Why was the welfare state established?

Britain – The Welfare State, 1918-79

In this course, Dr Andrew Seaton (University College London) explores the creation of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. In the first lecture, we think about why the welfare state was established to begin with. In the second lecture, we think about how the Second World War, Attlee’s Labour government, and the post-war period of political consensus impacted the welfare state. In the third lecture, we think about changes to the welfare state from 1964-79. Next, we think about public health provisions from 1918-45. In the fifth lecture, we think about the impact of the formation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. In the sixth lecture, we think about some key challenges to medical advancement after 1945. In the seventh lecture, we think about education policy from 1918-43. In the eighth lecture, we think about the impact of the Education Act of 1944, known as the Butler Act. In the ninth and final lecture, we think about the social impact of the growth of university education prevalence from 1918-79.

Why was the welfare state established?

In this lecture, we think about why the welfare state was established, focusing in particular on: (i) the construction of Millbank Estate by the London City Council (LCC) from 1897-1902; (ii) the use of the term ‘welfare state’ in the 1940s; (iii) the introduction of many key changes to the welfare state under Bannerman and Asquith’s Liberal governments from 1906-14; (iv) the introduction of free school meals for children under the Liberal government in 1906; (v) the spotlight brought on the prevalence of malnourishment in Britain’s poorer people by the Second Boer War; (vi) the introduction of the Old Age Pensions Act of 1908, which provided a means-tested state pension for the first time; (vii) one motivation for the Liberals’ building of the welfare state being to ensure the people of Britain were fit and healthy enough to keep Britain competitive with its international rivals; (viii) another key Liberal motivation for building the welfare state being to outmanoeuvre the up and coming new Labour party; (ix) the growth of the welfare state during the interwar years, but not to the point of universality, which was highlighted by the economic crises of the period; (x) the Conservative Party being largely in power during the interwar years, which limited the pursuit of a universal welfare state; (xi) the introduction of the Widows’, Orphans’, and Old-Age Contributory Pensions Act of 1925, which lowered the state pension age to 65 and abolished the means test, but introduced a contributary element from workers; (xii) the increase in council house constructing during the interwar period; (xiii) the introduction of a means test for unemployment pay after twenty-six weeks of claiming it; (xiv) protests by working class people during the interwar period over the insufficiencies of the welfare state; (xv) the Jarrow March of 1936, which protested the insufficiency of the welfare state for working class people.