How far do you agree that economic concerns were the main reason why governments enacted social reforms towards the poor between 1830 and 1914?

Economic concerns were therefore very influential in changes of government intervention to the poor, in the form of social reforms as economic problems such as the poor rate, the cycle of poverty and Britain’s weak workforce all became areas which government action was based upon. However, therefore it is apparent that economic concerns were not the motivation behind changes in government treatment and acted as problems to be solved rather than the reason why the government changed its policies. In order to be able to understand how the government transformed so radically one must be aware of the political, external and social climate between 1830 and 1914.

Political factors played a key role in the reasons why governments enacted social reforms between 1830 and 1914. The expansion of the electorate in 1832, 1867 and 1884 meant that the government had to tailor their policies to please their voters. Especially in 1884 when the franchise was extended to the majority of British males, including those of working class background, the government needed to offer a service which would keep them in power. Therefore one must be aware that although economic concerns were the area which the government targeted, they were not the main reason to why governments changed their social policies. Fear of revolution in 1830 also meant that government limited social reforms as a measure of control and in 1900, as source 3 suggests, the fear of socialism which surfaced in Britain as the Labour Party was another major reason for government action. Source 3 indicates that the programme of social reform aimed to ‘out-trump’ Labour in winning over the working class and therefore political aims were the main driving force behind the change in government action towards the poor. The more appealing the social service a government offered, the more votes they would receive and the more likely it was that socialism would pose less of a threat.  

External factors also had an influence on the government and the social reforms they enacted. In the 1830s Revolutions in Europe and the Swing Riots in Britain caused the government to pursue a programme of limiting freedom and liberties and thus social reforms were of a restricting nature. However in 1900 incidents such as the Boer War, where studies showed the weakening of the British male and how poverty had rendered Britain’s workforce feeble and rather pathetic, caused the government to enact social reforms to improve the health of Britons in order for Britain to triumph in future wars. Therefore external factors, although they represent a less genuine concern for the individual when compared  to Britain’s economic suffering, showed that the government had different motives for the social reforms they enacted. Such motives involve the welfare of Britain as a whole rather than how economically challenged one might be.

Social aspects drew attention to government failings and thus gave the government a reason to change their policies. In the 1830s, Bentham, Ricardo and Malthus all drew attention to failings of the Old Poor Law which had a great influence on the upper class as well as the Whig government. The government actually used the conclusions made by Bentham of the Old Poor Law to “correct” the old system and base their social scheme around. In 1870s the works of social reformers such as Booth and Rowntree pushed the government in the right direction of tackling poverty, for example as source 2 indicates with more specific classification of those suffering economic hardship such as children and the elderly, the government were able target their policies to ease economic suffering; for instance the issuing the National Insurance Act 1911 to tackle poverty at old-age. As in the 1830s these social reformers along with others such as Dickens contributed to the growing discomfort of the higher social classes that the government were not doing enough to help the poor. Therefore social elements added to the climate in which the government was forced to act through social reforms whether they restricted or greatened the conditions of those in poverty.

In conclusion, it is clear that although economic concerns were of great importance and did have many strong effects they were the areas which the government had to tackle rather than the main reason behind why social reforms were enacted. The majority of social reforms issued by governments were not based on genuine concern for the economic suffering of the popular, they were reactions to political crises and played the role of giving the government power. Without political and external motivation one cannot assume that the government would have responded to the economic situation of Britain, even with the help of social reformers.