Beveridge: The Main Giant Social Problem

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11.11.11. History essay- The 5 Giants In his report, Beveridge had identified 'want' as the main giant social problem to overcome. As a result, the 1946 national insurance act was established which not only improved the old liberals act but allowed for sickness and unemployment benefits, retirement, widows pensions and maternity grants. All people in work were included in this insurance but what about those not in work?. The 1948 national assistance act helped people not in work or the elderly who had not paid substantial enough contributions into the new national insurance scheme. Similarly, the 1945 family allowance act paid a small amount of money to all mothers of two or more children. This allowance was paid to mothers, not fathers, to ensure the money was used to benefit the children. Significantly, the industrial injuries act of 1946 paid compensation for all injuries caused at work. It was paid by the government and covered all workers. By…show more content…
By 1946, unemployment was reduced to 2.5% and this was in spite of huge post war problems such as shortages of raw materials and massive war debts. One way in which the government kept almost full employment was through nationalisation where the government took control of certain industries such as iron and steel production. Under this managed economy the government could use tax to keep an industry afloat even if it faced economic difficulties. This is a controversial topic as it was unclear how significant nationalisation was in creating jobs. Above all the Marshall plan was created as an initiative to provide massive loans for post war reconstruction and both the unemployment benefit and the massive rebuilding programme helped relieve idleness. In tackling squalor the outcome was fairly successful given the problems during that period; there was a poor state of economy; 30% devaluation of the pound and the worst winter of the 20th
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