Term Papers on How Far Did The Policies Of The Labour Governments, 1945-51, Overcome The "

Term Paper Title	How Far Did The Policies Of The Labour Governments, 1945-51, Overcome The "
# of Words	1249
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	5

How far did the policies of the Labour governments, 1945-51, overcome the "five giants", which were identified in the Beveridge Report of 1942?

In 1942, the "Beveridge Report" found that too many people were living in poverty and that a Welfare State would be necessary in order to help them. The "Beveridge Report" was supported greatly by the Labour Party, and when they were elected in 1945 their aim was to overcome the "five giants" it identified: Want, Squalor, Idleness, Disease and Ignorance.

In 1946 the "National Insurance Act" passed, with the purpose of providing for those with low income or those not able to work. This meant people got maternity pay, unemployment benefit and widow's pension. The act increased pensions to ?25 a week for a single person and ?42 a week for couples. The sickness benefit also went up from ?18 to ?26 a week, and if women paid a contribution they could add this benefit to their maternity benefit. Contributions by employees and employers were made compulsory, so as to keep assisting those in need. In 1948 two additional acts were passed: The "National Assistance Act" which made it possible for someone to not contribute if they proved to be in serious need, and the "Industrial Injuries Act" that provided employees with compensation if they were injured at work due to the carelessness of an employer. The "National Insurance Act" also, very importantly, set a standard for poverty, which made it possible to determine who was actually poor. This made it easier to decide who should not have to contribute, and also find out the number of people who were living in poverty. Some people at the time felt that if those who worked were supporting those who did not, it would discourage people to work. Also since, the insurance scheme was so comprehensive it was thought that people who did not need benefits were claiming them anyway. This was however only speculation and there was no proof they actually happened. The Labour Party dealt with Want very well, and although they did not wipe out poverty completely, it was proved that there was a huge drop in the number of poor people.

The "Housing Acts", which were passed in 1948, aided many of the people left homeless after the war in finding new homes. One million new homes were built, of which, four out of five were state built. Not only were new homes built, but they were also built with better facilities and more space. Aneurin Bevan, who was in charge of rebuilding houses, insisted that the houses were well built because he did not just want to provide a quick, short term solution to the problem, but wanted houses that would still acceptable in the years to come. All houses required running water and the space allocated for each family increased form 750 to 900 square feet, with downstairs and upstairs toilets. Poorer areas had the necessary investment, as local authorities were able to use central money. This made the houses that were built far more equal, and did not discriminate against poorer regions. Those who had extremely low incomes and were in desperate need of housing had housing costs paid through rent assistance. Although the houses being built were supposed to provide a long-term solution, short-term solutions were also essential. About 120,000 pre-fabricated houses were made available and homeless people squatted at many empty properties. This caused many problems as squatting was illegal, but in general in was tolerated in order to avoid dealing with yet another problem. Unfortunately the pre-fabricated houses were still used, as there were not enough houses. The provision of rent assistance did not prove effective as landlords abused the system by over-charging because there was no set amount in benefits. Even though the Labo...

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