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The Break-up of the Poor Law in Britain 1907–47: An Historical Footnote
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2014
Extract
It is too often assumed that the social legislation which has been hammered out in the British Parliament of the last two years is the product of some purely socialistic blue-print. In reality it is the culmination of a process dating back to the first decade of the twentieth century, which has been carried out by Liberal, then Conservative and now Socialist governments over the whole period from 1907 to 1947. Although there are differences of opinion on the timing of this process, and on many administrative and legislative details, the broad pattern of development has almost common acceptance. In its essence this pattern is simple. It is no less than the replacement of the Elizabethan Poor Law, with its emphasis on the relief of poverty, by a more modern structure of social legislation intended to ensure the freedom of the individual from the major evils of a modern industrial society. These evils have been aptly summarized by Sir William (now Lord) Beveridge: “physical Want, … Disease which often causes that Want and brings many other troubles in its train, … Ignorance which no democracy can afford among its citizens, … Squalor which arises mainly through the haphazard distribution of industry and population, and Idleness which destroys wealth and corrupts men, whether they are well fed or not, when they are idle.”
The accompanying table sets out the steps in this process of social change in the chronological sequence of the legislative measures by which it has been achieved. In order to prevent the confusion of over-elaborate detail, this tabulation gives only the major changes as they occurred. To have included, for example, the complete tally of unemployment insurance acts from 1911 to 1944 would have been unprofitable and would have obscured the issue.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science/Revue canadienne de economiques et science politique , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , May 1948 , pp. 209 - 219
- Copyright
- Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 1948
References
1 Beveridge, Lord, Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services (New York, 1942), S. 456.Google Scholar
2 Over thirty acts of this kind are listed in Clarke, J. J., Social Administration (London, 1946) between 1919 and 1944Google Scholar; in addition there are literally hundreds of orders and regulations.
3 S., and Webb, B., The Break-Up of the Poor Law (London, 1909).Google Scholar
4 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health for 1946 (London, 1947).Google Scholar
5 See Section 15 of the Poor Law Act, 1930.
6 Report of the Care of Children Committee (London, 1946).Google Scholar
7 The counties and county boroughs.
8 Lord Beveridge, Social Insurance and Allied Services.
9 London, 1943.
10 London, 1944.
11 London, 1944.
12 The Nuffield Foundation, Old People (London, 1947), p. 95.Google Scholar
13 Report of the Care of Children Committee.
14 The Children's Bill was introduced into, the British House of Commons on January 17, 1948.
15 With the exception of the national assistance scheme which will be administered by the Assistance Board.
16 Viz: Regional Hospital Boards, Local Executive Councils, a Central Health Services Council, etc.
17 Fabian Tract no. 188, 1919.
18 The Poor Law, of course, has for long given grudging recognition to the needs of an applicant's family.
19 The latest figures show that 94.3 per cent of all school children now get free milk in school and about 50 per cent now get school dinners.
20 Britain is the only country in the world with a statutory definition of overcrowding. See the Housing Act, 1935.
21 Professor SirBarker, Ernest, The Development of the Public Services in Western Europe 1660-1930 (London, 1944).Google Scholar