Powerpoint for European Section students

1. The Creation of the
Welfare State in the UK
1945-1951
- Historical background
- - The Liberal Party and David Lloyd George
- WWII
- The BEVERIDGE report
- 1945 election
- The Welfare State
- Limits and problems
- 1951 election

2. Although Victorians who attained adulthood could expect to
live into old age, average life expectancy at birth was low: in
1850 it was 40 for men and 42 for women. By 1900 it was 45
for men and 50 for women.
‘…the condition of a class of people whose misery, ignorance,
and vice, amidst all the immense wealth and great knowledge
of “the first city in the world”, is, to say the very least, a
national disgrace to us’

3. The Liberal Party and David Lloyd George … the beginnings of the Welfare State
Liberal Party and Political Reforms:
1906 School Meals and medical inspections in schools
1909 Old Age Pensions to people over 75
1911 National Insurance for workers (only in time of need)
These were the first steps which paved the way to the Welfare State
The Liberal Party was held responsible for the losses in WWI and the
party saw its supprot vanish as it was replaced in the 1920s by the
Labour Party as the main opposition to the Conservatives.
There then followed the Great Depression and dire poverty for many
of the poor in the UK.

5. The Beveridge Report 1942
Beveridge was a Liberal economist (with Maynard Keynes). He published a report in December 1942 on social reforms in British
politics and society. It would be the basis of the Welfare State.
He identified FIVE GIANTS … social ills to be fought against: IDLENESS WANT DISEASE IGNORANCE SQUALOR
The aim of the report was to propopse a plan to generate jobs and find full employment, establish a sysytem of family allowances
and develop National Insurance.
People would be helped by a governmental social sytem « FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE »

6. A Political Earthquake: the 1945 general election
The Labour Party included the Beveridge Report in its 1945 Manifesto
Labour won a landslide victory. Clement Attlee beacme Prime
Minister (seen at the Potsdam Conference)
After the war, and despite the character of Churchill, the British people
voted for a government which would enact far-reaching social reform
These reforms would deal with Social Security, Medical Services,
Education, Housing and Employment

7. Implementing the Beveridge Report: The Welfare State
Labour government reforms 1945-1950
- Social Security … National Insurance 1946 to protect workers in need
- Medical Services … the National Health Service (the NHS) July 5th 1948
- Education … 1944 free education/free meals and milk/medical
inspections/school leaving age raised to 15/primary, secondary and
higher education
- Housing … building plans for new homes including Council Houses (90%
of contracts)
- Employment … nationalisation of industries
(steel,iron,coal,electricity,railways …) to reach full employment

8. Problems with Reforms and the re-election of
Churchill 1951
- Education … the government could have gone
even further (free education at all levels,
secularistaion, school leaving age 16 …)
- Housing … too slow / lack of supplies
- Energy … coldest wonter on record 1945/47
lack of coal
- Nationalization … bueaucracy too heavy /
workers could not see the real difference /
people remained below the poverty line
- NHS … cost too much / introduction of
prescription charges for false teeth and glasses
led to a split in the government and its downfall
In the 1950 election Labour remained in power but
the question of free medical care split the party
and in 1951 a new election saw the Conservatives
and Churchill back in power … but Labour scored
48,8% of the total vote, the highest in UK history.

9. CONCLUSION: The Welfare State 1945-1951
Perhaps hopes and expectations were too high at the end of WWII
The economic rebuilding of Europe would take time
Ordinary people did not see quick changes and results BUT they did keep their faith in the Labour
Party
There was an over-dependence on Marshall Plan money
The reforms introduced by the Labour government were almost impossible to overturn in the
short-term
Under the Attlee government, the country changed more than under any government in history
The NHS remains today but has been the subject of rivalry between Labour and Conservatives
ever since