Liberal Reforms 1906-1914Reforms to help the sick

National Insurance Act (Part 1) 1911

The successes of this were:

• this provided compulsory health insurance for workers earning under £160 per year
• a worker paid 4 pence, the employer paid 3 pence and the state paid 2 pence - to build up funds to cover sickness benefit
• if ill, male workers were paid 10 shillings and female workers 7 shillings and 6 pence per week for up to 26 weeks

The limitations of this were:

• after 25 weeks absence from work, benefits were stopped
• no provision was made for the worker's family
• many objected to the compulsory payments they had to make