History of the welfare state in the United Kingdom: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|none}}

The '''History of the welfare state in the United Kingdom''' covers the growth of welfare programs and programs for the poor since the 13th century, with emphasis on the establishment of a [[welfare state]] in the 20th century. For recent trends ses [[Welfare state in the United Kingdom]].

===Poor laws===

{{Main|English poor laws|Tudor poor laws}}

According to historian Ian Keil, the poor laws evolved from a church-based system to an increasingly centralized state system over time, with a focus on workhouses and restricting relief in the 19th century.<ref>Ian John Ernest Keil, "Poor Laws," in John Cannon, ed., ''The Oxford Companion to British History'' (2002) pp.759–760.</ref> In medieval times, canon law required parishes to use one-third of tithe income to support the poor. This system broke down over time as tithe revenues were diverted elsewhere. Parliament intervened in [[Statute of Cambridge 1388|a law in 1388]] that penalized unauthorized departures, legitimized begging and required parishes to support their own poor. [[Poor Relief Act 1601|The "Old Poor Law" of 1601]] created a more coherent system, requiring each parish to be responsible for its own poor, funded by collecting rates from property owners. It distinguished the deserving and undeserving poor. The Act of Settlement of 1662 restricted poor relief to long-term residents or those born in a parish. In the 18th century, some parishes formed unions to build workhouses for the poor who were able to work.<ref>Christopher Hill, '' Society and Puritanism in Pre-Revolutionary England'' (1967) pp.259–297 is a full description;[https://archive.org/details/societypuritanis0000hill_e3o2 online].</ref>

The [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834|Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834]] established a stricter workhouse system and created unions of parishes administered by boards of guardians.<ref>S.E. Finer, ''The life and times of Sir Edwin Chadwick'' (1952) pp 39–49.</ref><ref>Peter Collinge,and Louise Falcini, eds., ''Providing for the Poor: The Old Poor Law, 1750–1834'' (2022).</ref> It was designed make the alternative to paid labor an unpleasant experience, with a goal of punishing shirkers and minimizing expenditures. The 1834 Act was imposed by the local landed gentry and was widely disliked by the poor. The object of the workhouses, one official stated, "is to establish therein a discipline so severe and repulsive as to make them a terror to the poor and prevent them from entering."<ref>Quoted in E. P. Thompson, ''The Making of the English Working Class'' (1963) p. 267.</ref><ref>S.E. Finer, ''The life and times of Sir Edwin Chadwick'' (1952) pp.39–140.</ref> Nevertheless it remained the basic system, with some amendments, until 1929.<ref>Margaret Anne Crowther. ''The Workhouse System 1834–1929: The history of an English social institution'' (Routledge, 2016) pp.1–10.</ref>

===Public education===

{{Further|History of education in England|Scottish education in the nineteenth century}}

Free public education is a major element of the welfare state, and emerged finally in 1902. In 1800 there was far from agreement that universal education was beneficial. The elites were very well educated. They started with home tutoring, followed by [[Public school (United Kingdom)|very expensive "public schools"]] (like [[Eton College]]), and capped off at Oxford and Cambridge universities. Before industrialization took hold around 1800, most parents were farm workers with no education, and they saw little need to pay money to educate their children. As the cities grew explosively there was a growing need for literate workers. However Some elites felt that any schooling for the working classes as unnecessary or even dangerous. However, by the 1830s, that attitude faded away and the risks of educating the working classes were generally seen as outweighed by the risks of leaving them ignorant or allowing their education to be out of the control of the authorities.<ref>Chadwick (1966), 1:337.</ref> As political reforms enlarged the electorate it became more urgent to educate the new electorate. Educational reformer [[James Kay-Shuttleworth]] said in 1838 that the state was responsible for "rearing... children in religion and industry, and of imparting such an amount of secular education as may fit them to discharge the duties of their station."<ref>Quoted in John Rule, ''The Labouring Classes in Early Industrial England, 1750–1850'' (1986) p.248.</ref>

==="Voluntary schools" operated by churches===

For England and Wales, Parliament began annual funding to schools operated by churches in the mid 1830s, and steadily increased the amounts and the oversight. The main religious denominations set up full-time local elementary schools, with modest tuition, for their own children. They taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion up to grade 8, as well as how to follow schedules, plan ahead, and behave in orderly fashion.<ref>Owen Chadwick, ''The Victorian Church: Part I'' (1966) pp. 336–346.</ref> In rural England the Anglicans of the established Church of England were dominant. In towns there were schools operated by the "Dissenting" or "Nonconformist" Methodists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Baptists. These all were called "Voluntary Schools" and before the 1830s the local and national government provided no aid. Nonconformists set up the "[[British and Foreign School Society]]" in 1808 to help with funding and textbooks, while the Church of England in 1811 set up a similar "[[National Society for Promoting Religious Education]]" to help its larger network of [[National school (England and Wales)|National schools]]. With the arrival of over a million Irish Catholics after 1845, the larger cities soon had Catholic elementary schools. The quality of provision varied significantly, and the average length of attendance was only three years.<ref name="Lloyd-2007">{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Amy |date=2007 |title=Education, Literacy and the Reading Public |url=https://www.gale.com/binaries/content/assets/gale-us-en/primary-sources/intl-gps/intl-gps-essays/full-ghn-contextual-essays/ghn_essay_bln_lloyd3_website.pdf |publisher=University of Cambridge}}</ref>

Parliament took interest and in 1839 began making annual subsidies. The Dissenters complained as most of the money went to the Anglican schools. In Manchester, a booming industrial center with 355,000 people in 1870, rivalry among the Voluntary Schools was fierce. Of the 164 schools receiving government subsidies in 1869, 37% were Church of England, 16% were Dissenting, 11% were Catholic, and 37% were nondenominational.<ref>E. G. West, ''Education and the State: A Study in Political Economy'' (Liberty Fund, 1994) p. 88.</ref>

Scotland had a separate educational system, one with a long tradition of state-funded education [[Education in early modern Scotland|dating back to the 17th century]].<ref name="ScottishArchiveNetwork">{{Citation |title=School education prior to 1873 |url=http://www.scan.org.uk/knowledgebase/topics/education_box1.htm |journal=Scottish Archive Network |year=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928100213/http://www.scan.org.uk/knowledgebase/topics/education_box1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 September 2011}}.</ref> The system which made school provision the responsibility of [[Parishes of Scotland|parishes]] of the established Presbyterian Church. They generally led to better outcomes than elsewhere in Great Britain but struggled to cope with the pressures of industrialisation and standards began to slip. A similar kind of grant system to voluntary schools was used in Scotland as in England. The [[Education (Scotland) Act 1872]] introduced many of the same kinds of reforms as were taking place in England and Wales during the later 19th century. Education was made compulsory for five to thirteen-year-olds, the structure of the system was simplified, and many new schools were built.<ref name="Lloyd-2007" />

The [[Elementary Education Act 1870|1870 Elementary Education Act]] was intended to establish universal access to state-funded schools and the state began to [[Elementary school (England and Wales)|run schools directly]] for the first time through a system of local governance. Education [[Elementary Education Act 1880|became compulsory for five- to ten-year-olds in 1880]] and fees abolished in 1891.<ref name="Lloyd-2007" /> Compulsory education was expanded to deaf children, blind children and [[Raising of school leaving age in England and Wales|all children up to the age of twelve]] in the 1890s.<ref name="crucial_events_historical">{{cite web |date=18 September 2014 |title=15 Crucial Events in the History of English Schools |url=https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/crucial-events-history-english-schools.html |access-date=26 February 2017 |work=Oxford Royale |quote=In 1893, the school-leaving age was raised to 11, and it was also made compulsory for blind and deaf children to receive an education (until then, they had not been catered for at all). The school-leaving age rose again to 12 in 1899.}}</ref>

===Churches also run Sunday Schools===

Sunday schools were free programs, one day a week, for all the children in a parish, including those attending a regular school on week days. Inexperienced parents volunteered to do the teaching. They taught reading and hymns. The movement began in the 1780s and rapidly spread across Britain. In 1824 some 400,000 Anglican children attended 3000 Sunday schools sponsored by the National Society.<ref>Anthony Armstrong, ''The Church of England, the Methodists and Society, 1700–1850'' (1973) p. 181.</ref> By the late 19th century they reached as many as 75% of all children.<ref>Owen Chadwick, ''The Victorian Church: Part II 1860–1901'' (1972 ) pp.257–259.</ref> By the 1850s about 300,000 adults were teaching in all the Sunday schools, as well as attending their own training programs, arranging guest speakers and planning treats such as excursions by train for the children. The movement peaked in the 1880s. After that growth of public schools lessened the educational role of Sunday schools.<ref>Doreen Rosman, ''The Evolution of the English Churches, 1500–2000.''(Cambridge UP, 2003) p.213.</ref>

==Liberal reforms 1908–1914==

{{Main|Liberal welfare reforms|Old Age Pensions Act 1908|People's Budget}}

In 1906 the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] under [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman]] rallied Dissenting Protestants against the education bill (which helped the schools of the established Church of England, and rallied around the traditional platform of free trade. The result was a massive landslide and [[1906 United Kingdom general election|the greatest electoral victory]] in Liberal Party history.<ref>Lawrence Goldman, . "Oxford DNB theme: The general election of 1906" [http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/95/95348.html online]</ref>

[[File:ChurchillGeorge0001.jpg|thumb|left|upright|David Lloyd George (left) and Winston Churchill in 1907]]

After a confused performance in 1906–1907 with few results, [[H.&nbsp;H. Asquith]] became prime minister in 1908 and shifted emphasis to new reform issues promoted by [[David Lloyd George]] as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] and [[Winston Churchill]] at the [[Board of Trade]] and as [[Home Secretary]]. Reformers focused on the "[[People's Budget]]" of 1909 that proposed to fund expanded social welfare programmes with new taxes on land and high incomes. It was blocked by the Conservative-dominated [[House of Lords]], and led to a dramatic confrontation and two more elections in 1910. The Liberals prevailed and passed their main reforms.

Before 1906 the Liberals favored "freedom from", with minimal government regulation and taxes, as preached by [[William E. Gladstone]]. That now changed as half of the Liberal MPs elected in 1906 were supportive of the "[[New liberalism (ideology)|new liberalism]]". It meant "freedom from" unhappy csocial and economic constraints. It advocated government action to improve people's lives.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rosemary Rees|title=Britain, 1890–1939|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YgtH8GFcFSYC&pg=PA42|year=2003|page=42|publisher=Heinemann |isbn=9780435327576}}</ref>

At first it applied to four industries: chain-making, ready-made tailoring, paper-box making, and the machine-made lace and finishing trade.<ref name="Sheila Blackburn 1991" /> It was later expanded to coal mining and then to other industries with preponderance of unskilled manual labour by the [[Trade Boards Act 1918]]. Under the leadership of Lloyd George Liberals extended minimum wages to farm workers.<ref>[[Alun Howkins]] and Nicola Verdon.『The state and the farm worker: the evolution of the minimum wage in agriculture in England and Wales, 1909–24.』''Agricultural history review'' 57.2 (2009): 257–274. [http://www.bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/57_205HowkinsandVerdon.pdf online]</ref>

[[File:UK Liberal Poster 1907.jpg|thumb|300px|UK Liberal Party poster in 1909 defends new old age pension shown as a little dog while the rich aristocratic landlord has a huge government pension (shown as a very large dog)]]

===Pension law===

{{See also|Old Age Pensions Act 1908|Pensions in the United Kingdom|}}

The "Old Age Pension" was introduced in 1909 in the United Kingdom (which included all of Ireland at that time). Following the passage of the [[Old Age Pensions Act 1908]] a pension of 5/- per week (£{{£sd|s=5}}, equivalent, using the [[Consumer Price Index (United Kingdom)|Consumer Price Index]], to £{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|0.25|1909|r=0}}|0}} in present-day terms),{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} or 7/6 per week (£{{£sd|s=7|d=6}}, equivalent to £{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|0.375|1909|r=0}}|0}}/week today) for a married couple, was payable to persons with an income below £21 per annum (equivalent to £{{Inflation|UK|21|1909|r=-2}} today), The qualifying age was 70, and the pensions were subject to a [[means test]].

It provided 5 shillings (£0.25) a week for those over age 70 whose annual means did not exceed £31 10s. (£31.50). It coincided with the [[Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–1909]] and was the first step in the [[Liberal welfare reforms]] towards the completion of a system of social security, with unemployment and health insurance through the [[National Insurance Act 1911]].

===Minimum wage===

The [[Trade Boards Act 1909]] provided for the creation of boards which could set minimum wage criteria that were legally enforceable. Churchill was the chief sponsor; his goal was to help alleviate poverty. The main provision was to set minimum wages in certain trades with historically low wages and low skills. At first it applied to four industries: chain-making, ready-made tailoring, paper-box making, machine-made lace making, and finishing trades. They employed 140,000 women and 60,000 men. It was expanded in 1912 to mining and then to other industries with a preponderance of unskilled manual labour. It was further expanded and updated in the [[Trade Boards Act 1918]].<ref>Jessica S. Bean, and George R. Boyer, "The Trade Boards Act of 1909 and the alleviation of household poverty." ''British journal of industrial relations'' 47.2 (2009): 240–264. [https://www.academia.edu/download/74163718/j.1467-8543.2009.00721.x20211103-6803-1721gwi.pdf online]</ref><ref>Sheila Blackburn, "Ideology and social policy: the origins of the Trade Boards Act." ''The Historical Journal'' 34#1 (1991): 43–64. [http://digamoo.free.fr/blackburn91.pdf online]</ref>

[[File:Under-Which-Flag--LPD 1910 poster.jpg|thumb|left|Election poster from "Labour Party and Democratic League" (a faction of the Labour Party)]]

===Battle over People's Budget===

{{Main|People's budget}}

The 1909/1910 [[People's budget]] was a proposal of the Liberal government designed to pay for the penson and insurance plans by raising taxes on the rich, including income taxes and taxes on land. The wealth of the aristocracy and gentry was based on farm land they owned and leased to millions of tenants. The budget passed the House of Commons in 1909 but was blocked by the [[House of Lords]] for a year. After a fierce battle it became law in April 1910.

The budget was drafted by Lloyd George acting as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], and enthusiastically supportedby Churchill.<ref>Geoffrey Lee, ''The People's Budget: An Edwardian Tragedy'' (2008)</ref> The budget was revolutionary because it was the first budget in British history with the expressed intent of [[Redistribution of income and wealth|redistributing wealth]] more equally among the entire population.<ref>Bentley Brinkerhoff Gilbert, "David Lloyd George: Land, The Budget, and Social Reform" ''American Historical Review'' 81.5 (1976): 1058–1066 [https://www.cooperative-individualism.org/gilbert-bentley_david-lloyd-george-land-the-budget-1976-dec.pdf online].</ref> It was a key issue in the [[January 1910 United Kingdom general election]] as well as the [[December 1910 United Kingdom general election]].<ref>Neal Blewett, ''The peers, the parties and the people: the British general elections of 1910'' (1972) [https://archive.org/details/peerspartiespeop0000blew/page/n6/mode/1up online].</ref> The Liberals won both elections narrowly and passed the budget and also the [[Parliament Act 1911]] which weakened the ability of the House of Lords to block legislation passed by the House of Commons.

==Labour reforms 1945–1950==

{{Main|Attlee ministry}}

===Wartime proposals===

{{Further|Beveridge Report}}

Postwar planning was a highpriority, and the leader was sociologist [[William Beveridge]]. In 1942 he called for all-out war against what he identified as the five giants; idleness, ignorance, disease, squalor and want.

===National Health Service Act===

{{Main|National Health Service Act 1946}}

The National Health Service Act 1946 ([[9 & 10 Geo. 6]]. c. 81) came into effect on 5 July 1948 and created the [[National Health Service]] in [[England and Wales]] thus being the first implementation of the [[Beveridge Model]]. Though the title 'National Health Service' implies a single health service for the United Kingdom, in reality one NHS was created for England and Wales accountable to the [[Secretary of State for Health]], with a separate NHS created for [[Scotland]] accountable to the [[Secretary of State for Scotland]] by the passage of the [[National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947]]. Similar health services in Northern Ireland were created by the Northern Ireland Parliament through the Health Services Act (Northern Ireland) 1948.

The whole Act was replaced by the National Health Service Act 1977,<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/49/schedule/16 National Health Service Act 1977, Schedule 16] at Legislation.gov.uk</ref> which itself is now superseded by the [[National Health Service Act 2006]] and the [[Health and Social Care Act 2012]].

==Historical statistics on welfare trends==

===Benefit rates as a percentage of industrial earnings===

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Benefit rates as a per cent of industrial earnings of male manual workers aged 21 and over (1948–71)<ref name="ReferenceA">Labour and Inequality: Sixteen Fabian Essays edited by Peter Townsend and Nicholas Bosanquet</ref>

|-

! Year (month) !! Single pension !! Supplementary Benefit for single person !! Family Allowance for four children

|-

| 1948 (October) || 18.9 || 17.5 || 10.9

|-

| 1961 (April) || 19.1 || 17.8 || 9.3

|-

| 1962 (April) || 18.4 || 17.1 || 8.9

|-

| 1963 (May) || 20.8 || 19.5 || 8.6

|-

| 1964 (April) || 19.2 || 18.1 || 8.0

|-

| 1964 (October) || 18.7 || 17.6 || 7.7

|-

| 1965 (April) || 21.2 || 20.1 || 7.4

|-

| 1965 (October) || 20.4 || 19.4 || 7.1

|-

| 1966 (April) || 19.8 || 18.8 || 6.9

|-

| 1966 (October) || 19.7 || 20.0 || 6.9

|-

| 1967 (April) || 19.4 || 19.7 || 6.8

|-

| 1967 (October) || 21.0 || 20.1 || 7.7

|-

| 1968 (April) || 20.2 || 19.3 || 11.9

|-

| 1968 (October) || 19.6 || 19.8 || 12.6

|-

| 1969 (April) || 18.8 || 19.3 || 12.1

|-

| 1969 (November) || 20.0 || 19.2 || 11.7

|-

| 1970 (April) || 19.0 || 18.3 || 11.3

|-

| 1970 (November) || 17.6 || 18.3 || 10.2

|-

| 1971 (March) (est.) || 17.3 || 18.0 || 10.0

|}

Note on source, as quoted in the text: "based on statistics of weekly earnings, ''Employment and Productivity Gazette''."

===Changes in National Assistance/Supplementary Benefit===

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Changes in National Assistance/Supplementary Benefit scale (1963–1969) (a)<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

|-

! Date of change !! Real value single pensioner !! Real value married man with three children (b) !! Real take home pay for average worker

|-

| May 1963 || 100 || 100 || 100

|-

| March 1965 || 111 || 112 || 106

|-

| November 1966 || 117 || 110 || 106

|-

| October 1967 || 122 || 115 || 108

|-

| November 1969 || 122 || 115 || 110

|}

; Notes

* (a) As quoted in the text: "the scale is calculated using the average discretionary addition (adjusted to spread winter fuel costs throughout the year) for retirement pensioners. It does not include any allowance for rent. The price index used for the single pensioner is that in the ''Employment and Productivity Gazette''."

* (b) As quoted in the text: "it is assumed that the children are aged four, six, and eleven."

===Increases in National Insurance benefits===

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Increases in National Insurance benefits (1963–69):<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

|-

! Date of increase !! Real take home pay for average worker (a) !! Real value of single pension (b) !! Real value of unemployment benefit<br>(man with wife and three children) (c)

|-

| March/May 1963 || 100 || 100 || 100

|-

| January/March 1965 || 106 || 111 || 110

|-

| October 1967 || 108 || 114 || 113

|-

| November 1969 || 110 || 114 ||116

|}

; Notes:

* (a) As quoted by text: "Based on average earnings for adult male manual workers in manufacturing, allowing for income tax and national insurance contributions."

* (b) As quoted by text: "Calculated on the special price index for single pensioner households published by the ''[[Employment and Productivity Gazette]]'' adjusted for housing expenditure using the housing component of the retail price index. Since a disproportionate number of pensioners have controlled tenancies, this may overstate the increase in prices."

* (c) This column is deflated by use of the [[Retail Price Index]]

===Social security benefits as a percentage of average earnings===

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Social security benefits as a percentage of average earnings for last increases of various governments, 1951–79<ref name="ReferenceB">The Labour Party in Crisis by Paul Whiteley</ref>

|-

! colspan="2" | Government !! Sickness/unemployment benefit ''a'' !! ''a'' plus earnings related supplement !! Retirement pensions ''c'' !! Supplementary allowance/benefits ''d'' !! Family allowance/child benefit ''e''

|-

| style="background:#dc241f; width:20px;"| || Labour (1951)

| 25.7

| 25.7

| 30.4

| 30.4

| 8.0

|-

| style="background:#0087dc; width:20px;"| || Conservative (1963)

| 33.8

| 33.8

| 33.0

| 31.6

| 5.3

|-

| style="background:#dc241f; width:20px;"| || Labour (1969)

| 32.4

| 52.3

| 32.4

| 31.4

| 3.8

|-

| style="background:#0087dc; width:20px;"| || Conservative (1973)

| 29.1

| 46.2

| 30.5

| 28.5

| 3.0

|-

| style="background:#dc241f; width:20px;"| || Labour (1978)

| 30.5

| 44.4

| 37.4

| 30.2

| 3.7

|}

* a,b Man plus dependent wife.

* c Man plus dependent wife on his insurance.

* d Married couple.

* e For one child.

===Social policy benefits and earnings under the Labour Government 1964–69===

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Social policy benefits and earnings under Labour 1963–69:<ref>Taxation, Wage Bargaining and Unemployment by Isabela Mares</ref>

|-

! Year || Unemployment, sickness, and retirement benefits (single) || Retirement pension (married) !! National assistance/supplementary benefit (married couple) !! Adult male manual workers (weekly earnings) !! Adult male administrative, technical, and clerical employees (weekly earnings)

|-

| 1963 || 100 || 100 || 100 || 100 || 100

|-

| 1969 || 148 || 149 || 150 || 154 || 148

|}

===Supplementary benefits rates as a proportion of income===

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Supplementary benefit rates as a proportion of gross and net income at average earnings, married couple:<ref name="ReferenceC">''Labour and Equality : A Fabian Study of Labour in Power'', 1974–79 edited by Nick Bosanquet and Peter Townsend</ref>

|-

! Year

! colspan="2" | End of year (a)

|-

! rowspan="2" |

! colspan="2" | As % of gross average earnings

|-

! Ordinary rate !! Long term rate

|-

| 1973

| 28.5

| 31.4

|-

| 1974

| 28.1

| 33.6

|-

| 1975

| 29.8

| 36.2

|-

| 1976

| 30.8

| 37.1

|-

| 1977

| 32.3

| 38.9

|-

| 1978

| 30.6

| 37.8

|-

! rowspan="2" |

! colspan="2" | As % of net income (b) at average earnings

|-

! Ordinary rate !! Long term rate

|-

| 1973

| 37.9

| 41.8

|-

| 1974

| 38.8

| 46.5

|-

| 1975

| 42.4

| 51.5

|-

| 1976

| 43.9

| 52.9

|-

| 1977

| 44.1

| 53.1

|-

| 1978

| 41.6

| 51.4

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Supplementary benefit: long term scale rate as proportion of ordinary rate (%)

|-

! Date of introduction !! Single !! Married couple

|-

| 1973

| 14.0

| 10.3

|-

| 1974

| 23.8

| 19.8

|-

| 1975 (April)

| 25.0

| 20.4

|-

| 1975 (November)

| 25.7

| 21.4

|-

| 1976

| 23.6

| 20.3

|-

| 1977

| 23.4

| 20.4

|-

| 1978

| 28.0

| 23.5

|}

===Households dependent on Supplementary Benefit===

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Numbers in households dependent on supplementary benefit or with estimated incomes below SB level, 1974 and 1976 (thousands)

|-

! rowspan="2" | Year

! colspan="2" | Pensioners

! colspan="4" | Under pensionable age family head or single parent

|-

! || (as % of total) || Unemployed || Normally in full-time work || Sick or disabled || Others

|-

| 1974 || 2,680 || (52%) || 450 || 360 || 480 || 1,170

|-

| 1976 || 2,800 || (44%) || 1,080 || 890 || 280 || 1,300

|}

===Changes in real terms in social security benefits===

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Changes in real terms in social security benefits, 1964–79 (in 1981 prices, 1951= 100):<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

|-

! Year !! Supplementary benefits (a) !! Sickness/unemployment benefit (b) !! Retirement pensions (c) !! Family allowance/child benefit (d)

|-

| 1964 || 146 || 176 || 149 || 85

|-

| 1965 || 166 || 199 || 168 || 85

|-

| 1966 || 165 || 199 || 168 || 82

|-

| 1967 || 173 || 318 || 173 || 80

|-

| 1968 || 173 || 318 || 173 || 77

|-

| 1969 || 172 || 329 || 172 || 72

|-

| 1970 || 173 || 329 || 172 || 69

|-

| 1971 || 178 || 354 || 177 || 80

|-

| 1972 || 187 || 356 || 183 || 75

|-

| 1973 || 186 || 342 || 191 || 68

|-

| 1974 || 191 || 345 || 216 || 78

|-

| 1975 || 187 || 327 || 215 || 69

|-

| 1976 || 189 || 323 || 219 || 72

|-

| 1977 || 190 || 326 || 221 || 69

|-

| 1978 || 189 || 321 || 228 || 82

|-

| 1979 || 190 || 308 || 232 || 102

|}

; Notes:

* (a) Refers to married couple.

* (b) Refers to man plus dependent wife.

* (c) Refers to man plus wife on his insurance. After 1971 refers to recipients under 80 years old.

* (d) Includes family allowance and tax allowance combined for second child up to 1977, when these were unified into the child benefit.

===Percentage change in social security benefits, prices and earnings===

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Percentage change in social security benefits, prices, and earnings since previous updating (1974–1978):<ref name="ReferenceC"/>

|-

! Date !! Unemployment and sickness benefit (a) !! Retirement pension (b) !! Prices (c) !! Average earnings (d)

|-

| July 1974 || 17.0 || 29.0 || 13.5 || 12.9

|-

| April 1975 || 14.0 || 16.0 || 17.7 || 17.4

|-

| November 1975 || 13.3 || 14.7 || 11.7 || 10.7

|-

| November 1976 || 16.2 || 15.0 || 15.0 || 12.8

|-

| November 1977 || 14.0 || 14.4 || 13.0 || 9.6

|-

| November 1978 || 7.1 || 11.4 || 8.1 || 14.6

|-

| '''Total increase October 1973 – 1978''' || '''114.3''' || '''151.6''' || '''109.6''' || '''107.9'''

|}

* (a) Single person.

* (b) Single pensioner under age 80.

* (c) General index of retail prices.

* (d) Average gross weekly earnings of full-time adult male manual workers. For November 1978, October 1977 to October 1978 increase used.

===Unemployment and sickness benefits as a percentage of income===

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Unemployment or sickness benefits as percentage of net income (a) at average earnings (b):<ref name="ReferenceC"/>

|-

! rowspan="2" | Year

! colspan="2" | Single person

! colspan="2" | Married couple

! colspan="2" | Married couple with two children

|-

! Excl. ERS !! Inc. ERS (c) !! Excl. ERS !! Inc. ERS (c) !! Excl. ERS !! Inc. ERS (c)

|-

| 1965

| 27.0

| 27.0

| 41.2

| 41.2

| 49.3

| 49.3

|-

| 1970

| 25.0

| 53.3

| 38.4

| 65.2

| 48.3

| 72.7

|-

| 1973

| 24.8

| 48.4

| 38.7

| 61.5

| 49.5

| 70.6

|-

| 1974

| 25.6

| 48.6

| 39.5

| 61.6

| 50.2

| 70.3

|-

| 1975

| 24.5

| 45.9

| 38.0

| 58.4

| 48.3

| 67.0

|-

| 1976

| 24.9

| 46.7

| 38.3

| 59.1

| 48.4

| 67.3

|-

| 1977

| 25.8

| 47.9

| 39.1

| 59.9

| 49.7

| 68.8

|-

| 1978

| 25.4

| 45.1

| 38.8

| 57.4

| 49.6

| 66.9

|}

* (a) After allowing for income tax and national insurance contributions.

* (b) Average earnings of adult male manual workers.

* (c) Earnings Related Supplement calculated using average earnings in October of the relevant tax year.

===The real value of social security benefits, 1948–75===

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Value of social security benefits in £1981 s

|-

! Date !! Unemployment benefit<ref name=rodneylowe>The Welfare State in Britain since 1945 by Rodney Lowe</ref> !! Retirement pension<ref name=rodneylowe/> !! Supplementary benefit<ref name=rodneylowe/>!! Child support: one child<ref name=rodneylowe/>!! Child support: three children<ref name=rodneylowe/>

|-

| 1948, July || 19.64 || 19.64 || 17.93 || 4.87 || 17.60

|-

| 1961, April || 26.88 || 26.88 || 25.31 || 4.36 || 16.62

|-

| 1971, September || 34.96 || 34.96 || 33.39 || 4.27 || 15.36

|-

| 1975, November || 36.47 || 42.96 || 35.10 || 3.67 || 13.81

|}

==See also==

* [[English Poor Laws]]

* [[History of labour law in the United Kingdom]]

* [[Timeline of pensions in the United Kingdom]]

* Alcock, Pete, et al. ''The Student's Companion to Social Policy'' (5th ed. 2016) [https://archive.org/details/the-students-companion-to-social-policy-5th-edition-etc.-z-library-2 online]

* Briggs, Asa. "The Welfare State in Historical Perspective. " ''European Journal of Sociology'' 2#2 (1961) pp.&nbsp;221–258. [https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003975600000412 online]

* Brodie, Douglas. ''A history of British labour law: 1867-1945'' (Hart Publishing, 2003) [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6pgMo-Vwj6QC&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=Labour+Law+British&ots=AbrjK3ZCdX&sig=lNqsLN1JHtQgNtoQWlyATJ7Gp2s online].

* Collinge, Peter, and Louise Falcini, eds. ''Providing for the Poor: The Old Poor Law, 1750–1834'' (2022) [https://archive.org/details/oapen-20.500.12657-86295 online]

* Crowther, M. A. ''The Workhouse System 1834–1929: The history of an English social institution'' (1983).

* Emy, Hugh Vincent. ''Liberals, Radicals and Social Politics 1892–1914'' (Cambridge UP, 1973) [https://archive.org/details/liberalsradicals0000emyh online].

* Englander, David. ''Poverty and Poor Law Reform in Nineteenth-Century Britain, 1834–1914: From Chadwick to Booth'' (Routledge, 2015).

* Gilbert, Bentley B. "Winston Churchill versus the Webbs: The origins of British unemployment insurance." ''American Historical Review'' 71.3 (1966): 846–862. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1846025 online]

* Glennerster, Howard, and John Hills, eds. ''The State of Welfare: The economics of social spending'' (2nd ed, Oxford UP, 1998) [https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/51406/1/plugin-CASEbrief5.pdf summary]

* Halévy, Elie. ''History of the English People: The Rule of Democracy, 1905–1914'' (1934), [https://archive.org/details/halevyshistoryof0006unse/page/n8/mode/1up online]; highly detailed political history.

* Harris, Jose.『Political thought and the welfare state 1870–1940: an intellectual framework for British social policy.』''Past & Present'' 135.1 (1992): 116–141. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/650972 online]

* Harris, Jose. ''Unemployment and Politics: A Study in English Social Policy, 1886–1914'' (1972)

* Hellwig, Timothy T. "The origins of unemployment insurance in Britain: A cross-class alliance approach." ''Social Science History'' 29.1 (2005): 107–136. [https://scholar.archive.org/work/gywmabrjizhwxo5e37oytrob6q/access/wayback/http://www.polsci.uh.edu/hellwig/papers/hellwigssh.pdf online]

* Henriques, Ursula R. Q. ''Before the welfare state: social administration in early industrial Britain'' (Longman, 1979).

* Hill, Michael J. ''The welfare state in Britain: a political history since 1945'' (1993) [https://archive.org/details/welfarestateinbr0000hill online]

* Hills, John, ed. '' "The State Of Welfare: The Welfare State in Britain since 1974'' (1992)

* Hudson, John, et al.『Exploring public attitudes to welfare over the Longue Durée: Re‐examination of survey evidence from Beveridge, Beatlemania, Blair and beyond.』''Social Policy & Administration'' 50.6 (2016): 691–711. [https://pure.york.ac.uk/portal/files/50771975/Hudson_and_Lunt_et_al_2016a.pdf online]

* Jones, Margaret, and Rodney Lowe, eds. ''From Beveridge to Blair: the first fifty years of Britain's welfare state 1948–98'' (Manchester UP, 2002). [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=V367G5U0Cp4C&oi=fnd&pg=PP11&dq=+Margaret+Jones+welfare&ots=IU61aBNEFg&sig=09f_umGaGNzP1AgDN5rzjGUCx2w online]

* Katselidis, Ioannis A.『Unemployment and Labour Market Policy in British Economic Thought during the Late Victorian and Edwardian Era (1885–1914).』''History of economic ideas'' 24#1 (2016): 57–82.

* Lansley, Stewart. ''The Richer, The Poorer: How Britain Enriched the Few and Failed the Poor. A 200-Year History'' (Policy Press, 2021).

* Lowe, Rodney. "The Second World War, consensus, and the foundation of the welfare state." ''Twentieth Century British History'' 1.2 (1990): 152–182.

* Martin, Mary Clare.『Church, school and locality: revisiting the historiography of 'state' and 'religious' educational infrastructures in England and Wales, 1780–1870.』''Paedagogica Historica'' 49.1 (2013): 70–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2012.744070

* Marshall, Dorothy. ''The English Poor In The Eighteenth Century'' (1926)[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.227159/page/n3/mode/1up online]

* Matsunaga, Tomoari. "The Origins of Unemployment Insurance in Edwardian Britain." ''Journal of Policy History'' 29.4 (2017): 614–639.

* Melling, Joseph. "Welfare capitalism and the origins of welfare states: British industry, workplace welfare and social reform, c. 1870–1914", ''Social History'' (1992), 17:3, pp.&nbsp;453–478, [http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03071029208567850 online]

* Mitchison, Rosalind. ''The Old Poor Law in Scotland: The Experience of Poverty, 1574–1845'' (Edinburgh UP, 2022)

* Morgan, Kenneth O. ''Labour in power, 1945–1951'' (1984) [https://archive.org/details/labourinpower1940000morg_d0k1 online]. esp. pp.&nbsp;142–187.

* Rose, MichaelE. ''The reliefofpoverty, 1834–1914'' (1986) [https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-349-08990-1 online]

* Seaman, L.C.B. ''Post-Victorian Britain, 1902-1961'' (1966), textbook with emphasis on welfare state [https://books.google.fm/books?id=0e2IAgAAQBAJ&printsec=copyright#v=onepage&q&f=false online]

* Sires, Ronald V. "The beginnings of British legislation for old-age pensions." ''Journal of Economic History'' 14.3 (1954): 229–253. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2114889 online]

* Sullivan, Michael. ''The development of the British welfare state'' (1996).

* Thane, Pat.『The working class and state 'welfare' in Britain, 1880–1914.』''The Historical Journal'' 27.4 (1984): 877–900. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2639031 online]

* Thane, Pat. "The making of national insurance, 1911." ''Journal of Poverty and Social Justice'' 19.3 (2011): 211–219 [https://doi.org/10.1332/096278911X582651 abstract]

* Timmins, Nicholas. ''The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State'' (3rd ed. 2017) a major history.

* Webb, Sidney, and Beatrice Webb. ''English Poor Law History Part II The Last Hundred Years'' (1922) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.126287/page/n3/mode/1up online]

* Whiteside, Noel. "The Beveridge Report and Its Implementation: a Revolutionary Project?" ''Histoire@Politique'' 2014#3 (n° 24), pp.&nbsp;24–37. {{DOI|10.3917/hp.024.0024}}

===Historiography===

* Laybourn, Keith.『Social Welfare: Public and Private, 1900–1939.』in ''A Companion to Early Twentieth‐Century Britain'' ed. by Chris Wrigley, (2003) pp: 373–387.

* Schneer, Jonathan. "British Labour and the Mandate of 1945." ''International Labor and Working-Class History'' 28 (1985): 56–68. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27671599 online]

* Bunbury, Henry N. ''Lloyd George's Ambulance Wagon'' (1957), memoir on planning National Health Insurance, 1911–1912. [https://archive.org/details/lloydgeorgesambu0000henr/page/n6/mode/1up online]

* Jones, Margaret, and Rodney Lowe, eds. ''From Beveridge to Blair: The First Fifty Years of Britain's Welfare State 1948–98'' (Manchester UP, 2002.

* ''The Liberal year book: 1906'' (1906); [https://archive.org/details/liberalyearbook01britgoog/page/n5/mode/1up online]

* ''The Liberal year book: 1907'' (1907); [https://archive.org/details/liberalyearbook00assogoog online]

* ''The Liberal Year Book: 1908'' (1908); [https://archive.org/details/liberalyearbook01unkngoog online]

[[Category:Pensions in the United Kingdom]]