
per
week.
The
government
still
had
other
needs
of
the
British
people
to
tackle,
therefore
the
argument
still
stands
that
the
government
where
at
this
point
unsuccessful.
Disease
was
another
giant
that
they
had
to
tackle,
Beveridge
believed
that
disease
was
linked
to
financial
trouble
because
sickness
forces
people
to
discontinue
working2.
In
order
to
do
so
they
established
the
National
Health
Service
(NHS)
in
1948.
The
NHS
was
the
first
universal
health
service
in
Britain
which
aimed
to
tackle
the
spread
of
disease
such
as
whooping
cough
or
polio
and
provide
vaccinations
and
immunisations
against
sed
diseases.
The
NHS
was
free
at
point
of
use,
thus
allowing
all
of
the
population
no
matter
of
age
or
financial
background
to
use
the
service.
There
is
an
argument
that
states
that
the
NHS
was
too
successful,
as
historian
Birch
commented:
...the
greatest
single
achievement
in
the
story
of
the
welfare
state.
This
can
be
seen
as
a
negative
as
the
expected
clientele
of
the
NHS
almost
doubled
rapidly,
causing
the
government
to
introduce
charges
for
prescriptions
and
spectacles.
This
left
the
poor
and
1 2
Information from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beveridge_Report Information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beveridge_Report - 5 Giant Evils - line 8
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unfortunate
out
of
reach
of
the
necessary
medication,
thus
the
point
that
the
NHS
was
too
successful
still
stands.
Here
there
is
an
argument
to
state
that
the
NHS
was
very
successful
in
meeting
the
needs
of
the
British
population
in
terms
of
families,
workers
and
bosses,
although
this
may
be
offset
by
the
immense
costs
that
the
Government
and
therefore
the
British
people
endured.
Even
though
the
offset
is
a
strong
argument
the
improvement
to
the
quality
of
life
is
by
far
a
greater
achievement
of
the
Labour
government,
in
words
of
Sked
and
Cook
(historians)
...it
improved
the
quality
of
life
of
most
of
the
British
people
thus
arguing
that
the
introduction
of
the
NHS
was
successful
in
meeting
the
needs
of
the
British
people
although,
it
did
not
cover
the
other
giants;
Squalor,
Ignorance
or
Idleness.
Ignorance
was
another
one
of
the
5
giants
that
beveridge
highlighted
in
his
report
he
claimed
it
as:
Ignorance
by
reform
of
the
educational
system.3
In
order
to
tackle
this
effectively
the
Labour
government
introduced
as
two-tier
secondary
schooling
system
that
was
separated
by
an
11
plus
exam.
This
exam
was
taken
by
anyone
that
was
11
years
old
or
older
(12
in
Scotland)
-
if
they
passed
they
moved
onto
secondary
school,
if
they
failed
they
went
to
a
college
set
up.
There
is
an
argument
that
this
was
ineffective
due
to
their
being
so
much
pressure
being
applied
to
students
to
pass
the
11
plus
exam.
Although,
there
is
an
opposing
argument
stating
that
this
was
a
positive
movement
for
Britain,
this
is
because
people
who
went
on
to
secondary
school
were
expected
to
stay
on
past
15,
go
to
university
and
take
the
higher
level
or
senior
jobs
in
Britain,
thus
solving
the
problem
of
the
skills
shortages.
It
also
allowed
people
from
disadvantaged
backgrounds
to
be
in
school
and
pursue
a
better
career
that
could
see
them
leave
the
poverty
line.
Ergo,
the
action
that
Labour
had
taken
this
time
could
be
argued
as
being
effective
for
people
in
Britain.
Although
the
Labour
government
had
tackled
health,
ignorance
and
partially
tackled
want
-
they
still
had
to
solve
the
problems
of
Squalor
and
Idleness.
After
the
war
Britain
suffered
a
major
blow
in
terms
of
numbers
of
houses,
as
thousands
were
either
destroyed
or
damaged.
This
was
identified
in
the
Beveridge
report
as
Squalor
-
the
need
for
adequate
housing4.
In
a
response
the
Labour
government
issued
the
Housing
(Temporary
Accommodation)
Act
of
1944,
and
the
construction
of
157,000
prefabricated
houses
(prefabs),
these
could
be
built
easily
and
quickly,
which
helped
with
the
homelessness
situation
that
was
occurring,
although
there
were
never
enough
built
to
suffice
the
conditions,
leading
to
scrutiny
from
outside
of
the
government.
Labour
introduced
The
New
Towns
Act
of
1946
-
this
commissioned
12
newly
designed
communities
to
be
built,
an
example
of
this
would
Livingston,
Information taken from: http://ebookbrowse.com/the-beveridge-report-doc-d107427076 - The Five Giants - line 12 4 Information taken from: http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=398028§ion=1.2
3
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Scotland. This mainly aimed to tackle the problem of overcrowding in major cities, also identified in the report. It can be agreed that due to the inadequate housing scheme that was introduced in 1944 that Labour did not fully meet the needs of the British people, although the latter part of the argument concerns The New Towns Act, which can be argued as being successful in accommodating the needs of the British people (although there remained a shortfall until 1951). The last of the five giants that concerned Beveridge was Idleness -in other words, the need for gainful employment. This did not necessarily need to be tackled by the Labour government as unemployment was practically non-existent. Although the Labour government did take measures in order to maintain what could be described as full employment at the time. Firstly the British Government started to partly cover the costs of higher education in Britain, thus leading to an increase of 60% in student numbers. This meant that people had the necessary qualifications to take on highly skilled work, meaning that it was unlikely that a shortage of workers would occur. The Labour government then nationalised 20% of Britains industries, this meant that the government had greater control over employment and ensured people that there would always be work. The collaboration of the above points leads to the argument that the British government did deal effectively with the giant that was Idleness. Ergo, it can be argued that the Labour government did deal with the problems and met the needs of the British people sufficely. Although at points the Labour government did not deal with the problem directly, they did set up a foundation that future governments could work upon.The introduction of the said acts, and the action that the government took, strengthens the argument and the point that the Labour government met the needs of the British people between 1945-1951.
Property of Plumanities.org.uk, Jamie Halvorson and affiliated sites. Please do not share/print/copy unless you have permission from Plumanities.org.uk or Jamie Halvorson.