294:
six large measures of a practical character" which would be put to the electorate after the war and implemented by a new government. These measures were "national compulsory insurance for all classes for all purposes from the cradle to the grave"; the abolition of unemployment by government policies which would "exercise a balancing influence upon development which can be turned on or off as circumstances require"; "a broadening field for State ownership and enterprise"; new housing; major reforms to education; and largely expanded health and welfare services. Churchill's commitment to creating a welfare state was limited: he and the
Conservative Party opposed much of the implementation of the Beveridge Report, including voting against the founding of the NHS.
352:
while those taking milk increased from about 50% to roughly 75%. In 1940, a national milk scheme was launched, which provided a pint of milk at about half price for all children under the age of five, and for expectant or nursing mothers. The take-up rate was such that, by 1944, 95% of those eligible had participated in the scheme. The government's general food policy that priority groups like young children and mothers were not just entitled to essentials like milk, but actually received supplies as well.
20:
317:, with his trade-union background of unskilled workers... social insurance was less important than bargaining about wages." Bevin derided the Beveridge Report as a "Social Ambulance Scheme" and followed the Coalition Government's view that it should not be implemented until the end of the war (he was furious in February 1943 when a large number of Labour back-benchers ignored their leaders and voted against delay in implementing Beveridge).
231:
Report's publication, the
British Institute of Public Opinion found that 95% of the public had heard of the Report and that there was "great interest in it", but there was criticism that old age pensions were not high enough. They also found that "there was overwhelming agreement that the plan should be put into effect".
313:) which founded the modern British welfare state. Labour deviated from Beveridge in the state's role: their leaders opposed Beveridge's idea of a National Health Service run through local health centres and regional hospital administrations, preferring a state-run body. Beveridge complained about this: "For
356:
during the course of the war also revealed, to more prosperous
Britons, the extent of deprivation in society. Historian Derek Fraser noted that evacuation became "the most important subject in the social history of the war because it revealed, to the whole people, the black spots in its social life."
351:
In July 1940, increased
Treasury grants led to an improvement in the supply of milk and meals in schools. The number of meals taken doubled within a year, and take-up of school milk increased by 50%. By 1945, roughly 33% of all children ate at school compared with just 3.3% (one in thirty) in 1940,
293:
gave a broadcast on 21 March 1943 entitled "After the War", where he warned the public not to impose "great new expenditure on the State without any relation to the circumstances which might prevail at the time" and said there would be "a four-year plan" of post-war reconstruction "to cover five or
189:
Policies of social security "must be achieved by co-operation between the State and the individual", with the state securing the service and contributions. The state "should not stifle incentive, opportunity, responsibility; in establishing a national minimum, it should leave room and encouragement
230:
Home
Intelligence found that the Report had been "welcomed with almost universal approval by people of all shades of opinion and by all sections of the community" and seen as "the first real attempt to put into practice the talk about a new world". In a sample poll taken in the fortnight after the
334:
decided that free school meals should become more widely available. By
February 1945, 73% of children received milk in school, compared with 50% in July 1940. Free vaccination against diphtheria was also provided for children at school. In addition, the Town and Country Planning Act 1944 gave
286:
MPs and 1 Communist voted against the government. A Ministry of
Information Home Intelligence report found that after the debate the left-wing section of the public were disappointed but that "an approving minority" thought that the government was correct to wait until the post-war financial
325:
The war years saw great improvements in working conditions and welfare provisions, which paved the way for the postwar UK Welfare State. Infant, child, and maternity services were expanded, while the
Official Food Policy Committee (chaired by the deputy PM and Labour leader
194:
Beveridge was opposed to "means-tested" benefits. His proposal was for a flat rate universal contribution in exchange for a flat rate universal benefit. Means-testing was intended to play a tiny part because it created high marginal tax rates for the poor (the
342:
To improve conditions for the elderly, supplementary pensions were introduced in 1940. In 1943, there were further improvements in rates and conditions for those in receipt of supplementary pensions and unemployment assistance.
376:
The families in that third of the population of
Britain who, in 1938, were chronically undernourished, had their first adequate diet in 1940 and 1941… the incidence of deficiency diseases, and notably infant mortality, dropped
287:
situation was known before making a decision. An opinion poll by the
British Institute of Public Opinion found that 29% were satisfied with the government's attitude to the Report; 47% were dissatisfied; 24% "didn't know".
161:
347:
were stabilised in December 1939, initially as temporary measure, but this was made permanent in August 1940, while both milk and meals were provided at subsidised prices, or free in those cases of real need.
65:– who proposed widespread reforms to the system of social welfare to address what he identified as "five giants on the road of reconstruction": "Want… Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness". Published in
109:
To undertake, with special reference to the inter-relation of the schemes, a survey of the existing national schemes of social insurance and allied services, including workmen's compensation, and to make
69:, the report promised rewards for everyone's sacrifices. Overwhelmingly popular with the public, it formed the basis for the post-war reforms known as the welfare state, which include the expansion of
223:, said that it involved "an impracticable financial commitment" and that publication should therefore be postponed. However, the Cabinet decided on 26 November to publish it on 2 December.
274:, to chair a committee to consider the Report and to set out the government's line. In the Commons debate the government announced they would not implement the Report immediately. The
278:, consisting of 45 Conservative MPs, demanded the founding of a Ministry of Social Security immediately. At the division at the end of the debate, 97 Labour MPs, 11 Independents, 9
186:
Social insurance is only one part of a "comprehensive policy of social progress". The five giants on the road to reconstruction were Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness.
157:
141:
301:
on a platform that promised to address Beveridge's five Giant Evils. The report's recommendations were implemented through a series of Acts of Parliament (namely the
183:
Proposals for the future should not be limited by "sectional interests". A "revolutionary moment in the world's history is a time for revolutions, not for patching".
448:
353:
239:
called the Report "a momentous document which should and must exercise a profound and immediate influence on the direction of social change in Britain", while
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105:, announced the creation of an inter-departmental committee which would carry out a survey of Britain's social insurance and allied services:
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125:
102:
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330:) approved grants of fuel and subsidised milk to mothers and to children under the age of five in June 1940. A month later, the
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263:, said it was "the first time anyone had set out to embody the whole spirit of the Christian ethic in an Act of Parliament".
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was introduced, which provided free treatment to casualties (a definition which included war evacuees), while
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consideration to those areas damaged in bombing raids and enabled local authorities to clear slums, while the
808:
Robertson, David Brian. "Policy entrepreneurs and policy divergence: John R. Commons and William Beveridge."
267:
149:
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411:
306:
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for voluntary action by each individual to provide more than that minimum for himself and his family".
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The Labour Party eventually also adopted the Beveridge proposals, and after their victory in the
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94:
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passed that same year made £150 million available for the construction of temporary dwellings.
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A Parliamentary debate on the Report was planned for February 1943: the Cabinet appointed the
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145:
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167:
The report was printed by Alabaster Passmore & Sons Limited which kept their factory in
822:
Whiteside, Noel. "The Beveridge Report and its implementation: A revolutionary project?."
8:
851:
Whiteside, Noel. "The Beveridge Report and Its Implementation: a Revolutionary Project?"
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45:, is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the
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129:
70:
54:
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23:
16:
Influential 1942 document in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom
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208:
153:
327:
50:
518:
http://filestore.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pdfs/small/cab-66-31-wp-42-547-27.pdf
390:, they proceeded to implement many social policies, which became known as the
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750:
220:
46:
40:
698:
Abel-Smith, Brian (1992). "The Beveridge report: Its origins and outcomes".
19:
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led to significant improvements in the diets of poor families. As noted by
314:
241:
86:
62:
344:
212:
137:
117:
628:
235:
168:
477:
Brian Abel-Smith, "The Beveridge report: Its origins and outcomes."
179:
The Report offered three guiding principles to its recommendations:
171:
busy when there was very little other printing work available.
211:, on 16 November 1942 over whether to publish the Report as a
773:
Beveridge and Social Security: An International Retrospective
792:
War and Reform: British Politics during the Second World War
724:
The Road to 1945: British Politics and the Second World War
400:
National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Acts 1946 and 1948
440:
61:– with research and publicity by his wife, mathematician
251:
said it was a consummation of the revolution begun by
692:
Welfare state in the United Kingdom § Historical
494:
Forgotten Wives: How Women Get Written Out of History
815:
Sugita, Yoneyuki. "The Beveridge Report and Japan."
207:
Inside the Cabinet, there was debate, instigated by
855:2014#3 (n° 24), pp.24–37. DOI 10.3917/hp.024.0024
835:The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State
676:The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State
893:
866:Image of the Report on the Parliamentary Website
543:
541:
446:
162:Office of the Industrial Assurance Commissioner
538:
883:The Beveridge Report and the Postwar Reforms
598:
596:
416:Landlord and Tenant (Rent Control) Act 1949
932:November 1942 events in the United Kingdom
726:. London: Jonathan Cape. pp. 211–28.
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664:The Evolution of the British Welfare State
740:
116:Its members were civil servants from the
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593:
245:described it as "a big and fine thing".
18:
832:
771:Hills, John; et al., eds. (1994).
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122:Ministry of Labour and National Service
894:
794:. Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press.
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449:"Social Insurance and Allied Services"
770:
404:National Insurance Acts 1946 and 1949
337:Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act
700:International Social Security Review
479:International Social Security Review
37:Social Insurance and Allied Services
428:Welfare state in the United Kingdom
13:
859:
712:10.1111/j.1468-246X.1992.tb00900.x
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497:. Policy Press. pp. 161–172.
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174:
93:entered into a coalition with the
14:
948:
912:Food policy in the United Kingdom
871:
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154:Department of Health for Scotland
745:. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
625:Foundations of the Welfare State
408:National Health Service Act 1946
311:National Health Service Act 1946
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652:The Coming of the Welfare State
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633:
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759:William Beveridge: a biography
640:Mastering Economic and Social
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158:Registry of Friendly Societies
1:
937:Welfare in the United Kingdom
790:Jefferys, Kevin, ed. (1994).
268:Lord President of the Council
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817:Social work in public health
412:Pensions (Increase) Act 1947
307:National Assistance Act 1948
7:
775:. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
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303:National Insurance Act 1946
217:Chancellor of the Exchequer
202:
146:Board of Customs and Excise
10:
953:
907:1942 in the United Kingdom
833:Timmins, Nicholas (1995).
689:
491:Oakley, Ann (2021-07-06).
396:Family Allowances Act 1945
362:Emergency Hospital Service
142:Reconstruction Secretariat
103:Minister without Portfolio
837:. London: HarperCollins.
741:Beveridge, Janet (1954).
297:The Labour Party won the
67:the midst of World War II
887:Policy Studies Institute
433:
284:Independent Labour Party
257:Archbishop of Canterbury
73:and the creation of the
53:. It was drafted by the
917:National Health Service
878:Full text of the report
766:(subscription required)
535:(Pan, 2001), pp. 26–27.
481:(1992) 45#1–2 pp. 5–16.
242:The Manchester Guardian
228:Ministry of Information
75:National Health Service
743:Beveridge and his Plan
379:
112:
34:, officially entitled
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819:29.2 (2014): 148-161.
812:62.3 (1988): 504-531.
810:Social Service Review
690:Further information:
394:. These included the
388:1945 general election
374:
299:1945 general election
276:Tory Reform Committee
107:
22:
455:. BL. Archived from
447:Beveridge, William.
126:Ministry of Pensions
101:, the Labour MP and
85:In 1940, during the
824:Histoire@ Politique
678:by Nicholas Timmins
613:Power and Influence
248:The Daily Telegraph
922:National Insurance
853:Histoire@Politique
586:Correlli Barnett,
573:Correlli Barnett,
560:Correlli Barnett,
547:Correlli Barnett,
332:Board of Education
253:David Lloyd George
215:at that time. The
134:Ministry of Health
130:Government Actuary
97:. On 10 June 1941
95:Conservative Party
71:National Insurance
28:
826:3 (2014): 24-37.
504:978-1-4473-5584-7
291:Winston Churchill
59:William Beveridge
24:William Beveridge
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927:1942 in politics
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150:Assistance Board
110:recommendations.
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175:Recommendations
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461:. Retrieved
457:the original
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315:Ernest Bevin
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91:Labour Party
84:
63:Janet Philip
36:
35:
31:
29:
611:Beveridge,
345:Food prices
213:White paper
138:HM Treasury
118:Home Office
896:Categories
354:Evacuation
309:, and the
81:Background
57:economist
751:583217231
629:Pat Thane
366:rationing
236:The Times
169:Maidstone
722:(1975).
577:, p. 31.
564:, p. 30.
422:See also
280:Liberals
203:Reaction
885:by the
761:(1997)
55:Liberal
49:in the
26:in 1943
841:
828:online
798:
779:
763:online
749:
730:
551:p. 29.
501:
463:8 July
305:, the
270:, Sir
219:, Sir
89:, the
434:Notes
43:6404)
839:ISBN
796:ISBN
777:ISBN
747:OCLC
728:ISBN
499:ISBN
465:2014
282:, 3
226:The
199:").
160:and
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708:doi
627:by
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