Does anyone know where i can find info on "The 1948 Beveridge Report - 5 Giants."?
Question:
i need further information but cannot find any website for it. pleases can you help. If you know any information about this report and the 5 giants please do tell.
thank you
Answers:
The Welfare State is a term that had had wide currency for over two generations although it has been less used during the last 20 years. In essence, welfare means well being. The term was introduced by William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, in a book, Citizen and Churchmen, published in 1941, to describe the provision, by society through the State, of help to those in need, notably the sick, elderly, poor, disabled and those unable to work.
The Beveridge Report
The ‘Welfare State’ was the crowning achievement of the first majority Labour administrations, the post-war Attlee governments of 1945-51, but the blueprint for the provision of help was greatly influenced by one man, a civil servant and academic, Sir William Beveridge. The Social Insurance and Allied Services Report, 1942, usually called the Beveridge Report, which he alone signed, was the work of a civil service inter-departmental committee that met in 1941-2, during the dark days of the Second World War. The Report said:
The aim of the Plan for Social Security is to abolish want by ensuring that every citizen willing to serve according to his powers has at all times an income sufficient to meet his responsibilities … want is a needless scandal due to not taking the trouble to prevent it … Now, when the war is abolishing landmarks of every kind, is the opportunity for using experience in a clear field. A revolutionary moment in the world's history is a time for revolutions, not patching … Want is only one of the five giants on the road to reconstruction and in some ways the easiest to attack. The others are Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness … Social security must be achieved by co-operation between the State and the individual …
Insurance for all, managed by the State
The centre of the state-managed post-war social order was the establishment of compulsory and comprehensive insurance, implemented by the National Insurance Act, 1946. Payments for this insurance came from the State, employers and the employed. Only married women not working were exempt. Payments (that is, benefits) were made for unemployment, sickness, maternity and funerals and for pensions (women over 60, men over 65). Further schemes paid money for industrial injuries (Industrial Injuries Act, 1946), for the cost of rearing children (Family Allowances Act, 1945) and for deep-seated financial need (National Assistance Act, 1946). Complementary to these financial measures, the National Health Act, 1946, established a health service with free medical, dental and optical care for all. General practitioners (often called GPs or family doctors) were responsible for primary care and 3,500 hospitals were taken over from existing organisations and local authorities. The whole service was to be financed by the State in the same way that the Armed Forces and national defence were state provisions. Large hospital bills for those who could barely pay and suffering and anxiety because of inability to pay for treatment were things of the past. The main changes became operational on 5 July 1948, marked by a broadcast to the country by the Prime Minister, Clement Attlee. It was the climax of arguably the most industrious and reforming government of the century. The enthusiasm was captured by The Times comment:
The British public join together in a single national friendly society for mutual support during the common misfortunes of life. … The new social security system is, as the Prime Minister said … the most comprehensive of its kind ever introduced in any country …
Associated with these provisions of insurance in the post-war reconstruction were changes in education and housing. Compulsory schooling from five to 15, provided free by local authorities, had been introduced by the non-party ‘Butler’ Education Act in 1944. The remedy of the shortage of housing became a big issue. More houses were built in Britain in the five years after 1945 than any European country and subsidies were given to local authorities to build ‘council houses’. By 1956 over 25 per cent lived in publicly-owned houses.
The 1945-51 changes in a longer timeframe
However substantial and comprehensive the changes, many were developments of earlier provisions, particularly insurance, founded on the National Insurance Act of 1911, introduced by Lloyd George during the pre-war ‘New Liberalism’ administrations. The 1911 scheme had been operated through existing friendly societies and applied only to workers in a few industries so only 2.5 million workers could benefit. Other earlier foundations were the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1897, which the Industrial Injuries Act replaced while the National Assistance Act replaced poor relief arrangements that stretched back to the New Poor Law of 1834.
The idea of the Welfare State was largely accepted by both major parties (consensus politics) after 1951 until the radical Thatcher administrations after 1979. Thatcher opposed a welfare system that discouraged thrift and bred bureaucracy while the size of the ‘welfare’ budget, partly driven by increased life expectancy, led to a review of welfare and degrees of ‘retreat’ in, for example, pensions, housing and healthcare.
In 1942 Sir William Beveridge published a report on poverty. It provided a summery of principles necessary to banish poverty. Following the war, he argued that it was vital to combat poverty. He wanted to ensure that that there was an acceptable standard of living in Britain, therefore aimed to provide a system of social insurance from `cradle to grave'. The report stated that it was vital to combat the 5 giants; want, disease, squalor and ignorance and idleness. By addressing these giants, he outlined that the state needed to have family allowances, a national health service and full employment. The first of the 5 giants to be addressed was `ignorance'. The Education Act was passed by the wartime Coalition Government. It was a major legislative achievement of the time. It stated that the school leaving age was to be raised 15 and was made compulsory to attend from the age of 5 to 15. To ensure it catered for all stages of academic levels, it was split into 3 stages, nursery, primary, and secondary. A test was given at the end of primary school to assess the academic level, and in turn it was decided if they were ready for secondary school. The `provision of school meals' was also to become compulsory. The act was certainly a successful factor in addressing the problem of poverty. Free and compulsory education gave the poor skills they may need to find employment in the future. In 1945 the Labour Party, who were strong supporters of the Beveridge Report were elected into power. Influenced by the report they introduced significant acts that improved the health and well being of the poor. Building on the foundations the liberals set in 1911, Clement Atlee passed another National Insurance Act in 1946 which created the structure of the Welfare State. It made the act more widely available making it compulsory to provide contributions to the unemployed, sick, maternity and widows and old age pensions. Again, this was to be funded by the `peoples budget' created by Lloyd George. Workers, except married women paid 11s a week into the insurance scheme. It was stated that this was arguably the `the best and cheapest insurance policy offered to the British people'.
The Beveridge report also placed a huge emphasis on housing. He believed that housing was the crucial difference between rich and poor. They were overcrowded, damp and ill ventilated and as a result disease still spread easily. As a result Labour passed the 1946 Housing Act. It made a significant difference to poverty. It marked the beginning of the clearing of the remaining inner city slums and provided planned adequate housing fit for the average working class family. Another of the giants Labour succeeded to tackle was Disease. In 1946 the National Health Service Act was passed and for the first time the poor and every other British citizen could receive free medical, dental and optical services. The cost of the new act was the main criticism it faced. Prescriptions rose from £7 million a month up to £135 million in 1948. National Insurance only covered 9% of these costs. Other than that, the National Health Service Act was arguably the "greatest achievement of the welfare state"
Welfare Amendments introduced by successive governments unquestionably addressed the problem of poverty. The Poor Law Amendment Act introduced by the Whig government was successful in terms of its own aims; however it can be fairly argued that it didn't get to the root of the problem. Throughout the 19th century attitudes to poverty were beginning to change and as a result successful act were passed which benefited the poor. The later Victorian Reforms saw great changes in housing and health conditions as a result of The Public Health Act which was the first step into controlling disease. The major changes in poverty were definitely those in the 20th century. The Liberals laid the foundations for a welfare state introducing acts that tackled the old, the sick and the hungry. It was Labour and their successful acts in 1946 that made the biggest and most vital improvement in society. 9.9% of the population in Britain in 1899 were in poverty. By 1936 that figure decreased dramatically going down to just 3.9% of the population.
no sorry. but heres my last 2 points for level 2. cheers
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