How effective were the Liberal Social Welfare Reforms of 19061914 in tackling the problems of poverty?
Introduction
At the beginning of the 20th Century, evidence from the work of Booth and Rowntree, recruitment for the
Boer War and a number of small scale social studies indicated that Britain had a number of serious social
problems needing urgent action. During the period 1906-1914, the Liberal Government brought in a series
of new laws directed towards ‘the Young’ and ‘the Old’. It insured many of those in work against
unemployment and sickness and improved conditions for millions of vulnerable workers. It is necessary to
examine the key social reforms undertaken during these years and attempt to gauge their significance as
steps on the road to the Welfare State. To establish a Welfare State, the Liberal Government would have had
to deal with a number of areas affecting the lives of British people – social security, health care,
unemployment, housing and education. Any measures introduced, would have had to have been on the basis
of being available to all in society according to their need.
The Young
By 1906, education was compulsory. It became obvious to the education authorities that large numbers of
children were coming to school hungry, dirty and/or suffering from ill health. Under parliamentary pressure
from the new Labour Party, the Liberal Government introduced the following:
The Education (Provision of Meals) Act, 1906
 This enabled Local Education Authorities (with a 50% grant from the Treasury) to provide school meals
for destitute children by levying an additional halfpenny in the pound on the rates. Parents were to be
charged if they could afford to pay.
 The number of school meals rose from 3 million in 1906 to 14 million in 1914. By that time, a publiclyfunded welfare service, administered by the Board of Education, had replaced a patchwork of local
charitable efforts.
Comment
 The Act was not made compulsory until 1914. It did not compel local authorities to provide school
meals, nor did it insist that meals be provided free of charge. By 1912, over half the local authorities had
not set up a school meals service.
The Education Act, 1907
 Publicly funded Secondary Schools were to keep ¼ of all places free to needy children.
 This increased educational opportunity for the poor in society.
The Education (Administrative Provisions) Act, 1907
 This made medical inspections for children compulsory. The Board of Education was able to specify that
at least three inspections must take place during a child’s school years.
 The inspections revealed that children were not receiving necessary medical attention because parents
could not afford treatment.
Comment
 The Act did not in itself improve the health of children as it did not provide free medical treatment to
those in need. Problems which were identified often went untreated because parents could not afford the
cost of such treatment.
 Only after 1912, did the Government introduce a system of grants to help schools establish clinics which
could provide treatment for those in need. However, the level of provision was left at the discretion of
the local authorities which led to variances around the country.
The Children’s Act, 1908
 This Act made it a legal offence for parents to neglect their children, bringing together a number of
measures designed to protect children and which reflected the view that the community as a whole was
responsible for the welfare of children. It became known as the ‘Children’s Charter’.
 Its main provisions were:
(a). The sale of alcohol to under 18s and tobacco to under 16s was forbidden.
(b). Children were forbidden to beg.
(c). Young offenders were to be separated from the prison system by being tried in juvenile
courts, being kept in remand homes rather than prisons while awaiting trial and being
sent to borstal rather than prison.
(d). Stiff penalties were introduced for those who were convicted of ill treatment or neglect
of children.
(e). It was made illegal to insure a child’s life.
Comment
 This was the first time any government had intervened so directly in the lives of ordinary families.
 It provided help, not as a charity, but as right and as a service to all who were entitled to it.
 These were measures designed to remove problem children from the malign influence of adults.
 However, although these measures were well intentioned, they did little to solve the problem of poverty
amongst the young in society.
The Old
The Old Age Pensions Act, 1908
 This Act provided that single people over the age of 70 would receive a pension of 5 shillings per week
and married couples, over the age of 70, would receive a pension of 7 shillings and 6 pence per week.
No contributions were required.
 The full pension was only available (via the Post Office) to those with an annual income of £21 or less.
For annual incomes over £21, a sliding scale of descending payments would be made up to a ceiling of a
£31 annual income.
 The payment was seen to be a right. By 1914, there were almost a million claimants, costing the
Exchequer £12 million per year. This was an indication of the level of poverty among the elderly.
Comment
 Not everyone over 70 was entitled to a pension. Those who had claimed poor relief in the previous year,
those who had failed to work regularly and those who had been in prison in the previous ten years had no
entitlement.
 The Labour Party wanted the age set at 65, arguing that many of the old would not live to see 70.
Average life expectancy in 1908 was lower than 70 years of age.
 The amount of money received was relatively small. 5 shillings was recognized to be 2 shillings short of
that needed to keep above the poverty line.
 The Government admitted that the payment was not enough in itself to lift people out of poverty but
stated that it was a ‘life belt’ to be used in conjunction with savings.
The Sick
The National Insurance Act, 1911 (Part 1)
 This Act entitled insured workers, earning less than £160 per year, to sickness benefit of 10s (shillings)
per week for the first 13 weeks (then 5s per week for the next 13 weeks), free medical attention and
medicines, and treatment at a TB sanatorium. A disablement pension of 5s per week could be claimed as
well as a maternity benefit of 30s per child.
 Male workers contributed 4d (old pence) per week, employers contributed 3d per week and the
Government contributed 2d per week. Lloyd George sold the scheme as ‘ninepence for fourpence’
(covered 15 million people in all).
Comment
 Benefits did not cover any illness befalling the worker’s wife or children.
 Benefits did not cover general hospital treatment (only TB sanatorium).
 Benefits did not cover those earning more than £160 per year.
The Unemployed
Labour Exchanges (1909)
 Labour Exchanges (job centres) were set up as a response to rising unemployment. It was argued that it
would be a more efficient method of providing employment opportunities than having men simply
standing outside factory gates looking for work.
 Employers would provide detailed information about job vacancies, whilst prospective employees would
register by providing details of their skills, experience and requirements.
Comment
 The first Labour Exchanges were set up in 1910, and by 1913 there were 430 of them throughout Britain.
By 1914, 3,000 people per day were being fixed up with work.
 However, as wages were generally quite low, many people saw Labour Exchanges as simply a source of
cheap labour.
 The scheme was only voluntary.
The National Insurance Act, 1911 (Part 2)
 This Act entitled insured workers, who had been unemployed for a week, to unemployment benefit of 7s
per week for a maximum of 15 weeks in any 12 month period.
 Workers contributed 2½d per week, employers contributed 2½d per week and the Government
contributed 2½d per week.
 By 1914, 2.3 million workers were covered by the scheme, mainly in construction, shipbuilding and
engineering – trades which were susceptible to fluctuating employment levels (cyclical/seasonal pattern
of unemployment).
 The insured worker had to register as unemployed at a Labour Exchange from where he would draw his
pay.
Comment
 The Act only covered 7 trades, which left many workers without any insurance against unemployment.
 Unemployment benefit was only payable for 15 weeks per year.
 For many workers, the contributory nature of the National Insurance schemes (sickness and
unemployment) meant a cut in their wages, and therefore may have further encouraged poverty.
The Employed
The Liberal Government also passed a number of acts which sought to improve workers’ conditions:
 Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1906 – this allowed compensation for injury to health caused by
working conditions as well as accidents.
 The Merchant Shipping Act, 1906 – this introduced stringent regulations on food and accommodation
on British ships.
 The Coal Mines Act, 1909 – this introduced the 8 hour day for miners.
 The Trade Boards Act, 1909 – this set up boards to set minimum wages in 4 sweated trades. Almost
400,000 workers were covered by the scheme, mostly women.
 The Shops Act, 1911 – this gave shop assistants a statutory ½ day off each week. However, it did not
limit the hours of work, which led to shop assistants often being made to work later on other days to
make up the time.
 The Minimum Wages Act, 1912 – this set up local boards to set wages in each mining district.
All of these reforms are significant, especially to those most directly affected. However, they were reforms
aimed to help specific groups of workers who had specific problems. They were not really measures that
contributed to the setting up of a Welfare State.
Conclusion
The Liberal social welfare reforms of 1906-1914 were significant reforms. They had a very positive impact
on the lives of many people and they undoubtedly eased hardship for many thousands of working people.
These reforms attempted to tackle specific problems in society and tried to make life easier for many. They
were a huge advance on what had happened in the 19th century and marked a clear move away from laissezfaire. However, in most areas, the reforms were inadequate and certainly did not represent the creation of a
Welfare State. Important areas such as housing were neglected; there was no attempt to create anything
approaching a National Health Service. Education was largely untouched. The Government made no effort
to influence in any way employment and unemployment. A degree of social security was introduced but it
was very limited and patchy. Even the Liberals responsible for the reforms, such as Lloyd George and
Churchill, recognised this but considered it the best they could do at that time. They also saw it as a first step
on which later governments could build. It is this that is the real success of the Liberal reforms. They did not
create a Welfare State to any extent but they did lay a very considerable foundation on which a Welfare
State could be built.