The Liberal Reforms Made by the Liberal Government in Britain 1906-1914.

A study of poverty in 1901 by Seebohm Rowntree showed that in a society where those who didn't work didn't eat, there were three times in people's lives when they were especially vulnerable
1. Things they did for children
  1. 1906- local authorities were able to provide free childrens school meals. This meant that children that came from poor families would still have at least one meal a day and the parents wouldn't have to pay for it and use the little money that they had.
    1. A bad thing about this was that it wasn't compulsory- Some councils didn't offer it which meant that quite a lot of children still wouldn't get to have a free meal.
    2. A good thing about this was that by 1914, 150,000 children were getting atleast one meal a day. This was good because this was the aim of this particular reform and it showed that it was having a positive impact on the children.
  2. 1908- The Childrens Charter was introduced by The Children and Young persons act. This made it so that people that treated children badly would be sevearly punished. It also made it illegal to sell cigarettes to children and to send them out begging. This meant that children would act more like children and wouldn't have to be so grown up at a young age.
2. Things they did for the old and unwell people
  1. 1908 Pensions were introduced. This meant that people that were too old to work would still have enough money to pay for food and a home so that they could live a good life in their last years. Old people cried as they collected their money because they were so thankful to Lloyd George.
    1. A good thing about this was that it kept old people out of the workhouse- this meant that they would probably live longer and would be less likely to get sick because of their surroundings.
    2. A bad thing about this was that people that had never worked didnt get a pension, they would still have to suffer. If they were struggling to find a job and were poor because of that, then pensions were not helping them because they hadn't worked.
3. Things they did for the unemployed
  1. 1909- Labour exchanged were set up to help unemployed people find a job, this meant that they had more of a chance of living a good life and earning money so that they could look after themselves.
    1. The good thing about this was that by 1914, 1 million people were being employed because of the labour exchange. This meant that 1 million people were earning more money that they were before the labour exchange was set up. Even if they weren't earning a lot of money, they were still getting enough to feed themselves which is a lot more than what a lot of people had in the past.
    2. The bad thing about this was that most of the jobs were only part time or temporary, also the government did nothing to increase the amount of jobs at that time so it was still incredibly difficult for people to find work even with the labour exchange.
  2. 1911- National Insurance act was passed which allowed people to have free medical treatment. It also gave unemployed people money so that they could have enough money to feed themselves. This help people majorly because before, people were living in poverty and were fighting to get money and keep themselves and possibly the people around them alive and well.
    1. This was a good thing because it was a 'safety net' for people that were going through hard times.
    2. The bad thing about this was that extreamly poor people had to pay for this out of their own pocket. The money that they were given was not enough to look after a whole family, and only the worker in the family would get this money, children and wives would not get it. Sickness pay and dole pay only lasted a limited amount of time so would only help for a short while.
    3. The free medical treatment was a life saver for some people, that bad thing about it was that it was only avalible for people who worked- this meant that children and wives didn't get the free medical care.
After 1906, the liberal government brought in reforms to help these vunerable people with their lives so that they could stay healthy and live a decent life.
1. The 1909 Budget - to pay for the reforms, Lloyd George's 1909 budget raised prices of tobacco and spirits, raised income tax by 16 per cent and also introduced a 20 per cent tax on profits from selling land.
2. The House of Lords wouldn't pass Lloyd George's Budget, so the house of commons passed a bill that said that the house of lords could not reject a bill if it has been passed 3 times in the house of commons. This made it impossible for Lloyd Georges Budget to not be passed,
3. Lloyd George became loved and Old people would cry when they would collect the pensions, thanking Lloyd George for the reforms.
Why were the liberal reforms introduced? What brought it to the governments attention that poverty was becoming a big issue?
1. Seebohm Rowntree's study in York in 1901 Showed that 28 percent of the population of york were living in poverty at some point in their lives. This meant that they didn't have enough money for food at that point. They didn't have the minimum needed to live.
2. The Boer War made the army aware that two thirds of the men that volunteered to join were not fit enough. This was a big problem because Britain was at war and these men being unfit meant that there weren't as many people fighting as their could have been.

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The Liberal Reforms Made by the Liberal Government in Britain 1906-1914.

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