Introduction to the Welfare State
‘ This is the greatest advance in our history. There can be no turning back. From now on Beveridge is not the name of a man, it is the name of a way of life, and not only fro Britain, but for the whole of the civilised world’ (Beveridge, 1942)
In this module we will be looking at the historical development of the welfare state and how it has influenced the lives of people throughout Britain. This module will go on in further sessions to look at contemporary welfare provision and social policy and analyse the significance for social work practice.
Group Task
In small groups discus and record what the welfare state means to you?
‘ There appears to be a general consensus that a welfare state is one in which the government intervenes in the workings of the economy to ensure a minimum income for all, and commits itself to providing essential services such as health care according to need. All of us use the welfare state and are recipients of the benefits provided by it’
Group Exercise- Benefits of the Welfare State
In order to understand how the present system has developed it is necessary to understand the changes, which have taken, place over the last 400 years.
In the sixteenth century help to the poor was largely provided by family and friends and in some cases there was assistance from the churches.
Development of Welfare State Lecturer Nikki Hardman 1 This kind of support is known as voluntary or private and there are still elements of this in today’s society. The following is taken from Wealth, Poverty and Welfare (2004) Kane and Kirby
1601 saw legislation introduced to try and deal with some issues of poverty. The Poor Law of 1601 made parishes (local areas) responsible for supporting the poor with relief. This support was paid for by local rates. The support was minimal with their intention of only helping those who were exceptionally poor, destitute and at risk of death. The implementation of this law was intrusive and discriminatory and people were reluctant to access support due to the stigma and shame of accessing this aid.
It did however set number of principles, which have influenced subsequent legislation.
The state had a responsibility to prevent destitution, and to again the money for this by raising taxes. It set the precedence for the state to have an administrative framework to provide the necessary services. Any assistance offered to those who were able to work should be made conditional A distinction should be made between those who were unable to work and those who were capable of working but were jobless.
In 1832 a commission was set up to examine the Poor Law and as a result of its findings the Poor Law Amendment Act was past in 1834. The commission was opposed to giving cash assistance to the working poor and recommended that dependency on the sate should be discouraged by harsh measures. This led to the establishment of the workhouse, where the able bodied were housed and fed in exchange for work. Conditions in the workhouses were so harsh only the desperate would go in there as the last resort. (Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist contains graphic descriptions of workhouses conditions
Development of Welfare State Lecturer Nikki Hardman 2 East & West Flegg workhouse, Rollesby, 2000. © Peter Higginbotham.
Above- Pre 1834 workhouses are very must represented by this sign at the time. Things were to change after 1834
Below is a piece of literature written by George Sims referring to this period in time
IN THE WORKHOUSE - CHRISTMAS DAY by George R. Sims ( 1847 - 1922 )
It is Christmas Day in the workhouse, and the cold, bare walls are bright With garlands of green and holly, and the place is a pleasant sight; For with clean-washed hands and faces in a long and hungry line The paupers sit at the table, for this is the hour they dine.
And the guardians and their ladies, although the wind is east, Have come in their furs and wrappers to watch their charges feast; To smile and be condescending, putting on pauper plates. To be hosts at the workhouse banquet, they've paid for with the rates.
0h, the paupers are meek and lowly with their 'Thank'ee kindly, mumsl' So long as they fill their stomachs what matter it whence it comes? But one of the old men mutters and pushes his plate aside, "Great God!" he cries, "but it chokes me; for this is the day she died"
The guardians gazed in horror, the master's face went white; Did a pauper refuse their pudding? Could that their ears believe right? Then the ladies clutched their husbands, thinking the man would die, Struck by a bolt, or something, by the outraged One on high.
Development of Welfare State Lecturer Nikki Hardman 3 But the pauper sat for a moment, then rose 'mid silence grim, For the others had ceased to chatter and trembled in every limb: He looked at the guardians' ladies, then, eyeing their lords, he said; "I eat not the food of villains, whose hands are foul and red;"
"Whose victims cry for vengeance from their dark, unhallowed graves." "He's drunk," said the workhouse master, "or else he's mad and raves." "Not drunk or mad," cried the pauper, "but only a haunted beast, Who, torn by the hounds and mangled, declines the vulture's feast."
"I care not a curse for the guardians, and I won't be dragged away; Just let me have the fit out, it's only on Christmas Day... That the black past comes to goad me and prey on my burning brain; I'll tell you the rest in a whisper, I swear I won't shout again.
"Keep your hands off me, curse you! Hear me right out to the end. You come here to see how paupers, the season of Christmas spend; You come here to watch us feeding, as they watched the captured beast; Here's why a penniless pauper, spits on your paltry feast."
"Do you think I will take your bounty and let you smile and think You're doing a noble action with the parish's meat and drink? Where is my wife, you traitors, the poor old wife you slew? Yes, by the God above me, my Nance was killed by you."
"Last Winter my wife lay dying, starved in a filthy den. I had never been to the parish, I came to the parish then; I swallowed my pride in coming! for ere the ruin came I held up my head as a trader, and I bore a spotless name.
"I came to the parish craving, bread for a starving wife Bread for the woman who'd loved me thro' fifty years of life; And what do you think they told me, mocking my awful grief, That the house was open to us, but they wouldn't give out relief."
"I slunk to the filthy alley, 'twas a cold, raw Christmas Eve And the bakers' shops were open, tempting a man to thieve; But I clenched my fists together, holding my head awry, So I came to her empty-handed and mournfully told her why."
"Then I told her the house was open; she had heard of the ways of that For her bloodless cheeks went crimson, and up in her rags she sat, Crying, 'Bide the Christmas here, John, we've never had one apart; I think I can bear the hunger, the other would break my heart.'"
"All through that eve I watched her, holding her hand in mine, Praying the Lord and weeping till my lips were salt as brine; I asked her once if she hungered, and she answered 'No.' The moon shone in at the window, set in a wreath of snow."
"Then the room was bathed in glory, and I saw in my darling's eyes The faraway look of wonder, that comes when the spirit flies; And her lips were parched and parted, and her reason came and went. For she raved of our home in Devon, where our happiest years were spent."
"And the accents, long forgotten, came back to the tongue once more.
Development of Welfare State Lecturer Nikki Hardman 4 For she talked like the country lassie I wooed by the Devon shore; Then she rose to her feet and trembled, and fell on the rags and moaned, And, 'Give me a crust, I'm famished... for the love of God,' she groaned."
"I rushed from the room like a madman and flew to the workhouse gate, Crying, 'Food for a dying woman!' and the answer came, 'Too late!' They drove me away with curses; then I fought with a dog in the street And tore from the mongrel's clutches a crust he was trying to eat."
"Back through the filthy by-ways... back through the trampled slush! Up to the crazy garret, wrapped in an awful hush; My heart sank down at the threshold, and I paused with a sudden thrill. For there, in the silv'ry moonlight, my Nance lay cold and still."
"Up to the blackened ceiling, the sunken eyes were cast I knew on those lips, all bloodless, my name had been the last; She called for her absent husband... Oh God! Had I known-- Had called in vain, and, in anguish, had died in that den alone."
"Yes, there in a land of plenty, lay a loving woman dead. Cruelly starved and murdered for a loaf of the parish bread; At yonder gate, last Christmas, I craved for a human life, You, who would feed us paupers, what of my murdered wife?"
"There, get ye gone to your dinners, don't mind me in the least, Think of the happy paupers eating your Christmas feast And when you recount their blessings in your parochial way, Say what you did for me too... only last Christmas Day."
What does the piece of literature convey about the concept of work houses? Discus the article in groups and be prepared to feed back.
The Victorian Age
The Victorian age very much represented the idea that intervention by the state was not the best policy, but with the rise of industrialisation and the grown of cities and towns, they found themselves face with the inevitable intervention. Evidence of soldiers not being able to fight in the Boer War due to ill health and poor nutrition further fuelled arguments for intervention. Increasing unrest from working class sections of the community increasingly demanded that issues of health and employment be addressed. Furthermore studies on poverty by
Development of Welfare State Lecturer Nikki Hardman 5 Charles Booth (1901) and Seebolm Rowntree 1901 drew attention to the levels of poverty.
These factors prompted policy reviews and in 1905 labour exchanges were set up (the equivalent of today’s job centres)
In 1906 the Liberal Government introduced policies, which could be argued formed the bedrock of the welfare state.
Measures were introduced to bring in school meals and school medical inspections and in 1908 an old age pension for those 70 and over.
In 1909 the Trades Board Act laid the foundation for minimum wages in vulnerable industries.
The 1911 National Insurance Act brought in the existence a compulsory health insurance scheme, into which workers and employers paid flat rate contributions.
After the First World War (1914-18) the country witnessed economic depression and mass unemployment. In 1920 unemployment insurance was extended to almost all workers below a certain income level, and in 1925 pensions for widows and children were introduced.
The 1934 Unemployment Assistance Act created a two tier benefit system, with contribution based benefits being paid for the first six months of unemployment followed by centrally administered means tested benefits for as long as necessary.
The Beveridge Report 1942
In 1942 a report on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published. The main goal of the recommendations was to eradicate what Beveridge termed the ‘five giant evils’
Development of Welfare State Lecturer Nikki Hardman 6 Disease Want Idleness Ignorance Squalor
Discus in small groups what was meant by these terms and discus how if you were a policy maker at the times you would address them. Beveridge suggested
To eradicate disease the new National Health Service would provide free health care for the entire population. All health care would be provided by the state
To eradicate want there would be a universal National Insurance system for all adults, funded by compulsory, contribution by all those in work. This system would provide sickness benefit, old age pensions and a family allowance for second and subsequent children
To eradicate idleness there would be a return to a full employment by means of state intervention in the economy. Only those unable to work because of sickness or disability would be excused from work and awarded benefits
To eradicate ignorance there would be free education for all in state funded schools, colleges of further education and universities
To eradicate squalor there would be a nationwide programme to build low rent public housing of a good standard for those who needed them.
Development of Welfare State Lecturer Nikki Hardman 7 Discus to want extent the Welfare Sate as Beveridge saw it exists today.
Development of Welfare State Lecturer Nikki Hardman 8