The Labour government of 1945 made the first drastic steps towards the welfare state. William Beveridge had been commissioned to write a report on the causes of poverty and this became the basis for the Labour reforms. These reforms identified that there were five ‘giants’ of poverty, all of which would have to be defeated in order to eradicate poverty. The attempts to tackle these giants varied greatly in their levels of success and achievements of the aims to defeat poverty. “Labour didn’t abolish poverty but the number seriously lacking in food, clothing, shelter and warmth was reduced”. Of the five giants (Squalor, Want, Disease, Ignorance, and Idleness) Want is the one on which the others lie if it is defeated then there would be less problems in all of the other giants. The giant of Want was tackled in many ways to provide aid for the diversity of situations which caused poverty. For many it was children and raising a family which caused the loss of wealth and ability to live comfortably.
For this the first steps were taken during the war when the coalition government introduced the Family Allowance Act which provided small amounts of money for mothers with two or more children without the need for a means test. This enabled mothers to provide more adequately and comfortably for their children as they were better able to afford necessities such as food and clothing. There were though many other causes of poverty which the Labour government had to consider and act on. The National Insurance Act (1946) built on the liberal Act and extended it to provide sickness and unemployment benefits, retirement, widows, pensions, and maternity grants. With this act workers were able to recover from illnesses, wives survive without their husbands earnings and mothers provide for their newborns without fear of either themselves or their family becoming impoverished. However, this act did exclude a lot of people; only those with a certain level of contribution were covered and it did not cover those who did not work. This data has been written by Essay Writers.
For those unable to work due to injury there was the Industrial Injuries Act which handed out payments for those temporarily hurt and unable to work for a short period and a higher rate of benefit for those permanently injured and unable to work. However, the payments made were not enough to live on long term. The National Assistance Act was also introduced and covered those out of work or old who had not contributed enough to the National Insurance Scheme so as to ensure that there was a ‘safety net’. National insurance, national assistance, and industrial injuries all contributed to providing care from the cradle to the grave. There were though problems as it didn’t cover everybody, it required a lot of people to administer, national insurance didn’t cover everybody and it was of course as expense to the government. Squalor was placed under the control of Bevan who took control by ensuring that the process for building goods and labour were not too expensive to encourage building. The 1946 new towns act planned the building to 12 new towns which would provide a place for people in overcrowded towns to move to.
The 1949 housing act made sure that help was available to councils and private home-owners for home improvements or cons at the level of 75% for the councils and 50% for private home owners provided by the government. Between 1948 and 1951 a lot of houses were built at the rate of around 200,000 a year which, although less than in the 30’s or 50’s, was real progress for a time when materials, workers, and money were short. However, there were still many problems left unsolved by Labours reforms. The homes built were just pre-fabs which were intended to be temporary so although affordable and quick to put up they were destined to cost more in the future and possibly cause future problems. The building of houses was not at a rate good enough to cover everyone without a home. The war had meant bombing and thus destruction of many houses and slum housing was still around from before the war. Many families, particularly those in large cities such as London, still had to squat illegally due to the lack of housing despite Labours efforts.
The Labour government of 1945 made the first drastic steps towards the welfare state. William Beveridge had been commissioned to write a report on the causes of poverty and this became the basis for the Labour reforms. These reforms identified that there were five ‘giants’ of poverty, all of which would have to be defeated in order to eradicate poverty. The attempts to tackle these giants varied greatly in their levels of success and achievements of the aims to defeat poverty. “Labour didn’t abolish poverty but the number seriously lacking in food, clothing, shelter and warmth was reduced”. Of the five giants (Squalor, Want, Disease, Ignorance, and Idleness) Want is the one on which the others lie if it is defeated then there would be less problems in all of the other giants. The giant of Want was tackled in many ways to provide aid for the diversity of situations which caused poverty. For many it was children and raising a family which caused the loss of wealth and ability to live comfortably.
For this the first steps were taken during the war when the coalition government introduced the Family Allowance Act which provided small amounts of money for mothers with two or more children without the need for a means test. This enabled mothers to provide more adequately and comfortably for their children as they were better able to afford necessities such as food and clothing. There were though many other causes of poverty which the Labour government had to consider and act on. The National Insurance Act (1946) built on the liberal Act and extended it to provide sickness and unemployment benefits, retirement, widows, pensions, and maternity grants. With this act workers were able to recover from illnesses, wives survive without their husbands earnings and mothers provide for their newborns without fear of either themselves or their family becoming impoverished. However, this act did exclude a lot of people; only those with a certain level of contribution were covered and it did not cover those who did not work. This data has been written by Essay Writers.
For those unable to work due to injury there was the Industrial Injuries Act which handed out payments for those temporarily hurt and unable to work for a short period and a higher rate of benefit for those permanently injured and unable to work. However, the payments made were not enough to live on long term. The National Assistance Act was also introduced and covered those out of work or old who had not contributed enough to the National Insurance Scheme so as to ensure that there was a ‘safety net’. National insurance, national assistance, and industrial injuries all contributed to providing care from the cradle to the grave. There were though problems as it didn’t cover everybody, it required a lot of people to administer, national insurance didn’t cover everybody and it was of course as expense to the government. Squalor was placed under the control of Bevan who took control by ensuring that the process for building goods and labour were not too expensive to encourage building. The 1946 new towns act planned the building to 12 new towns which would provide a place for people in overcrowded towns to move to.
The 1949 housing act made sure that help was available to councils and private home-owners for home improvements or cons at the level of 75% for the councils and 50% for private home owners provided by the government. Between 1948 and 1951 a lot of houses were built at the rate of around 200,000 a year which, although less than in the 30’s or 50’s, was real progress for a time when materials, workers, and money were short. However, there were still many problems left unsolved by Labours reforms. The homes built were just pre-fabs which were intended to be temporary so although affordable and quick to put up they were destined to cost more in the future and possibly cause future problems. The building of houses was not at a rate good enough to cover everyone without a home. The war had meant bombing and thus destruction of many houses and slum housing was still around from before the war. Many families, particularly those in large cities such as London, still had to squat illegally due to the lack of housing despite Labours efforts.