British Welfare
Similarly to my previous articles, I am again turning to history for some clarification on our present globe. Being a professional of Anglo-Saxon studies, the foundation and management of the British Welfare State has been a crucial point of my interest.
To begin with, I would like to define what we mean by ‘welfare state‘. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is a ‘policy so organised that every member of the community is assured of his due maintenance with the most advantageous conditions possible for all.’1
Modern ‘welfare state’ in Britain was founded in the ages of Liberal Government between 1905-14, especially after Asquith became Prime Minister in 1908. Free school meals (1907), old age pensions, Churchill’s labour exchanges (1909), and Lloyd George’s National Insurance Bill (1911) which gave compulsory insurance to certain workers for benefits in times of sickness and unemployment, paid for by the state, the employer, and the employee. These reforms accepted that capitalism was wasteful, and inefficient. Liberals recognised the need to introduce collectivist policies.2
The ‘welfare state’ was planned to compensate for the inadequacies and inefficiencies of the market, and to guarantee that individuals and families have the minimum necessary income. In 1946, the post-war Labour government carried a National Insurance Act which provided benefits covering sickness, old age, unemployment and industrial injury, and the National Health Service Act which created a completely free and universal health service, financed out of taxes, and voluntary hospitals were nationalised and grouped under Regional boards.3
After World War II, Britain had a huge post-war debt, there were shortages of raw materials and basic food supplies.4
On the contrary, most working-class people - the majority of population - felt that the years since 1945 were the best since the late-Victorian era. Wages rose to 30 percent above their 1938 level, there were higher living standards, guaranteed employment, and more satisfying educational facilities.5 The problem with full employment is that employees may often ask for higher wages, they become inflexible and loose interest in their work because their job is guaranteed for a lifetime.
Social insurance had changed a lot since 1912. Then, about twelve million workers had paid into two funds, one for health treatment and one for unemployment. By 1942, new laws had spread health insurance to 20 million and unemployment insurance to 14 million people. In 1944, Parliament set up a Ministry of National Insurance. In 1945, this passed an act to pay family allowances. National Insurance, national Assistance and the National Health Service started on July 1948. These were all based on the idea that everyone should receive the same services and benefits.6
After 1948, the State felt that it ought to give social service to those who could not manage on their own. The most obvious improvement was that they managed to stop fevers which killed thousands. In 1944, a plan for Greater London showed a green area where constructing and buildings were not allowed. In 1948, the New Towns Act said that new towns should have a Development Corporation to plan separate zones for industry, shopping and open spaces. The Town and Country planning Act claimed that all councils must keep Town maps to show zones for different kinds of building, as well as open spaces. All new buildings needed planning permission to certify that they fitted the overall scheme.7
Also in 1948, Britain, France and the Benelux countries signed the Brussels Treaty which united them for purposes of collaboration in economic, social and cultural matters, and for collective self-defence.8
During the 1940s, under Attlee’s government major industries and institutions, railways, road transport, civil aviation, gas, electricity, even the Bank of England were given to public ownership. Old age pensions were increased, the school-leaving age rose higher. Government allowed doctors to keep their private practice, and ‘pay beds’ within the nationalised hospitals. In secondary education, the public schools flourished side by side with the state grammar schools. Later, in 1948, electricity and gas were nationalised.9
As a result of the ‘welfare state’, since 1936 the number of people over the age of 65 was higher and the primary cause of death was old age, not fevers. The Labour Party’s Colonial Secretary, Arthur Creech-Jones, had wanted to extend the benefits of Labour welfare policies into the remaining colonies, making sure that their peoples had ‘a fair standard of living and freedom from oppression’, but they did not succeed. Between 1945-50, more people had a larger income and fewer people had very large incomes. Members of a Conservative Reform Group insisted in 1948 that the social services were designed to give to all ‘the basic minimum of security, of housing, of opportunity, of employment, and of living standards below which no one should fall’.10
In 1951, the Labour party launched the Festival of Britain to commemorate the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851. It provided ground for architects, sculptors, and designers to express their creativity. During the rule of the Tories ( namely Churchill, Eden, Macmillan, and Douglas) from 1951-1964, they pursued the policy of social peace. The trade unions were generally permitted to develop their freedoms. There were few major strikes, and no domestic violence, even in Northern-Ireland. In the 1950s, political harmony at home inspired artists, too. British drama lived its renaissance, from the avant-garde work of Samuel Beckett to the social realism of John Osborne. There was a state patronage through the Arts Council. British music was also lively, with Benjamin Britten and Walton. School orchestras and amateur music groups flourished. Television served to introduce the nation to itself.11
In 1951, the Labour Government decided to make patients pay part of the costs of dentists’ and opticians’ work because national Health Service costs rose. A few months later, when the Conservatives were back in power, they added a small charge for doctors’ prescriptions.12
Under Eden’s ministry, between 1955-57, there was some improvement in terms of trade. Almost the whole working population was employed, wages rose faster than production, imports rose faster than exports.13 Eden’s policy was to promote ‘a property-owning democracy’ and ‘partnership in industry.’14
During the 1950s, the British so called ‘affluent society’ was taking place. The danger of affluent society is that there is not enough money left for re-investment and for defence. Macmillan’s Cabinet was concerned with how to keep within boundaries the strong inflationary pressures. The slogan was ‘expansions without inflation.’ In 1957, the Government set up the national Economic Development Council to make plans for systematic economic growth, and the National Incomes Commission, to help the ‘incomes policy’.15
By 1960, about half of the workers had some pension from their employers. Workers paid a varied amount for insurance according to their earnings.16 This was a ‘miserable decade’ when Britain had to solve - sometimes in an immoral way - frequent financial problems, the crises of balance of payment, and later, in 1967 the devaluation of pound.17
My assessment is that the ‘welfare state’ was introduced because after World War II Britain had to restore its social and economic position by nationalisation of credit, power and transport, and through various Acts which were passed to provide better circumstances for the whole of society. Together with the good results of the ‘welfare state’ there were negative outcomes to it, as well. These were that there was no domestic investment, not enough money for defence, and full employment put an end to improvement in jobs.
End notes
1. Trevor May, An Economic and Social History of Britain 1760 - 1990 (Longman, 1995), p. 418.
2. Asa Briggs, A Social History of England (Penguin Books, 1991), p. 330.
3. Ibid., p. 334.
4. K. O. Morgan, ‘The Twentieth Century’, in K. O. Morgan (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain (Oxford University Press, 1986), p. 569.
5. Ibid., p. 570.
6. INCOMPLETE DATA…, Twentieth Century Social History ( ), p. 278.
7. Ibid., p. 281.
8. Trevor May, An Economic and Social History of Britain 1760 - 1990 (Longman, 1995), p. 439.
9. K. O. Morgan, ‘The Twentieth Century’, in K. O. Morgan (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain (Oxford University Press, 1986), p. 568.
10. Asa Briggs, A Social History of England (Penguin Books, 1991), p. 321-330.
11. K. O. Morgan, ‘The Twentieth Century’, in K. O. Morgan (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain (Oxford University Press, 1986), p. 570.
12. ……….., Twentieth Century Social History ( ), p. 278.
13. Denis Richards and J. W. Hunt, An illustrated History of Modern Britain ( ), p. 255.
14. David Thomson, England In The Twentieth Century (Pelican, 1977), p. 247.
15. Ibid., p. 261.
16. ……….., Twentieth Century Social History ( ), p. 281.
17. K. O. Morgan, ‘The Twentieth Century’, in K. O. Morgan (ed.), The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain (Oxford University Press, 1986), p. 578.
Bibliography
Briggs, A. A Social History of England. Penguin Books, 1991.
May, T. An Economic and Social History of Britain. Longman, 1995.
McDowall, D. An Illustrated History of Britain. Longman, 1989.
Morgan, K. O. “The Twentieth Century”, In K. O. Morgan, ed. The Oxford Illustrated
History of Britain. Oxford University Press, 1986.
Richards, D. and Hunt, J. W. An Illustrated History of Modern Britain.
Thomson, D. England in the Twentieth Century. Pelican, 1977
