Social Impact of WWII in BritainThe Beveridge Report
During World War Two the government became involved in people’s lives. The Beveridge Report identified five major social problems which had to be tackled.
William Beveridge was a social policy expert who had worked with the Liberal Government at the start of the 1900s, helping to develop their social policies and reforms.
During the war, Beveridge was appointed head of a committee charged with investigating social security in Britain.
The Five Giants
The committee, led by Beveridge, identified five major problems which prevented people from bettering themselves:
want (caused by poverty)
ignorance (caused by a lack of education)
squalor (caused by poor housing)
idleness (caused by a lack of jobs, or the ability to gain employment)
disease (caused by inadequate health care provision)
The Report
The Committee’s Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in December 1942. It became known as the Beveridge Report.
The recommendations were for a system that would be:
comprehensive – cover all problems relating to poverty, from birth to death
universal – available to all
contributory – paid into from wages
non-means tested – available to all, even if unable to pay
compulsory – all workers were to contribute
The challenge of addressing the ‘Five Giants’ led to the establishment of the Welfare State under the Labour Government
