Housing wasn’t the only thing that was changed as an impact of the war. Free health care to the point of demand was introduced, the NHS was introduced. This was a very positive impact of the war, something that was very rare, before the NHS many people died young due to disease and illness, people who shouldn’t have died young, before the NHS many people were to scared to visit the doctors mainly because the cost was way to much but now the healthcare was free to the point of demand, people didn’t have to worry about this. This free healthcare meant that the life expectancy of the population increased greatly, the Government had defeated the giant “disease.” Like everything, there were problems mainly being the cost needed to uphold this service, which meant taxes would have to be raised, so this what is meant by free to the point of demand, not only was it very costly but the waiting lists were enormous, there simply were not enough doctors, dentists, nurses etc to uphold the people in need of treatment.
There was another major negative impact of world war two, that was the evacuation of many thousands of children from the Cities during the war. They were transported away from there families, most likely never to see them again. They were often transported from the cities to the countryside to escape the harsh reality of war but most of all the bombing.
As a result of the Second World War the “Bevridge Report” was produced, telling of the five giants that need to be conquered, these five giants were squalor, ignorance, want, disease and idleness. These were all major problems that had invaded Britain and with the help of Bevridge, had to be conquered. William Bevridge had helped shaped the liberal forms from 1906 to 1912. It was a report created during world war two, trying to look to the future, to try and build a “new” Britain, to try and repair the bomb damage. The report identified problems in society and the causes of poverty and how to put them right, how the Government could put them right. To conquer these giants, Bevridge hoped that he would set up a welfare system which was open to everyone, regardless of there wealth, it was also very good because there would be no return to the hated by all means test. Britain did start to become a welfare state, for example, the NHS was introduced to try and defeat the giant of “disease.” Other reform and benefits soon followed, in 1946 along came the national insurance act, and then later on in 1948, along came the national assistance act all in aid of conquering the also feared giants. The Government became more and more involved with the people of Britain introducing child benefits in 1945 and claming that they would look after there people from the “cradle to the grave” It has to be said that if it weren’t for the war these giants wouldn’t seem so enormous and daunting, the war encouraged squalor with the slums used as housing caused by bombing, it encouraged want, people needed healthcare as disease would often spread quick due to the cramp housing and the bombing of housing, it encouraged disease as now more and more people were living in squalor, living all close together, it encouraged ignorance, more and more children would have to leave school earlier in order to help rebuild the Country, finally it encouraged idleness, businesses had been destroyed by the bombing and destruction and so led too major unemployment. On the other hand you could say that it was the war that encouraged the Government to try and defeat these giants and make Britain a better place, because the war had encouraged these giants, the Government then recognised them and decided to do something about it, by bringing in new reforms, making sure everyone got the right health care etc.
After world war two the main improvement seemed to be the health service. Where as before it had been a costly business to go and see the doctor now the Government had developed the NHS and made healthcare free to the point of demand. Now people who were to scared to visit the doctors before mainly because of how costly it was, were visiting to get treated, this now meant that less people died of a young age an so raised the life expectancy in the country. Everyone was so pleased with this new service that many were quick to take advantage of it; some would go back all the time and so even abuse the system. This meant there were to be long waiting lists, which is a lot like it is today. The NHS was free so it would prove very costly, keeping the service up and running, whether it was paying for equipment or paying for doctors or nurses to stay on. This is why the NHS had been free to the point of demand; taxes would have to be raised if the upkeep of the NHS was to be successful!
Free healthcare wasn’t the only new benefit introduced; if these five giants were to be defeated then a lot more would have to be done to make Britain more like a welfare state. In June 1945 the family allowance (child benefit) was introduced. This was the start of a better life for the people of Britain. The child benefit would be paid for every child except the first to all mothers, rich or poor. This was a universal benefit and the great thing was, it wasn’t means tested, but like most of the reforms or benefits there was a problem, it was highly costly to the Government because they were giving out money for free and they weren’t receiving the same income, unless they raised taxes. In 1946 along with the National Health Service act, along came the national insurance act. This was basically sick pay, so you would receive money when you were ill or unable to work, it was very popular. You could also claim this if you were unemployed of pregnant, everyone received the same benefit and sickness benefit could be claimed for an unlimited amount of time. The problems were that it was financed by contributions fro both workers and employees, unemployment benefit could only be claimed for six months and none of the benefits were means tested which meant people could quite easily cheat the system. The final reform to be introduced by Labour was in 1948 and that was the national assistance act. Everyone who had at least some money gave benefits to those who failed to qualify under the national Insurance scheme because they had made no contribution. Now means tested had been introduced and housing had to be given to the elderly of handicapped people. The problems were that it was very costly so leading to higher taxes. People would now start to rely on benefits to much and so start to cheat the system by starting to claim benefits they don’t need.
Housing was much improved after world war two. After a quarter of all Britain’s houses had been destroyed by bombing, people who weren’t living in dirty conditions or slums were doing now! Many people had been left homeless and so new houses had to build very quickly. At first make shift housing called prefabs were introduced in order to house people while the new houses were being built. The Government had p[promised for there to be five million houses built, only a million of those houses had been built, but this was a major improvement as now the houses had been nicely built, spaced out, some even had indoor toilets, a luxury no body ever dreamed of before. There were a few big problems, firstly there were so many people who were homeless, and many houses had to be built and fast! Secondly the cost of building all these nice and new houses was very high, so that was yet more money being lost by the Government and so meant that they would be tempted to raise taxes, you see all these benefits were free to the point of demand. Education had also been improved. The school leaving age had been increased from 14 to 15, from primary school you would so to one of three schools. The first one was a Grammar School, if you passed an 11+ test, you would be able to go to that school, and the test was often very hard, so really it was selective education, the top twenty per cent of the Country. The second school you could go to was a Secondary modern, if you failed the 11+ you would go to this school, it was more practical and less academic. The last school you could go to was a comprehensive; this was for all abilities, so it would be very mixed. Whereas before many children left school very early usually because they couldn’t afford it, now children were leaving at a much later age.
Now Britain had been made into a welfare state with the many universal benefits available, but these were still only free to the point of demand. It affected millions, practically everyone but in a good way. The Government had vowed to look after there people from the “cradle to the grave.” It was the labour party who had introduced all of these benefits in 1945 and they were the ones that introduced the welfare state. Things had been much improved compared to life before the war, mainly through the many benefits introduced; you could even so as far to say that the war was a blessing in disguise!
By Scott Simpson
