Unit Title: The History and Development of the Welfare State

Unit Title: The History
and Development of
the Welfare State

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Key social policy and economic developments for development of welfare state since 1942 in
Britain..........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Welfare state is the state which is committed in providing the basic security in terms of
economics for the citizens. It can be done by protecting them from the risk of market which are
associated with unemployment, sickness, old age and accidents. It is a form of the government
where the state protects and promotes the social and economic well-being of its citizens which
are based on the principle of the equal opportunity, public responsibility and equitable
distribution of the wealth (Aspalter, 2017). This essay report shall deal with the key social
policies and economic developments in the development of the welfare state in Britain since
1942.
TASK 2
Key social policy and economic developments for development of welfare state since 1942 in
Britain.
Welfare state is the way of governing the citizens where the government is responsible
for individual and social welfare. The word welfare mainly refers to the range of governmental
programs which provide the financial or the other aids to the groups or individuals who cannot
support itself.
The modern welfare state in United Kingdom began its operations with Liberal Welfare
Reforms of the year 1906- 1914 under the Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. Under this,
many legislations were passed which included Old Age Pension Act, 1908, Labour Exchanges
Act, 1909 and many other. In 1920, minimum wage was introduced and also family allowance
was offered for the low income families in order to relieve poverty without distortion of the
labour market.
Then in December, 1942, a report was published which is commonly known as
Beveridge report under the chairmanship of Sir William Beveridge. The report proposed the
series of measures in order to aid those who are in need of the help or are in poverty. It stated the
recommendations to the government which were aimed to reform the system of social welfare
that it must find the ways of tackling the five giants which included want, ignorance, disease,
idleness and squalor (Bussemaker, 2019). The report urged the government to take necessary
steps in order to provide the citizens with the adequate income, education, healthcare,