anlyse the changing attitudes

Analyse the changing attitudes to poverty in Britain from the poor law to the Beveridge Report. Make sure that you explain how the underlying assumptions were translated into legislation.

The Victorian attitude towards poverty was largely one of apathy, the true extent of poverty as revealed by writers such as Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree was a great shock and forced people to challenge the view that poverty was merely the result of individual failure and should be of no great concern.

The Victorian people held the view that there were two forms of poverty; the deserving poor, who were given help in the form of charity and the undeserving poor who were publicly humiliated and often sent to “houses of correction” (colloquially known as workhouses). The poor law, established in 1834, had served only to stigmatise and humiliate the poor who came to be treated with great disdain (almost as though they were criminals). The government, in the hope that the harsh realities of the poor law would act as a form of deterrence, adopted a policy of laissez-f

In 1911, as a result of continuing concern for national efficiency and a genuine “New Liberal” desire for the reduction of poverty, the National Insurance Act (modelled on the German scheme) was introduced. Part 1 of the act provided a system of unemployment compensation (albeit limited to certain industries) whilst part 2 set up a system of national insurance to provide medical care, maternity benefits and sick pay. This act was a contributory scheme and, despite receiving much criticism from trade unionists for making deductions from already low wages; the government carried the bill easily.

The Royal Commission on the poor law (set up by Balfour in 1905) reported in 1909 that the old structure of 1834 had outlived its usefulness and recommended that the functions of the poor law authorities be transferred to organs of local government. Such reform however was prevented until 1929.

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