How effectively did the Liberal government meet the needs of the British people

The Liberal establishment employ a number of revitalizes rough of which were abetful to the common and some of which were non. The Liberal social benefit reform economy was grouped into five main categories. The first off of these was the early days hatful, this included the tuition (Provision of Meals) strike 1906, the Education (Administrative Provisions) acquit 1907, and the Children tour 1908. The help group was the senile race there was but bingle reform in this group, however it was a very significant one, the Old age Pensions snatch 1908.The third group was the countries range hoi polloi, again this only included one reform, the discipline indemnification Act Part 1 1911. The twenty-five percent category was the nations subject areaers, this included the Workmens Compensation Act 1906, the Coal Mines Act 1908, the Trade Boards Act 1909, and the Shops Act 1911. The fifth and final category was the counties vast inert incidention, this included t he Labour Exchanges Act 1909 and the subject field insurance Act Part 11 1911.The reforms were not conventional all over night, they introduced the reforms over a relatively ample period of time. The Liberals introduced several reforms for childrens health, they initiated schooltime meals (one per day), medical checkup inspections, and the childrens charter. Since education became compulsory the teachers began to notice that rafts of children were coming to school hungry, dirty or ill. therefore in 1906 the organisation introduced legislation that compelled local government activity to provide free or subsidised school meals for all deplorable children.Most of the credit for this impertinent law is accredited to dickens reports which were published in the wake of the Boer War The Royal Commission on Physical Training in Scotland (1903) and the Report of the interdepartmental Committee on Physical Deterioration. The demonstration of these meals was not the be-all and end-all, by 1912 over half the local governing had still not set up a school meals service. This reform was central for two main reasons.Firstly because it was the first bill let onside from cultivation and into the image that welfare benefits could be granted to the poor without them having the debt or disabilities associated with the poor law. Secondly it was a step towards recognition that parents were not wholly responsible for their childrens beneathnourishment. Also that, with public support, needy children could be surface cared for at home and did not need to be put into public or voluntary care. The second Liberal reform for Young people was the introduction of school medical inspections under the Education (Administrative Provisions) Act of 1907.The Government did not want this Act to be implemented because they felt they could not afford to wrangle the chronic health problems which would inevitably be discovered. However, administrative pressure from Robert L. Morant, the permanent secretary of the Education Board, who was in rung influenced by Margaret Macmillan forced the government to matter action. This reform was particularly helpful because the Board of Education set up a medical department, and the grungy reports from doctors led to the introduction of school clinics from 1912. These clinics were very trustworthy at identifying defects and illnesses.On the different hand the personify of treatment was often too great for some families and their children rarely received treatment. The final reform introduced by the Liberal Party for Young people was the Childrens Act of 1908, which later became known as the childrens charter. This legislation made it illegal for parents to neglect their children. there were several extensions of this which dealt with specific circumstances such as-Children under 16 were forbidden to smoke or pledge and stiff penalties were brought in for shops which supplied them with alcohol of tobacco.Th is Act had no real significance as most of its fine points were contained in the parents morality or the two foregoing Acts, it only really served as a appraise up to the main Acts. The next main reform introduced by the Liberal party moved away from Young people and to the opposite end of the home with the Old Age Pensions Act of 1908. Basically the Liberals introduced a assert pension for all people over seventy who had plyed all their lives and could no longer work and they complied with the conditions- which were not too strict.This Act was the culmination of over 20 years of discussion of the topic of pauperization among the elderly and it came about for two main of reasons. The first and in many an(prenominal) peoples opinion the most central was the example of the monumental German state insurance policy and pension outline. The second was that leading figures such as Joseph Chamberlain and Charles Booth had taken up the cause. The government miscalculated how man y people would claim the pension. They had estimated 500,000 when actually 650,000 people apply and by 1914 this had increased to nearly a jillion.This fact show that the pensions were badly needed and wanted by Britains elderly community. Just how grateful people were for this pension is displayed by this quote When the Old Age Pensions began, life was transformed for such aged cottagers. They were alleviate of anxiety, and when they first went to the post office to draw it disunite of gratitude would flow down their faces. Therefore we can key that people really did want state help but were too proud to wear the badge of Pauperism. The next reform dealt with the countries sick people, this was the National Insurance Act Part 1. After Lloyd George had completed his inspection of the German social insurance scheme, he was left over(p) in no doubt that Britain needed a much more comprehensive system. He was presented with grand pressure from the opposition such as accessible societies and doctors, however he was determined to build the scheme and not be bullied into submission. As a topic of the opposition he had to modify his original scheme accordingly.It was basically an extension of the pension scheme and the concept was that the richer elements for the country should pay more so the poorer elements could contend with difficulties when old or sick. This budget was passed in 1910. This had the comparable effect as the pension scheme though on a smaller and less agreeable scale. The next category for the Liberal reforms was the Countries workers, the Liberal government passed four Laws which are stated in introduction, they sought-after(a) to improve working conditions, these included minimum wage, fewer hours, etc.These measures constituted a significant service for millions of workers, many of whom had no one to speak up for them. The fifth and final category was the fired. Up until the turn of the century unemployment was still seen partially as a moral problem of individual idleness and partly as a seasonal problem for received industries such as shipbuilding and construction. Few people were willing to accept that it may be out of the individual workers control as a issuing of the lack of wide ranged evidence.The Labour Exchanges Bill was passed in September 1909 as a result of two reports and a book advocating their establishment. The basic idea was that a Labour exchange would allow employer and employee to register their requirements at one central location and could therefore halt them met. They also had detailed information of job vacancies. By 1914 there were 430 exchanges throughout Britain and 3000 people were provide work through them every day so they were bewitching important in relieving Britains unemployment problem. The second of the reforms for the unemployed was Unemployment Insurance.This scheme was worked out be Llewellyn Smith, the permanent secretary for the Board of Trade, and it was essentiall y Part 11 of the National Insurance Act 1911. By 1915 2. 3 million workers were insured. Admittedly this was a small proportion of the tote up working population, however it was accepted as the ancestor of a much more comprehensive system. surrounded by 1906 and 1911 the Liberal Government introduced all of the above reforms, this splendid list of social reform measures adds up to a significant shift away from minimum government and Laissez Faire.Many Historians argue that the current welfare state finds its origins in the Liberal reforms. This view is justified when one considers that old age pensions, safeguards against unemployment and illness are the institution of the modern welfare state. Consequently many historians conceptualise that the Liberal reforms were extremely extra in cathode-ray oscilloscope and failed to deal adequately with the considerable welfare problems of housing and they did not attempt to set up a national health service.Moreover the reforms which were introduced were very limited Pensions too low health insurance did not cover employees family and unemployment insurance only utilise to seven trades. Obviously the effectiveness of the Liberal welfare reforms is debatable. By the standards of the time they were accepted as fundamental actions for social reform-some more so than others. On the other hand, looking back with our frame of reference (modern welfare Britain), the Liberal reforms appear to be severely inadequate. However, it is important to remember that both Lloyd George and Winston Churchill saw their reforms as only the first step.