Welfare state in the United Kingdom
![](../I/m/UKExpenditure.svg.png)
The welfare state of the United Kingdom comprises expenditures by the government of the United Kingdom intended to improve health, education, employment and social security. The British system has been classified as a liberal welfare state system.[1][2]
History
In 1984 historian Derek Fraser told the British story in a nutshell. The welfare state, he said:[3]
- germinated in the social thought of late Victorian liberalism, reached its infancy in the collectivism of the pre-and post-Great War statism, matured in the universalism of the 1940s and flowered in full bloom in the consensus and affluence of the 1950s and 1960s. By the 1970s it was in decline, like the faded rose of autumn. Both UK and US governments are pursuing in the 1980s monetarist policies inimical to welfare.
The welfare state in the modern sense was anticipated by the Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws 1832 which found that the old poor law (a part of the English Poor laws) was subject to widespread abuse and promoted squalor, idleness and criminality in its recipients, compared to those who received private charity. Accordingly, the qualifications for receiving aid were tightened up, forcing many recipients to either turn to private charity or accept employment.
Opinions began to be changed late in the century by reports drawn up by men such as Seebohm Rowntree and Charles Booth into the levels of poverty in Britain. These reports indicated that in the massive industrial cities, between one-quarter and one-third of the population were living below the poverty line.
Liberal reforms
After the 1906 general election, the Labour Party became a serious competitor to the Liberal Party. The resulting Liberal welfare reforms laid the foundations of the modern welfare state.[4] The reforms were greatly extended over the next forty years.[4] Governments which had seen the wave of communist revolts after the First World War were keen to ensure that deeper reforms reduced the risk of mass social unrest. In addition, modern, complex industry had more need for a healthy and educated workforce than older industries had. The experience of almost total state control during the Second World War had inured the population to the idea that the state might be able to solve problems in wide areas of national life.[5] Finally, it seems likely that the social mixing involved in mass evacuation of children, and of service in the armed forces, had increased support for welfare among the middle classes. The Liberal government of 1906-1914 implemented welfare policies concerning three main groups in society: the old, the young and working people.[4]
- The young
- In 1906 local authorities were allowed to provide free school meals.[6]
- The Children and Young Persons Act 1908 introduced a set of regulations that became known as the Children's Charter. This imposed severe punishments for neglecting or treating children cruelly. It was made illegal to sell cigarettes to children or send them out begging. Separate juvenile courts were set up, which sent children convicted of a crime to borstals (a forerunner to modern youth detention centres), instead of prison.[7]
- The old
- In 1908 pensions were introduced for the over 70s.[8]
- Working people
- In 1909 Labour Exchanges were set up to help unemployed people find work.[9]
- The National Insurance Act 1911 was passed, ensuring free medical treatment, and sick pay of 10 shillings a week for 26 weeks.[4] An estimated 13 million workers came to be compulsorily covered under this scheme.[10]
Beveridge Report and Labour
The aftermath of the First World War boosted demands for social reform, and led to a permanent increase in the role of the state in British society. The end of the war also brought a slump, particularly in northern industrial towns, that deepened into the Great Depression by the 1930s.[5]
During the war, the government became much more involved in people's lives via governmental organisation of the rationing of foodstuffs, clothing and fuel and extra milk and meals being given to expectant mothers and children.[5] The wartime coalition government also committed itself to full employment through Keynesian policies, free universal secondary education, and the introduction of family allowances.[11] Many people welcomed this government intervention and wanted it to go further.[5]
The Beveridge Report of 1942, (which identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease) essentially recommended a national, compulsory, flat rate insurance scheme which would combine health care, unemployment and retirement benefits. Beveridge himself was careful to emphasize that unemployment benefits should be held to a subsistence level, and after six months would be conditional on work or training, so as not to encourage abuse of the system.[12] That was however predicated on the concept of the "maintenance of employment" which meant ‘it should be possible to make unemployment of any individual for more than 26 weeks continuously a rare thing in normal times’ [12] and recognised that the imposition of a training condition would be impractical if the unemployed were numbered by the million.[12] After its victory in the 1945 general election, the Labour Party pledged to eradicate the Giant Evils, and undertook policy measures to provide for the people of the United Kingdom "from the cradle to the grave."
Included among the laws passed were the National Assistance Act 1948, National Insurance Act 1946, and National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act 1946.
Impact
This policy resulted in increased expenditure and a widening of what was considered to be the state's responsibility. In addition to the central services of education, health, unemployment and sickness allowances, the welfare state also included the idea of increasing redistributive taxation, increasing regulation of industry, food, and housing (better safety regulations, weights and measures controls, etc.)
The foundation of the National Health Service (NHS) did not involve building new hospitals but nationalisation of existing municipal provision and charitable foundations. The aim was not to substantially increase provision but to standardise care across the country; indeed Beveridge believed that the overall cost of medical care would decrease, as people became healthier and so needed less treatment.
However, instead of falling, the cost of the NHS has risen by 4% annually on average due to an ageing population,[13] leading to a reduction in provision. Charges for dentures, and spectacles were introduced in 1951 by the Labour government that had founded the NHS three years earlier and prescription charges by the Conservative Government in 1952.[14] In 1988, free eye tests for all were stopped, although they are now free for the over-60s.[15]
Policies differ in different countries of the United Kingdom, but the provision of a welfare state is still a basic principle of government policy in the United Kingdom today. The principle of health care "free at the point of use" became a central idea of the welfare state, which later Conservative governments, although critical of some aspects of the Welfare State, did not reverse.
Expenditure
In the financial year 2014/15, state pensions were overwhelmingly the largest governmental welfare expense, costing £86.5 billion, followed by housing benefit, which accounted for over £20 billion.[16] Expenditure in 2011-12 on benefits included £5.1 billion paid to unemployed people and £41 billion to people on low incomes:[17][18]
UK Government welfare expenditure 2011–12 (percent)
Benefit | Expenditure (£bn) |
---|---|
State pension | 86.5 |
Tax credits (Working tax credits and Child tax credits) | 29.7 |
Housing Benefit | 23.5 |
Disability Living Allowance | 15.4 |
Incapacity benefits | 14.1 |
Child benefit | 11.6 |
Pension Credit | 6.6 |
Attendance Allowance | 5.4 |
Jobseeker's allowance | 3.1 |
Income Support | 2.6 |
Maternity and paternity pay | 2.4 |
Carer's allowance | 2.3 |
Winter fuel payments | 2.1 |
War pensions | 0.8 |
Universal credit | 0.1 |
Other | 5.9 |
TOTAL | 213.9 |
Criticisms
Critics of the welfare state claim that, in addition to the vast expense, by relieving citizens of personal responsibility for their own welfare the government has inadvertently promoted irresponsible and immature attitudes, with the result that squalor, ignorance, and idleness are common.[19][20] In 1980, T. E. Utley, wrote that the welfare state was "an arrangement under which we all largely cease to be responsible for our own behaviour and in return become responsible for everyone else's. The temptations which this way of doing things offers to synthetic anger, fraudulent penitence, all other forms of hypocrisy and the sheer evasion of duty are infinitely too strong for fallen man".[21]
In the early 21st century, the Government of David Cameron has argued for a reduction of welfare spending in the United Kingdom as part of their programme of austerity.[22] Government ministers have argued that a growing culture of welfare dependency is perpetuating welfare spending, and claim that a cultural change is required to reduce the welfare bill.[23] Public opinion in the UK appears to support a reduction in welfare spending, however commentators have suggested that negative public perceptions are founded on exaggerated assumptions about the proportion of spending on unemployment benefit and the level of benefit fraud.[24][25]
Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show that benefit fraud is thought to have cost taxpayers £1.2 billion during 2012-13, up 9 per cent on the year before.[26] This is lower than the £1.5bn of benefit underpayment due to error.[27]
There are also widespread complaints from church groups and others that the UK welfare state does insufficient work to prevent hunger.[28]
Historical statistics on welfare trends
Benefit rates as a percentage of industrial earnings
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
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
Date of increase | Real take home pay for average worker (a) | Real value of single pension (b) | Real value of unemployment benefit (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
Government | Sickness/unemployment benefit a | a plus earnings related supplement | Retirement pensions c | Supplementary allowance/benefits d | Family allowance/child benefit e | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour (1951) | 25.7 | 25.7 | 30.4 | 30.4 | 8.0 | |
Conservative (1963) | 33.8 | 33.8 | 33.0 | 31.6 | 5.3 | |
Labour (1969) | 32.4 | 52.3 | 32.4 | 31.4 | 3.8 | |
Conservative (1973) | 29.1 | 46.2 | 30.5 | 28.5 | 3.0 | |
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 1963-69
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
Year | End of year (a) | |
---|---|---|
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 |
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 |
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
Year | Pensioners | 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
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
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
Year | Single person | Married couple | 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 | ||
1973 | 24.8 | 48.4 | 38.7 | 61.5 | ||
1974 | 25.6 | 48.6 | 39.5 | 61.6 | ||
1975 | 24.5 | 45.9 | 38.0 | 58.4 | ||
1976 | 24.9 | 46.7 | 38.3 | 59.1 | ||
1977 | 25.8 | 47.9 | 39.1 | 59.9 | ||
1978 | 25.4 | 45.1 | 38.8 | 57.4 | 49.6 | 66.9 |
Married couple with two children | ||||||
1970 | 48.3 | 72.7 | ||||
1973 | 49.5 | 70.6 | ||||
1974 | 50.2 | 70.3 | ||||
1975 | 48.3 | 67.0 | ||||
1976 | 48.4 | 67.3 | ||||
1977 | 49.7 | 68.8 |
- (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 (£s, 1981 prices)
Unemployment benefit[33]
July 1948: 19.64
April 1961: 26.88
September 1971: 34.96
November 1975: 36.47
Retirement pension[33]
July 1948: 19.64
April 1961: 26.88
September 1971: 34.96
November 1975: 42.96
Supplementary benefit[33]
July 1948: 17.93
April 1961: 25.31
September 1971: 33.39
November 1975: 35.10
Child support: one child[33]
July 1948: 4.87
April 1961: 4.36
September 1971: 4.27
November 1975: 3.67
Child support: three children[33]
July 1948: 17.60
April 1961: 16.62
September 1971: 15.36
November 1975: 13.81
See also
Housing:
References
- ↑ Gøsta Esping-Andersen (1998). The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press; Polity Press. ISBN 9780745607962. https://books.google.com/books/about/?id=zW2ungEACAAJ
- ↑ Ferragina, Emanuele, and Martin Seeleib-Kaiser. "Thematic Review: Welfare regime debate: past, present, futures?." Policy & Politics 39.4 (2011): 583-611. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/pap/2011/00000039/00000004/art00010
- ↑ Derek Fraser, The evolution of the British welfare state: a history of social policy since the Industrial Revolution (2nd ed. 1984) p 233.
- 1 2 3 4 "Britain 1905–1975: The Liberal reforms 1906–1914". GCSE Bitesize. BBC.
- 1 2 3 4 Steve Schifferes (26 July 2005). "Britain's long road to the welfare state". BBC News.
- ↑ "Why were school dinners brought in?". National Archives.
- ↑ "1908 Children's Act was created to protect the poorest children in society from abuse". Intriguing History. 12 January 2012.
- ↑ Gazeley, Ian (17 July 2003). Poverty in Britain 1900–1945. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0333716199.
- ↑ "Case Study: Working People" (PDF). National Archives. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- ↑ David Taylor (1988). Mastering Economic and Social History. Macmillan Education. ISBN 978-0-333-36804-6.
- ↑ Spicker, Paul. "Social policy in the UK". spicker.uk. http://www.spicker.uk/social-policy/uk.htm
- 1 2 3 "The Beveridge Report and the postwar reforms" (PDF). Policy Studies Institute. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ↑ "A history of NHS spending in the UK".
- ↑ "A brief history of health and care funding reform in England". Socialist Health Association. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
- ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmhealth/815/815-i.pdf
- 1 2 "Welfare spending p.132" (PDF). 4 December 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- ↑ "Benefits for unemployed people" (PDF). A Survey of the UK Benefit System. Institute for Fiscal Studies. November 2012. p. 16.
- ↑ "Benefits for people on low incomes" (PDF). A Survey of the UK Benefit System. Institute for Fiscal Studies. November 2012. p. 25.
- ↑ Bartholomew, James (2013). The Welfare State We're In (3 ed.). Biteback. p. 320. ISBN 978-1849544504.
- ↑ Dalrymple, Theodore (2007). Our Culture, What's Left of It: The Mandarins and the Masses. Ivan R. Dee. p. 360. ISBN 978-1-56663-721-3.
- ↑ Peter Oborne (June 30, 2011). "Britain would be a better place if families looked after their own". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
- ↑ "David Cameron: 'Don't complain about welfare cuts, go and find work'". 23 Jan 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ↑ "Conservative conference: Welfare needs 'cultural shift'". 8 October 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ↑ Grice, Andrew (4 January 2013). "Voters 'brainwashed by Tory welfare myths', shows new poll". The Independent. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ↑ "Support for benefit cuts dependent on ignorance, TUC-commissioned poll finds". TUC. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ↑ Dixon, Hayley (13 December 2013). "Majority of benefit cheats not prosecuted, official figures show". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/271654/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-2012-13_estimates-160114.pdf
- ↑ Church of England bishops demand action over hunger
- 1 2 3 Labour and inequality: sixteen fabian essays edited by Peter Townsend and Nicholas Bosanquet
- 1 2 The Labour Party in Crisis by Paul Whiteley
- ↑ Taxation, Wage Bargaining and Unemployment by Isabela Mares
- 1 2 3 Labour and Equality : A Fabian Study of Labour in Power, 1974-79 edited by Nick Bosanquet and Peter Townsend
- 1 2 3 4 5 The Welfare State in Britain since 1945 by Rodney Lowe
Bibliography
- Béland, Daniel, and Alex Waddan. "Conservatives, partisan dynamics and the politics of universality: reforming universal social programmes in the UK and Canada." Journal of Poverty and Social Justice 22#2 (2014): 83-97.
- Calder, Gideon, and Jeremy Gass. Changing Directions of the British Welfare State (University of Wales Press, 2012).
- Esping-Andersen, Gosta; The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press (1990).
- Ferragina, Emanuele and Seeleib-Kaiser, Martin. "Welfare Regime Debate: Past, Present, Futures?" Policy & Politics 39#4 pp. 583–611 (2011).http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/pap/2011/00000039/00000004/art00010.
- Fraser, Derek. The evolution of the British welfare state: a history of social policy since the Industrial Revolution (2nd ed. 1984).
- Gilbert, Bentley B. The Evolution Of National Insurance In Great Britain: The Origins of the Welfare State (1966).
- Harris, Bernard. The origins of the British welfare state: social welfare in England and Wales, 1800-1945 (Palgrave, 2004).
- Häusermann, Silja, Georg Picot, and Dominik Geering. "Review article: Rethinking party politics and the welfare state–Recent advances in the literature." British Journal of Political Science 43#
- Slater, Tom. "The myth of “Broken Britain”: welfare reform and the production of ignorance." Antipode 46.4 (2014): 948-969. online
- Welshman John. Underclass: A History of the Excluded, 1880–2000 (2006) excerpt
External links
- Text of the Beveridge Report
- The Welfare State – Never Ending Reform Brief history of the Welfare State by Frank Field (BBC website)