In his landmark 1942 report on the reform of social insurance Sir William Beveridge
William Beveridge
William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, KCB was a British economist who was a noted progressive and social reformer. He is best known for his 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services which served as the basis for the post-World War II welfare state put in place by the Lab…
What were Beveridge's five Giants on the road to reconstruction?
It was drafted by the Liberal economist William Beveridge, 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".
What are the 5 Giants of the New World?
He was also a champion of the role that people and communities can and should play in helping to tackle what he saw as the five major challenges (the “Five Giants”) of his era: Squalor, Want, Ignorance, Disease, and Idleness.
What has gone wrong with Beveridge’s Giants?
The government and local authorities struggle to deliver services and programmes to those who need it, as Beveridge’s Giants converge on those members of society who are most isolated. Routes out of poverty are now less direct than Beveridge might have intended, with in-work poverty soaring as benefit cuts continue.
What are the five giants of Social Security?
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. Policies of social security "must be achieved by co-operation between the State and the individual", with the state securing the service and contributions.
What does want mean in 5 giants?
The five were Want – by which Beveridge essentially meant poverty in modern parlance –Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness – that last of which “destroys wealth and corrupts men.” A revolutionary moment in the world's history, Beveridge declared in this 1942 document, was “a time for revolutions not patching” as he ...
What did the Beveridge Report call for?
The Beveridge Report aimed to provide a comprehensive system of social insurance 'from cradle to grave'. It proposed that all working people should pay a weekly contribution to the state. In return, benefits would be paid to the unemployed, the sick, the retired and the widowed.
What was the Beveridge Report GCSE history?
In 1941, the Liberal politician William Beveridge set out to discover what kind of Britain people wanted to see after the war. His report, officially entitled Social Insurance and Allied Services, was a key part of the plans to rebuild and improve Britain after the war had ended.
What did Beveridge mean by idleness?
Beveridge's technical framework of social ordering identified idleness as wasted human capacity and proposed measures to remove it, be this through the creation of new jobs or the eradication of “restrictive” working practices. The promotion of “deregulated” and “flexible” employment changed this narrative.
Who was William Beveridge and what were his five evils?
The Attlee government's radical agenda, after all, basically enacted every recommendation made by eccentric patrician liberal reformer Sir William Beveridge, who exceeded his simple brief – to survey the country's social insurance programmes – with a wide range of suggestions aimed at eradicating what he called the ...
What were the key assumptions underpinning the Beveridge Report?
One of the key assumptions of the Report ('Assumption B') was that in the new society there would be a comprehensive national health service available to all. The Beveridge Report received widespread support, and it is seen as the foundation document for the welfare state created by the Labour government of 1945-1951.
How do I reference the Beveridge Report 1942?
MLA (7th ed.) Beveridge, William H. B. Social Insurance and Allied Services: Report by Sir William Beveridge. London: H.M. Stationery Off, 1942. Print.
Is the Beveridge Report still relevant?
It also remains sacred despite the history of the past 30 years, which has seen significant parts of what was NHS activity – billions of pounds worth of it – shifted across to the means-tested social care sector.
Who supported the Beveridge Report?
It was drafted by the Liberal economist William Beveridge – with research and publicity by his wife, mathematician Janet Beveridge – who proposed widespread reforms to the system of social welfare to address what he identified as "five giants on the road of reconstruction": "Want…
Who said cradle to grave?
Churchill, the leader of the Conservative Party, coined the phrase 'from the Cradle to the Grave' in a radio broadcast in March 1943 to describe the need for some form of social insurance to give security to every class of citizen in the state.
What does want mean Beveridge Report?
by povertyThe Five Giants The committee, led by Beveridge, identified five major problems which prevented people from bettering themselves: want (caused by poverty) ignorance (caused by a lack of education) squalor (caused by poor housing) idleness (caused by a lack of jobs, or the ability to gain employment)
What is the Beveridge Report BBC Bitesize?
The Committee's Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in December 1942. It became known as the Beveridge Report. The recommendations were for a system that would be: comprehensive – cover all problems relating to poverty, from birth to death.
Why was William Beveridge important?
William Beveridge (1879-1963) was a social economist who in November 1942 published a report titled, 'Social Insurance and Allied Services' that would provide the blueprint for social policy in post-war Britain.
What did W Beveridge introduce in 1948?
This included the establishment of a National Health Service in 1948 with taxpayer funded medical treatment for all. A national system of benefits was also introduced to provide "social security" so that the population would be protected from the "cradle to the grave".
Which political party was Beveridge?
Liberal PartyWilliam Beveridge / PartyThe Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Conservative Party, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Wikipedia
What are the five giants of social progress?
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.
Who wrote the Five Giants on the Road of Reconstruction?
It was drafted by the Liberal economist William Beveridge, 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 the midst of World War II, the report promised rewards for everyone's sacrifices.
What was the Beveridge report?
The Beveridge Report, officially entitled Social Insurance and Allied Services ( Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the modern welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was drafted by the Liberal economist William Beveridge, 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 the midst of World War II, 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 National Insurance and the creation of the National Health Service .
What party was opposed to the Beveridge Report?
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. The Labour Party won the 1945 general election on a platform that promised to address Beveridge's five Giant Evils.
Why was Beveridge opposed to means-tested benefits?
Means-testing was intended to play a tiny part because it created high marginal tax rates for the poor (the " poverty trap ").
What did Labour oppose in Beveridge?
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.
How many Conservative MPs voted against the government?
The Tory Reform Committee, 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 Liberals, 3 Independent Labour Party MPs and 1 Communist voted against the government.
When was the Beveridge Report published?
The Committee’s Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in December 1942. It became known as the Beveridge Report.
Who was William Beveridge?
The Beveridge Report. William Beveridge. William Beveridge was a social policy expert who had worked with the Liberal Government at the start of the 1900s, helping to develop their social policies and reforms. During the war, Beveridge was appointed head of a committee charged with investigating social security in Britain.
What were the problems that prevented people from bettering themselves?
The committee, led by Beveridge, identified five major problems which prevented people from bettering themselves: want (caused by poverty) ignorance (caused by a lack of education) squalor (caused by poor housing) idleness (caused by a lack of jobs, or the ability to gain employment)
What was the purpose of Beveridge's plan?
At the heart of Beveridge's plan was the creation of a compulsory social insurance scheme, which would provide a level of non-means tested benefit in return for contributions. The insurance scheme would be supported by allowances for dependent children, the establishment of comprehensive health ...
What did Beveridge believe about medical services?
With regard to the creation of the comprehensive medical service, Beveridge believed that medical treatment (covering all treatment and every form of disability) should be separate from the administration of financial benefits.
What was the Labour government's response to Beveridge's recommendations?
Labour politicians were supportive of the proposals and, eventually, following the General Election in 1945, the Labour government implemented Beveridge's recommendations by establishing the welfare state and National Health Service.
What are the five giants?
The Five Giants. Among the most famous elements of the report were 'The Five Giants'. These were personifications – abstract ideas represented by people – of the most pressing issues facing the country: want, squalor, ignorance, idleness, and disease.
How did Beveridge defeat the giants?
Beveridge sought to defeat the giants through redeveloped social services, including a free health service (later the National Health Service), family allowances and social insurance to help people deal with periods of unemployment.
What was the Beveridge report?
The Beveridge Report. In December 1942, William Beveridge published a report that was officially called Social Insurance and Allied Services, but it swiftly became known as the Beveridge Report. A press report from the time stated that it:
How long has the Beveridge report been around?
It’s 75 years since the Beveridge report paved the way for the welfare state, and the UK is again plagued by the problems he aimed to eradicate – from insecure jobs to malnutrition
What was the Beveridge report about?
Beveridge was horrified by housing conditions in prewar Britain, which he identified as a source of poverty and squalor. His report argued for an ambitious council-housing building programme with strong rent controls and proposed a “living tapestry of the mixed community”, offering a mix of social housing and market housing in which “the doctor, the grocer, the butcher and the farm labourer all lived in the same street”.
What did Beveridge see as the solution to poverty?
Beveridge saw work as the true solution to poverty. It is a mantra that governments have chanted with glee ever since. But while poverty levels have remained fairly constant over the past decade – at roughly 21% of the population or 13 million people – an unprecedented 67% of British children in poverty now live in a household where someone is in work. The new poor, the IFS argues, are an even larger group than these official figures suggest, with previously secure middle-class families living increasingly precarious lives and with people cycling in and out of the official definition of poverty once or twice a year.
Was Beveridge a socialist?
Whatever Attlee thought of him, Beveridge was no socialist. He thought taking the burden of healthcare and pension costs away from corporations and individuals and giving them to the government would increase the competitiveness of British industry while producing healthier, wealthier, more motivated and more productive workers keen to buy British goods.
Overview
The Beveridge Report, officially entitled Social Insurance and Allied Services (Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was drafted by the Liberal economist William Beveridge – with research and publicity by his wife, mathematician Janet Beveridge – who proposed widespread reforms to the sy…
Background
In 1940, during the Second World War, the Labour Party entered into a coalition with the Conservative Party. On 10 June 1941 Arthur Greenwood, the Labour MP and Minister without Portfolio, announced the creation of an inter-departmental committee which would carry out a survey of Britain's social insurance and allied services:
To undertake, with special reference to the inter-relation of the schemes, a survey of the existin…
Recommendations
The Report offered three guiding principles to its recommendations:
1. 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".
2. 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.
Reaction
Inside the Cabinet, there was debate, instigated by Brendan Bracken, on 16 November 1942 over whether to publish the Report as a White Paper at that time. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Kingsley Wood, 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.
Wartime changes
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 Clement Attlee) approved grants of fuel and subsidised milk to mothers and to children under the age of five in June 1940. A month later, the Board of Education decided that free school meals sh…
Implementation
The Labour Party eventually also adopted the Beveridge proposals, and after their victory in the 1945 general election, they proceeded to implement many social policies, which became known as the Welfare State. These included the Family Allowances Act 1945, National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Acts 1946 and 1948, National Insurance Acts 1946 and 1949, National Health Service Act 1946, Pensions (Increase) Act 1947, Landlord and Tenant (Rent Control) Act 1949.
Further reading
• Image of the Report on the Parliamentary Website
External links
• Full text of the report
• The Beveridge Report and the Postwar Reforms by the Policy Studies Institute