Has Beveridge's contribution to development of Britain's social welfare systems - judged from the vantage point of the 21st Century - been helpful or harmful?

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Has Beveridge's contribution to development of Britain's social welfare systems - judged from the vantage point of the 21st Century - been helpful or harmful?

Beveridge is known for his five Giants and his contribution to social security. According to Beveridge his plan for security of income was only an attack on Want, to eliminate absolute poverty. Want, he proclaimed, is only one of the five Giants on the road to reconstruction and the easiest to attack. The others are Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. While Beveridge created a blueprint of the modern social security system in his Report he called at the same time for solutions for the other Giants. His Report, therefore, started the post-war development of the British Welfare State.

To understand the impact the Report of Beveridge had on the development of the 21st century Welfare State in the United Kingdom we have to go back to the time it was drafted. In June 1941 Sir William Beveridge was offered to chair an interdepartmental committee which had to coordinate social insurance, by Arthur Greenwood. At this time Beveridge was in his sixties and probably the most informed person for this job. He had studies