Liberal Reforms, 19061912

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Liberal Reforms, 1906-1912

• Why did the Liberal Government introduce the
  Welfare Reforms?

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General Election 1906

• In 1906 the Liberal Party won the General
  Election by a massive majority.
• In the lead up to the election the issue of
  poverty had been the 7th most mentioned problem
  in Liberal campaign speeches.
• However, some politicians placed it much higher
  on their list of priorities.
• Such promises are often made before an election
  to win votes but are rarely put into action.
• However, the Liberal government surprised many
  people by embarking on the most ambitious and
  extensive programme of welfare reforms ever
  introduced in Britain.

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Why did they introduce welfare reforms?

• 5 main reasons
• Political rivalry and the rise of Socialism
• Due to the Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884 almost
  half of the electorate came from the working
  class. The political parties had to attract
  support (voters) from the working class to
  succeed.
• The emergence of the Labour Party after 1900 gave
  the working class a party to represent their
  interests. Both the Liberals and the
  Conservatives had to compete with this new party.
• If the working classes were happier and
  healthier, there would be less support for
  socialist movements and undermine support for the
  new labour party.

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Why did they introduce welfare reforms?

• Social and economic changes
• The Industrial revolution had transformed
  Britain. The new industrial towns created many
  social problems such as poor working conditions,
  poor living conditions and public health
  problems.
• Governments had began to introduce laws to
  improve the effects of these changes e.g. Factory
  Acts, Public Health Acts, Education Acts.
• The Liberal Government took this idea further by
  introducing laws to improve the standard of
  living.

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(No Transcript)
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Why did they introduce welfare reforms?

• Key individuals Lloyd George and Churchill
• The Liberal Government had many outstanding
  ministers who were prepared to fight for better
  living conditions.
• For example Lloyd George, Chancellor of the
  Exchequer, who had been brought up by a poor
  family in Wales. Also, Winston Churchill felt
  strongly about these issues.

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David Lloyd George
A young Winston Churchill (1895)
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Why did they introduce welfare reforms?

• Self help Vs welfare state
• The Poor Law was failing. In some industrial
  areas unemployment was so high that the
  workhouses could not cope.
• The workhouses were so harsh that only the really
  desperate people would enter them.
• People began to realise that a better way to deal
  with poverty was needed self-help or laissez
  faire was no working.
• The Liberals realised it was not the fault of the
  poor if they were poor and that it was the role
  of the government to support the poor when they
  most needed it.

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Why did they introduce welfare reforms?

• Social Reformers Booth and Rowntree
• Towards the end of the 19th Century attitudes
  towards the poor began to change. Instead of
  blaming the poor for their own poverty, several
  writers studied to lives of the poor and
  demonstrated how poverty was caused.
• The most famous of these writers were Charles
  Booth who wrote Life and Labour of the People in
  London between 1886 and 1903, and Seebohm
  Rowntree, who wrote Poverty A Study of Town Life
  in 1901 about the city of York.
• They discovered that 1 a week was the minimum
  income to keep a family above the poverty line.
  Therefore 30 of the population were living
  below the poverty line.
• They also identified the causes of poverty as
  sickness, old age, unemployment, low wages and
  large families rather than laziness as had be
  thought before.

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Charles Booth
Seebohm Rowntree
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Why did they introduce welfare reforms?

• Boer War Need for healthy soldiers
• Half the volunteers for the Boer War in 1899-1902
  were unfit for service due to ill health.
• This was alarming for a government that may need
  to call up a strong army at short notice.

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Why did they introduce welfare reforms?

• Industrial Decline
• Britains position as the worlds leading
  industrial nation had been declining since 1870.
  By 1900 both Germany and the USA had overtaken
  Britain.
• Lloyd George believed Germanys success was
  linked closely to its healthier, better-educated
  and more efficient workforce.
• Britain needed a healthier workforce if it was
  compete.

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SUMMARY
Liberal Government
1906 General Election
Before 1906
Workhouses
Introduced Welfare Reforms
Political rivalry
Social and economic changes
Outdoor Relief
Key individuals
WHY?
Failures of self-help
Growing awareness due to social reformers
Need for healthy army
Industrial decline