The Political Reasons For Social Welfare Reform 1906-1914

In 1906, the Liberal party swept to power in a landslide victory over the Conservatives and new Labour party, however, this victory was not based on the promises of social welfare reforms meaning there were other reasons for their political victory. There were various reasons why social welfare reforms were introduced initially in 1906 and continued to progress for another 8 years until 1914, and genuine concern for the masses was not the only reason for their introduction. This essay will argue that whilst genuine concern for the masses was one of the key factors in introducing Liberal social welfare reforms, along with a few other factors, it was not the most important. The realisation of the extent of the social welfare problems and changing …show more content…
Along with growing militant action within the trade unions, this made the government and political parties sit up and take notice of the lengths they would have to go to in order to gain the votes of the people. Clearly though, political motive was one of the most prominent factors in causing the Liberal welfare reforms to take place. The Liberal party were the first to introduce reforms o this manner, meaning a clear shift away from the previous government mind set of laissez-faire.
Genuine concern for the masses was a prominent factor in the introduction of the social welfare reforms in Britain between 1906 and 1914, however it was not the most important factor. Industrialisation and urbanisation had a huge impact on poverty in Britain, with more people moving to the newly industrialised towns and cities, causing crowded accommodation and the fast spreading of disease, which had not yet been linked to bad hygiene. The investigations of Booth and Rowntree clearly showed an increase in the level of poverty, and it was not due to drunkenness or …show more content…
These two men initially set out to disprove the rumours of high poverty levels and were astonished to find that poverty was at a greater level than they could ever have imagined. Independently of one another, they started to investigate the poor in their home cities of London for Booth and York for Rowntree. Incredibly, despite the distance between the two cities, the poverty level was around the same, with averagely 30% of the city 's population living below the poverty line - which was developed to show the basic needs for survival, as opposed to the 10% they thought initially. These reports were so significant because both men uncovered real causes of poverty, not jut idleness and drunkenness, which had been blamed for the high levels of poverty before these reports. This further highlighted the failings of laissez-faire and the self-help system and explained why national security and national efficiency were such drastic issues in Britain. These reports also helped to put pressure on the government to introduce some reform and added to the pressure from inside the government to make some changes. Furthermore, the fact that these reforms attempted to address the true causes of poverty, such as unemployment, sickness and the vulnerability of both the young and the old suggests that these reports were