The following essay sets out to critically discuss the assertion that the foundations of the British welfare state were laid by Liberal welfare reforms between 1906 and 1914. It will examine key influences that shaped welfare reforms between 1906 and 1914, and discuss the political, social and economic factors pre-dating this historic chapter in British social and political life. It will look back to the reasons for state intervention and reforms of the 19th Century to understand the relevance and impact these had in the Liberal reforms and the ultimate formation of the British welfare state in the 1940s.
It has been argued the consensus among historians is that the 1906 Liberal general election victory was not won on the basis of proposed …show more content…
Issues of growing inequality, poverty, unemployment, and hopelessness were key components for social unrest in the late nineteenth century coupled with abject poverty, squalid living conditions, and the widespread use of child labour. There was also a distinct lack of literacy within the population and all of these problems were significant in the development of social policy (Walsh et al, 2000, p.41). Urbanisation saw a rapid growth of infrastructure in cities, with major issues in the public health sector. Slum housing, no sanitation, squalor and disease were rife due to a lack of even basic environmental health provisions. Support for the work of people such as Edwin Chadwick was not undisputed it was opposed by individuals in the form of wealthy landowners and the upper classes who feared the potential economic and political detriment these health reforms would cause. They viewed this as a conceivable upset to their current position within society (Walsh et al, 2000, …show more content…
It has looked at the changing attitudes in society from the Poor Law Act 1834 to the reforms of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the fall out from the Boer War. It has described how changing attitudes in society altered the mindset of those both in government and the population. All of these factors led to the development of a greater sense of social justice for universality and equality highlighting a sea change in the balance of power from the deep-rooted system where those who did well out of the political system, the ruling classes, held all the power to enforce change but were unlikely to do so. It could be argued the motives for reform were born out of a fear of revolution as considered by Marx who believed the State to be run on capitalist principles and therefore was an instrument of class domination. He believed the solution would come from a revolution or from political representation of the working class through the Labour party. Also, as was seen in the nineteenth century, most reforms were about state control rather than humanitarian in nature however the changes embodied in the Liberal welfare reforms leaned more to a progression for democracy that could be seen, by some, as a “social revolution”. The Liberal welfare reforms of 1906 to 1914 were partly a
It has been argued the consensus among historians is that the 1906 Liberal general election victory was not won on the basis of proposed …show more content…
Issues of growing inequality, poverty, unemployment, and hopelessness were key components for social unrest in the late nineteenth century coupled with abject poverty, squalid living conditions, and the widespread use of child labour. There was also a distinct lack of literacy within the population and all of these problems were significant in the development of social policy (Walsh et al, 2000, p.41). Urbanisation saw a rapid growth of infrastructure in cities, with major issues in the public health sector. Slum housing, no sanitation, squalor and disease were rife due to a lack of even basic environmental health provisions. Support for the work of people such as Edwin Chadwick was not undisputed it was opposed by individuals in the form of wealthy landowners and the upper classes who feared the potential economic and political detriment these health reforms would cause. They viewed this as a conceivable upset to their current position within society (Walsh et al, 2000, …show more content…
It has looked at the changing attitudes in society from the Poor Law Act 1834 to the reforms of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the fall out from the Boer War. It has described how changing attitudes in society altered the mindset of those both in government and the population. All of these factors led to the development of a greater sense of social justice for universality and equality highlighting a sea change in the balance of power from the deep-rooted system where those who did well out of the political system, the ruling classes, held all the power to enforce change but were unlikely to do so. It could be argued the motives for reform were born out of a fear of revolution as considered by Marx who believed the State to be run on capitalist principles and therefore was an instrument of class domination. He believed the solution would come from a revolution or from political representation of the working class through the Labour party. Also, as was seen in the nineteenth century, most reforms were about state control rather than humanitarian in nature however the changes embodied in the Liberal welfare reforms leaned more to a progression for democracy that could be seen, by some, as a “social revolution”. The Liberal welfare reforms of 1906 to 1914 were partly a