liberal essay

• The liberal government passed a series of reforms to try and meet the needs of the young, the first of these was

  1906
• 1906- provision of schools meals Act


  An act that allowed local authorities to provide school meals, but did not force them to do so
• Prime Minister when the act became law

  Henry Campbell Bannerman
• The children would receive one meal a day during term time
• By 1910 9 million school meals were being received
• The act meant pupils in need were now receiving one nutritious meal per day


  It allowed them to learn without the distraction of hunger
• The liberal government did not fully meet the needs of the young because poorer schoolchildren were still not being fed during the school holidays or at the weekends</b>
• By 1914, 14 million school children in Britain's schools were being fed each week
• By 1911 less than a third of local authorities were providing free school meals because they were not compulsory until 1914
• Old Age Pensions Act 1908


  1. People over 70 given 1-5 shillings per week depending on income

  2. Married couples given 7 shillings 6 pence per week

  3. Non-contributory scheme funded by general taxation

  4. Pensions collected at post office to remove stigma

  5. No pension if income over 12 shillings per week
• Old Age Pensions Act 1908


  Government taking full responsibility for individual poverty, help given as a right not charity
• The age limit of 70 was too high
• By 1914 Old Age Pensions were costing the government £12m a year
• The National Insurance Act (part 1) was passed

  1911
• National Insurance Act (part 1)

  Created a system of health insurance for workers (i.e. sick pay)
• Who was covered by the National Insurance Act

  • Workers between 16 and 60 earning less than £160 a year
  • 15 million workers
• How the National Insurance Act worked

  1. Insured worker would receive 9p in benefits from contributing 4p a week

  2. Workers paid 4d, employers 3d and the state 2d a week

  3. Sick worker entitled to 10 shillings a week for 13 weeks, then 5 shillings a week for a further 13 weeks

  4. On maternity leave, entitled to 30 shillings for each child

  5. Provided free medical treatment and medicine when off ill
• Absence from war through sickness was a major cause of poverty


  Any money coming in during sickness would help a family to survive
• The weekly contribution was a wage cut


  This might have made poverty worse in some families
• The government took an active positive role in the life of the worker
• The Liberals did not fully meet the needs of the sick because other family members did not benefit from the scheme
• The Liberal government tried to meet the needs of the unemployed


  1. Passing the National Insurance Act (part 2) in 1911

  2. Setting up a labour exchange
• National Insurance act part 2

  Unemployment insurance scheme - pay when out of work
• The National Insurance act part 2 was passed in 1911
• The National Insurance act part 2 covered 2.5 million workers, mainly in construction, building, shipbuilding, engineering
• Workers received 7 shillings a week for up to a maximum of 15 weeks to look for another job
• Contributions were paid by workers, employers and the state at 2 shillings weekly
• Unemployment of the breadwinner was a major cause of poverty


  Any money coming in during periods of unemployment would help a family in need
• The National Insurance act part 2 only provided limited cover (15 weeks) and had to use poor law after that
• Even though no scheme had been introduced like this anywhere in the world, the liberals did not fully meet the needs of the unemployed because it put more people into poverty