The document summarizes social reforms introduced by the 1906-1914 Liberal government in the UK to help vulnerable groups. It overviews reforms that established old age pensions to help the elderly, introduced free school meals and medical inspections to aid young people's health and education, created national insurance that provided sick pay and unemployment benefits to assist the sick and unemployed, and implemented various acts to improve workers' conditions through limits on working hours, minimum wages, and compensation for injuries. However, many of these reforms had limitations and criticisms in fully addressing the problems facing these groups.

3. LEARNING INTENTIONS
• Explain the various social reforms introduced by the
1906-1914 Liberal government
• These changes helped groups including:
• Elderly
• Young people
• The sick
• Unemployed
• Workers

4. Before the twentieth century
the British government did
very little to help poor or other
vulnerable people.
Society was run based on
‘laissez faire’, the idea that
problems would fix
themselves, and it was not
the government’s job to
interfere in people’s lives.

5. This meant that the poor
had to rely on charity, or
the hated and feared
Poor House.
The Poor House was a
place that the poorest
people (of all ages)
would go to work and
then get the barest of
support e.g. shelter,
food, etc.

6. However by the late-1800s
and early-1900s, social
attitudes began to change,
meaning that the government
came under pressure to help
various groups.
There are various reasons for
this, including political
advantage and the effects of
changing politics.

7. The 1906-1914 Liberal
Governments are most
remembered for the
various social changes
they introduced.
These included laws to
help: the elderly,
young people, the
sick, workers and the
unemployed too.

9. Problems facing the
elderly
Many old people were so
poor they could not save
for their retirement.
This meant that some had
to ‘work till they dropped’ or
lived an extremely poor
final few years, relying on
charity or worse.

10. Old Age Pensions
David Lloyd George,
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
decided that the best way to
fix these problems was by
introducing Old Age Pensions.
In 1908, the OId Age
Pensions Act introduced
pensions. By 1914 there were
970,000 people receiving the
benefit.

11. Old Age Pensions
Old Age Pensions gave people
over 70 a weekly income
This was between one shilling
(5 pence) and five shillings (25
pence). Married couples
received seven shillings and
six pence (37 pence).
Pensioners with an income
over 60 pence got no pension.

12. Pension problems
Although many people
praised pensions, their full
impact is debated.
A poverty study had said that
a single pensioner needed an
income of 35 pence each
week; however the pension
was only worth a maximum of
25 pence.

13. Pension problems
Another major complaint
about pensions was that not
everyone could claim them.
Groups excluded included
people who had been in
prison in the previous two
years or pensioners who had
failed to work regularly.

15. Problems facing young
people
Children faced many
problems in the early 1900s.
These included health issues
caused by poverty, a difficulty
accessing education and
other issues such as being
forced to work in dangerous
conditions.

16. Schools meals
In 1906, newly elected
Labour MPs began pushing
for the government to
introduce free school meals.
They argued that as the
government had made school
attendance compulsory, they
should ensure children were
well fed too.

17. Schools Meals Act
The Liberal Government
introduced the Provision of
School Meals Act in 1906.
This law let councils raise
local taxes to pay for school
meals, if they chose to do so.
Only poor children would get
free school meals.

18. School meal problems
The 1906 law only gave
councils the option to
introduce school meals; most
chose not do so.
In 1911 less than one third of
councils had introduced
school meals. In 1914 the
government made the law
compulsory and agreed to
pay some of the costs.

19. Checking children's
health
Before 1907, inspectors
would visit some schools to
perform inspections on
children, including checking
on cleanliness and for eye
problems.
But this did not happen for
each child – or lead to
medical treatment if needed.

20. Medical inspections
In 1907 the Liberals
introduced compulsory
medical inspections for
school children.
This meant that every school
child would be checked at
least three times during their
school life to identify health
problems the child had.

21. Medical problems
The 1907 law meant children
were inspected for health
problems – but poor children
did not actually get treatment
for any problems identified.
In 1912 free basic medical
treatment for school children
was offered, helping fix some
health problems.

22. The Children’s Charter
Victorian children had very
little protection from problems
such as abuse, poverty or
dangerous work.
The 1908 Children’s Act
aimed to change this by
having a set of rules
designed to protect children,
especially the very poorest.

23. The Children’s Charter
The Charter introduced a
minimum age for people to
drink alcohol and smoke (16).
Changes were also made to
young people accused of
committing crimes. This
included setting up juvenile
courts and also bortsals
instead of prison.

24. Charter problems
The bill did include many real
improvements for children.
However not all parts of the
law were introduced in 1908,
meaning it did not help as
many children as possible.
Also the range of rules meant
it was difficult to fully enforce
e.g. drinking, smoking.

25. School scholarships
In 1907 the government
spent more money on
scholarships to attend
secondary schools.
Poor children who passed an
exam had their school fees
paid for them. 25% of school
places were reserved for
these scholarships.

26. School scholarships
This policy did offer a help to
poor students who passed
the exam. However it was of
little help to most poor
students.
Also some poor families
needed their children to work
so could not afford to let them
stay on at school.

28. Problems facing the
sick
In 1911 there was no NHS.
Someone who was sick
needed to pay for treatment
themselves (which few could
afford) or rely on charity.
Illness meant real financial
problems as some people
could not work at this time.

29. National Insurance Act
The National Insurance Act
1911 was based on Lloyd
George’s experiences of a
similar scheme in Germany.
The law was in two parts,
each section helping the sick,
workers and the unemployed
in different ways.

30. Part 1 - Health
Part 1 of the National
Insurance Act created a
‘sick pay’ scheme.
Workers paid 4 pence per
week when working. If a
worker was too sick to
work they were paid 50
pence per week for 13
weeks, then 25 pence for
the next 13 weeks.

31. Part 1 - Criticisms
Sick pay was only paid for 26
weeks (reduced after 13
weeks). Workers with a major
illness still faced poverty.
Women also received less –
35 pence maximum. This was
a huge problem for families
with women as the major or
only earner.

33. Part 2 - Unemployment
Part 2 of the National
Insurance Act created
unemployment insurance
and the Labour Exchange.
Workers paid 2.5 pence per
week but then received 7
pence per week (for 15
weeks per year) if they lost
their job. Labour Exchanges
helped them find jobs too.

34. Part 2 - Criticisms
Unlike Part 1, Part 2 of the
Act only covered some
workers, such as those in
construction, shipbuilding and
engineering. This meant that
most workers – and few
women - were covered.
Also the cover only lasted for
15 weeks, after which time a
worker got nothing.

36. Problems facing
workers
Working conditions in the
early-1900s were very poor.
Workers were expected to
labour for long hours and
there were numerous health
and safety problems in
different jobs.

37. Working hours
Various rules were brought in
to improve working conditions.
In 1908 a maximum working
day of eight hours was
introduced for miners. In 1911
the Shops Act limited working
hours for assistants and also
guaranteed them a half day off
each week.

38. Trade Boards Act
Industries such as tailoring
and lace making were very
difficult. Workers faced low
wages and harsh working
conditions.
The 1908 Trade Boards Act
tried to set minimum wages in
jobs that trade unions could
not recruit in.

39. Compensation
Although working conditions
were very dangerous, many
workers got little or no help if
they were injured at work.
The 1906 Workmen’s
Compensation Act meant
that 6 million more workers
could claim for workplace
injuries and diseases.

40. Ongoing worker
problems
Many of the government’s
changes applied only to
certain jobs – most workers
did not benefit from reduced
working hours, for instance.
Also the government’s actions
did little to fix the overall
problems or low wages and
unsafe working conditions.