What was the focus of the social reform and why was this? Liberals of 1900

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What was the focus of the social reform and why was this?

The main focus of the social reform was aimed at the ill-treated children, the future of Britain.

The liberals abandoned the old, traditional method of governing known as “laisser faire” and took on a more socialist stance. The Laisser Faire made the rich, richer and the poor, poorer. It was a system in which the government had previously thought that the poor were poverty stricken because they were lazy and could not save. However powerful evidence from Rowntree’s survey suggested that this was not the case.

Soldiers sent to the Boer war could not fight because of rickets and other side effects of malnutrition.

Unemployment figures were increased due to foreign competition, this caused crime such as theft and prostitution and not only riots but also this was a loss to the economy. The economy suffered because workers could not produce much output, “The American worker is a stronger, larger, healthier, better fed and consequentially a more efficient animal”

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The government’s response to this was a series of acts known as the social welfare reforms, which were first step towards improving general health, unemployment and ultimately the standard of living.

This included the Workman’s compensation act which required employers to pay compensation for injuries sustained at work from unsafe or unhealthy conditions.

The old age pension act gave money to those married and over 70 earning less than a certain amount. This showed that the government took Rowntree’s survey into consideration, understanding that it was extremely hard to climb out of poverty. However at this time life expectancy ...

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