Labour Reforms - The Welfare State 1945-1951Reforms to address ignorance

Education Act 1944

The successes of this were:

• it was operating by 1947
• all local authorities had to provide primary, secondary and further education
• free education was available for all until the age of 15

The limitation of this was:

• many were concerned that academic education would be harmed by combining it with less academic subjects and children

Reforms to address idleness

The Labour government nationalised (brought under government control) industries in Britain in order to create and maintain job levels. This included industries such as:

• steel
• iron
• gas
• coal
• electricity
• railways

This helped to keep unemployment rates very low - unprofitable industries were provided with government money to keep them in business and to avoid job losses.