From the late nineteenth century education was compulsory. As children entered education in large numbers teachers complained many of them were inadequately clothed and hungry. Voluntary charities had raised money to provide some clothing and meals but it was clearly not enough. In 1906, the Education (Provision of Meals) Act enabled local education authorities to provide school meals for children. In Bradford, food centres were set up to feed pupils, and in some areas meals were even provided during the holidays. However it wasn’t made compulsory until 1914.
This was a large help to the children of the age, as some of them were in no way sufficiently fed.
The Old Age Pensions act was passed in 1908. It provided pensions from the 6th January 1909 to people 70 years or over. Pensioners were entitled to 5 shillings (25 pence) a week, provided they had less than £21 income a year from any other source. Until then old people with no support from relatives and too poor to support themselves were forced to rely on the workhouses for accommodation and food. With the pension the fear of the workhouse almost disappeared.
In 1909 the Labour Exchanges Act was passed. The idea was to save the unemployed people having to tramp from one factory to another in search of work. By 1913 there were 430 Labour Exchanges called Job Centres.
Then the National Insurance Act of 1911 introduced an insurance scheme against ill health and unemployment. Health insurance was only for manual and non-manual workers earning less than £160 a year. In this scheme the workman paid 4 pence into the scheme, the employer 3 pence and the state 2 pence, leading to the slogan ‘9d for 4d’. In return a worker was entitled to ‘free’ medical treatment and could claim 10 shillings a week for a maximum of 26 weeks if unable to work. After that a disability pension of 5 shillings could be awarded. The scheme itself was not available to women.
Unemployment insurance was introduced for men in industries such as building, engineering and shipbuilding, where short-term employment was common. A worker and his employer made contributions to the insurance fund and then the unemployed worker could claim 7 shillings a week for a limited 15 weeks.
The Liberal reforms were expensive and so Chancellor, Lloyd George, proposed a range of tax increases in the 1909 budget to pay for them. This included an increase in income tax. There was also an increase in death duties, a new land tax and increased duties on tobacco and alcohol. The proposals were very unpopular with many well off people.
As the Liberals had the most MP’s in the House of Commons, the Finance Bill setting out the Budget was easily passed. However, their opponents had many more members in the House of Lords. Many of the Lords were angered by this land tax and in November of 1909 the Lords rejected the Finance Bill. The Liberals then passed a Parliament Bill that established that all money bills passed by Commons had to be passed by Lords, limited power was given to the Lords, MP’s were to be paid and General Elections should take place every 5 years rather than 7.
The Parliament Act saw a change in the role of the House of Lords in passing laws, but there was a much more significant change in the way the country was governed when the women won the vote. In 1918 women aged 30 or over who owned property, or were married to a man with property were allowed to vote.
The Events between 1906 and 1918 led to the up raise of the Labour Party. In conclusion I think Britain became a lot more democratic during this period of time as more people became more and more equal. The Parliament Bill took power away from the Lord’s giving MP’s and politicians a fair chance and getting their Acts passed. The Women’s right to vote, showed great democracy as for the first time it showed that women were starting to be treated as equals to men. They weren’t quite, but it was getting better. Then there was the Labour Party. They were promising what the people wanted and they were a Party for the working class people.
Lizzie Gilthorpe
