How Far Did the Post 1945 Welfare State Eliminate Beveridge’s ‘Five Giants’?
How far did the post 1945 welfare state eliminate Beveridge’s ‘five giants?’
From 1937-40, Britain was governed by a Conservative government led by Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940). However, Chamberlain was forced to resign due to a public and parliamentary lack of confidence in May 1940. Winston Churchill succeeded him as Prime Minister and on May 13 1940 he unveiled the new war cabinet, a coalition government of those he regarded as the most energetic and talented people available to him, regardless of party . The coalition continued until the end of World War Two (1939-1945). After the war had ended the British electorate had a shift in attitude and in an effort to secure a better and brighter future the people voted for a Labour government in the 1945 elections in a spirit of optimism and hope for change . The post-war Labour government subsequently created a welfare state, which, although it had existed in the 1930’s, was still a welcome innovation. Asa Briggs, the late Professor of History at the University of Sussex, defined the welfare state as;
‘a state in which organised power is deliberately used in an effort to modify the play of market forces in at least three directions – first, by guaranteeing individuals and families a minimum income irrespective of the market value of their work or property; second, by narrowing the extent of insecurity by enabling individuals and families to meet certain social contingencies which lead otherwise to individual and family crises; and third, by ensuring that all citizens without distinction of status or class are offered the best standards available in relation to a certain agreed range of social services.’
The welfare state was a response to citizens’ needs and a desire for a radical break from the past and it became institutionalised as a primary concern of the government, post 1945. The government introduced and developed major social policies formed on the basis of the Beveridge Report (December 1942) which
From 1937-40, Britain was governed by a Conservative government led by Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940). However, Chamberlain was forced to resign due to a public and parliamentary lack of confidence in May 1940. Winston Churchill succeeded him as Prime Minister and on May 13 1940 he unveiled the new war cabinet, a coalition government of those he regarded as the most energetic and talented people available to him, regardless of party . The coalition continued until the end of World War Two (1939-1945). After the war had ended the British electorate had a shift in attitude and in an effort to secure a better and brighter future the people voted for a Labour government in the 1945 elections in a spirit of optimism and hope for change . The post-war Labour government subsequently created a welfare state, which, although it had existed in the 1930’s, was still a welcome innovation. Asa Briggs, the late Professor of History at the University of Sussex, defined the welfare state as;
‘a state in which organised power is deliberately used in an effort to modify the play of market forces in at least three directions – first, by guaranteeing individuals and families a minimum income irrespective of the market value of their work or property; second, by narrowing the extent of insecurity by enabling individuals and families to meet certain social contingencies which lead otherwise to individual and family crises; and third, by ensuring that all citizens without distinction of status or class are offered the best standards available in relation to a certain agreed range of social services.’
The welfare state was a response to citizens’ needs and a desire for a radical break from the past and it became institutionalised as a primary concern of the government, post 1945. The government introduced and developed major social policies formed on the basis of the Beveridge Report (December 1942) which
Bibliography: Briggs, Asa, The Welfare State in Historical Perspective (Bobbs Merrill 1961) Braman, Chuck, Theories of John Maynard Keynes, http://www.chuckbraman.com/Writing/WritingFilesPhilosophy/keynes.htm [cited 10th November 2010] Cooper, Steven, The Health Benefits: Vol 636-639 (Policy Studies Institute, 1985) Deakin, Nicholas, Britain’s way to social security, Vol 5 Hollowell, Jonathan, Britain Since 1945 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2003) Hughes, Billy, In Defence of Ellen Wilkinson (Oxford University Press, 1979) Jefferys, Kevin, The Churchill coalition and wartime politics, 1940-45 (Manchester University Press, 1995) Jefferys, Kevin, War and Reform: British Politics During the Second World War (Manchester University Press, 1995) Jenkinson, A.J, Education in 1949, Report of the Ministry of Education (London 1950) Lowe, Rodney, The Welfare State in Britain Since 1945 (Macmillan 1993) Sullivan, Michael, Development of the British Welfare State (Harvester: Wheatsheaf 1996) Tawney, Robert, Secondary education for all: a policy for Labour (Continuum International Publishing Group 1988) Timmins, Nicholas, The Five Giants: A biography of the welfare state (Harper Collins 2001) Wilson, Elizabeth, Women and the Welfare State (London Tavistock 1977) 1977)