There are many reasons for liberal reforms. In the 19th century, many people in Britain lived in poverty due to old age, sickness, unemployment and low wages, yet the governments attitudes were laissez-faire and there was almost no help for the poor. However, in 1906 the liberals won a landslide victory in the general election and soon passed reforms to help groups such as the young and the old for a variety in the general election and soon passed reforms to help the groups such as the young and the old for a variety of reasons.
The rise of labour was an important reason why the liberals introduced social welfare reforms, but so were other factors like social surveys, fears of national security, new liberalism, and municipal socialism.
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Rise of labour party.
The rise of the Labour Party was a fairly important reason why the Liberals introduced social welfare reforms, 1906-14. In 1893 , the new labour party was formed, led by Keir Hardie and by 1906 they were competing for the same vote as the liberals. Many more working class men had the vote by this time and labour were gaining their support with promises of pensions and unemployment benefits. This led to the Liberal Reforms because they were worried about losing votes so tried to keep the working class votes by offering them reforms.
In 1903, the liberals made a secret pact with the labour party to let them run unopposed in areas with high working class votes to keep out the conservatives and they won 29 seats. This led to the liberal reforms because they realised labour were becoming more popular so if they did not make improvements to help the poor, they would lose votes and socialism could destroy their capitalist system.
This led to the Liberal Reforms because they realised labour were becoming more popular so if they did not make improvements to help the poor, they would lose votes and socialism could destroy their capitalist system. However, this was less important because the labour party was still very small at this point in 1906 so they did not pose a significant threat to liberal power.
Fears over national security!
Fears over National Security were the most important reason why the Liberals introduced social welfare reforms, 1906-14. Britain became involved in the Boer war in 1899 to 1902 and during recruitment around ⅓ of men failed the medical inspection due to poor health, mainly men from working class backgrounds in the cities.
This led to the Liberal Reforms because it led to a concern that Britain wouldn’t wouldn’t be able to defend itself in a future war suggesting that the government had to do something to improve the health of the nation, so they had fit an effective fighting force. The government then decided to investigate further, so in 1904 they carried out a report which stated that free school meals and medical inspections should be introduced to improve health of British people.
This led to the Liberal Reforms because the war ended in 1902 and changes were not made until 1906, suggesting if concerns over health of the nation had been such a concern, then reforms would have been much earlier.
Surveys! Both Booth and Rowntree!
The surveys of booth and rowntree were a very important reason the liberals introduced social welfare reforms. Charles booth conducted a survey that found 30% of people in east london were living in poverty due to old age, sickness, unemployment and low wages. Seebohm Rowntree’s study of work found similar levels with 28% living in poverty.
This led to the Liberal Reforms because it showed that this level of poverty was a national issue and provided the government with statistical evidence that it was a problem they couldn’t ignore and they needed to do something to help. Rowntree defined ‘primary poverty’ where peoples income fell below the poverty line so they couldn’t afford the basics, and ‘secondary poverty’ where their spending resulted in them being in poverty.
This led to the Liberal Reforms because it led to them understanding that the ‘deserving poor’, no matter how hard they worked they could not lift themselves out poverty so they needed government help. However, this was less important because secondary poverty reinforced the idea that poverty was their fault, and that they should therefore help themselves, not the government.
New liberalism!
New liberalism was a partly important reason the liberals introduced social welfare reforms. New liberals began to emerge who argued that state intervention was necessary and that it was their responsibility to help the poor as it wasn’t their fault.
This led to the Liberal Reforms because it showed that attitudes towards the poor was changing and that more politicians were ready to do something about poverty as without their support no reforms would have been passed. Some of these included David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill who had positions in the government. This led to the Liberal Reforms because their positions gave the, the power to put ideas about helping the poor into action and to convince their fellow politicians.
However, this was less important because the ‘new’ liberals were usually outnumbered by ‘old’ laissez faire liberals so these ideas were so slowly spreading so arguably did not impact the 1906 reforms.
Municipal socialism!
Municipal socialism was the least important reason the liberals introduced social welfare reforms. By the end of 19th century , some liberal loca; authorities were using local taxes to pay for social welfare programmes and make improvements to local areas.
This led to the Liberal Reforms because it increased pressure for reforms as it showed the government that local reforms could be successful in helping the poor, so the national government should do the same. For example, in Birmingham the mayor introduced water works and gas works, improved the sewage system, and opened public parks and tried to clear slum housing.
This led to the Liberal Reforms because the success of these reforms set an example for further reforms and proved to liberals that people wanted change and that government help was appreciated. However, this was less important because dome argued that if local reforms were so successful in helping the poor then there would be less need for life national government to help.
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For more on Booth and Rowntree, click here!
