National Efficency

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Why was national efficiency an issue in Britain in the early years of the 20th century?

National efficiency was a movement sustained by parties on the left, new liberals and even imperialists. It started to develop in the 1890’s and went on into the early years of the 20th century, as concern’s about Britain’s future as a major power throughout the world started to develop. The main problems where the poor fitness of volunteers, embarrassing defeats and waste of resources at the Boer war, poor conditions for the lower class’ of society and education.

The rate below the poverty line in the early 20th century Britain was agonizingly high due to individuals being solely individual and responsible for themselves and their family. It was claimed that a third of the population was living below the poverty line after a man named Charles Booth, a shipping magnate published details of his ‘scientific’ investigations. Seebohm Rowntree reflected Booth’s work, though prompted partly by humanitarian concerns and violent demonstrations. It showed that those who where most badly hit by the concern were the most vulnerable of society.

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Obviously due to their older age and deteriorating health, the old people often had a poor quality end of their lives. This was due to not having saved money while working due them having to provide for their own families, who now have there own families to worry about.

At the other end of the spectrum where young children. A child born into a poor family would end up poor; this is how society worked at that time, with break out of poverty being increasingly hard without action.  Child labour was cheaper than most forms of labour therefore was ...

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