The impact of the Liberal
welfare reforms
Objectives
At the end of the
lesson you will be
able to:
■
describe how the
Liberal welfare
reforms affected
Britain
■
explain some of
the consequences
of the Liberal
welfare reform up
to 1914
The Liberal welfare reforms of 1905-14 were important in British
history. For the first time national government began directly helping
the poor, sick, unemployed and elderly.
Getting you thinking
Look at the cartoon. It shows David Lloyd George, who was the
chancellor of the exchequer. This was one of the most important jobs
in the government. He was responsible for many of the welfare
reforms passed by the Liberal government from 1905 to 1914. Many
people were unhappy with his decision to tax domestic servants.
Compare the two drawings of Lloyd George:
What does the cartoon show us about attitudes
towards the Old Age Pension Act?
The welfare reforms made many changes in
Britain.
Free school meals
Source 1 David Lloyd George cartoon from Daily
Mirror, 4 December 1912 by WK Hasleden
Source 2 From the City of Bradford Education
Committee Report in 1907 (From
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk)
70
Breakfast every day consisted of porridge with
milk and treacle, followed by bread and
margarine with milk to drink. At the first
breakfast 13 children refused to eat it. At the
second breakfast only two refused. From that
day on it was liked and enjoyed by all.
Many of the children came from the poorest
part of Bradford. Every effort was made to
make the meals educational. There were
tablecloths and flowers on the table. Some
children were monitors. Their job was to lay
the tables and serve the other children. From
the very start there was little to complain
about. The children responded very well to
orderly and decent surroundings.
But at the end of the week the tablecloths
were very dirty. This was because there was no
water at the school for the children to clean
their hands.