1908 saw the introduction of the Children’s Act which meant that child offenders were to be tried in special juvenile courts and sent to be sent to borstals instead of prisons. There was also going to be hard action taken if any adults were caught ill treating children or trying to sell them cigarettes or alcohol in unsealed bottles.
These measures became known as the Children’s charter. It was important because it was the first time any government had intervened directly into peoples lives. The state was beginning to realize it had a responsibility to look after the poor.
1908 saw the introduction of an Old Age Pensions Act. Over 70’s were giving five shillings a week. This scheme was very popular and Lloyd George gained credit for it. However this aim wasn’t to help everyone, only the poor. This act was different in that it was non-contributory and so the state did not have to pay into it. Overall it was very popular because it filled a gap in state provision and established the principle that welfare could be paid for from taxation.
Even despite its popularity, this act was criticised by many people because they felt that many people would die before they were 70 and 5 shillings was considered too little
The Liberals also introduced acts to help the sick and injured, starting with the 1906 Workers Compensation Act. This allowed compensation for injury to health caused by industrial conditions as well as for injury caused by accidents.
1911 saw the most important of the Liberal measures to help working people. This was a compulsory scheme which was divided into two parts. One part was health insurance and the other was unemployment insurance, it was a different act to the others in that it was to be a contributory insurance scheme meaning that workers themselves had to pay into the scheme. This was seen as a collectivist action by Lloyd George. The act together was to be called The National Insurance Act.
Health insurance was provided by a fund in which the worker paid fourpence, the employer threepence and the state twopence a week. When a worker was off ill, they would receive ten shillings a week sick pay for 13 weeks and was entitled to free medical attention and medicines.
The conservatives succeeded in that they convinced the workers against it arguing the government had no right to pay into the scheme directly from their wages. With opposition from doctors and socialists as well, Lloyd George sorted the situation out by deciding the scheme would be operated by “approved societies”, usually insurance companies which workers would join.
The second part of the act was the unemployment insurance. This applied to workers in certain trades such as building, shipbuilding, mechanical engineering, iron-founding, vehicle construction and sawmilling. The workers and employers both paid 2 and a half pence into the fund and the state paid twopence.
Over 2.25 million men were protected by this scheme. Again this scheme brought in criticism with the drawback that it only covered a small amount of trades and the state’s contribution was also seen as too small.
However the National Insurance Act was an important extension state aid and established the principle that health and unemployment schemes should be contributory.
Another reform for the unemployed included the 1909 Labour Exchanges Act. Set up by Churchill and William Beveridge it aimed to cut unemployment with the help of employers who had vacancies to inform the Labour Exchanges so that the unemployed could easily find out what jobs were available. This had a good effect on the state as by 1913 there were 430 exchanges in Britain and it was working well but it could have gone further because it was only voluntary.
There were several reforms for the working people as well. 1906 saw the introduction of 2 Acts. These being the Workmen’s Compensation Act and the Merchant Shipping Act.
The Workmen’s Compensation Act allowed compensation for injury to health caused by industrial conditions and injury from accidents. The Merchant Shipping Act was the work of Lloyd George and introduced standards of food and accommodation for crews on British ships.
In 1908 The Mines Act was brought in and this act introduced a maximum eight-hour working day for miners. This was followed by the 1912 Minimum Wage Act which set up local boards to fix minimum wages in each district in order to help miners working in different seams.
The Act though, was an emergency measure to end the damaging coal strike which had lasted from February to April. The Act also failed to satisfy the miners.
The Trade Boards Act was introduced in 1909. This was one of Churchill’s achievements. It dealt with the problem of low paid workers in the “sweated” industries. They were the industries that usually employed female and child labourers working long hours in their own homes for extremely low wages. It was described by Charles Booth as “a body of reckless, starving competitors for work”.
Churchill’s Act broke new grounds, showing that the state was prepared to make some move towards establishing a minimum wage but again it had its flaws as only a small fraction of the total workforce was affected.
In 1911 the Shops Act was introduced giving shop assistants a half a day holiday each week; however it did not limit the hours of work meaning that assistants were often required to make up the half days by working later at other times during the week.
Other reforms include the 1909 People’s Budget which taxed the rich in order to help out the poor. It was clearly designed to make a move in redistributing the wealth of the country.
The working reforms tended to be targeted at particular trades rather than the whole working population and were often a bit of a mess with no real plan, instead an attempt to solve a problem. The reforms were also often introduced in direct response to pressure from working class unrest.
Nevertheless these reforms, taken together, have to been seen as helping out the working class but many of the workers and employers were against the majority of these reforms and it has to be seen as an achievement that they were passed at all.
Conclusion
A Welfare State is one which supports its citizens “from the cradle to the grave”.
The Liberal reforms must be regarded as a starting point towards a Welfare State and they should be given credit for taking difficult steps with determination. Taken together, the reforms were a break with the laissez-faire of Gladstonian Liberalism.
However the Liberal reforms did not end poverty in Britain and can be criticised on a number of grounds.
Important areas of social life such as slum housing were not tackled, rural workforce tended to be neglected and the reforms did not create a welfare state.
Most of the reforms were also contributory which meant that only limited numbers were eligible to claim and there were many signs the working class were still dissatisfied.
