Great Britain's Welfare State

Toward the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, Great Britain developed from being staunchly laissez faire to a full-fledged welfare state. While many factors contributed to this progression, one of the most notable is Britain’s involvement in international armed conflicts. During the country’s transformative period, Great Britain participated in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Each of these wars played a unique role in shaping Britain’s public policy, and when taken together, one may argue that they led to the zenith of Britain’s welfare state. In examining the evidence, however, other factors also contributed to Britain’s welfare state. These include minor outside influences by other

For the first time, World War I caused the government to impose social controls and rationing. As a result “members of the public came to expect government policies in areas of life never before influenced by the state” (Hill, 2003, p. 21). This demonstrates the direct influence of the First World War on citizens, which shows movement toward the welfare state status of Great Britain. Building upon this, Hay (1983, p. 17) summarizes some historians’ argument that because higher tax levels are imposed during war, “the tolerable level of taxation is higher [after the war] and governments can now embark on welfare and other projects”. Due to increased involvement and taxation during the war, World War I led to a direct increase policy spending and implementation in the post-war years. Lloyd George even said that the war presented “an opportunity for reconstruction of industrial and economic conditions of this country such as has never been presented in the life of, probably, the world” (Fraser, 2009, p. 211). Hence, the former prime minister recognized that the war facilitated the ability of the state to intervene in different areas of citizens’ lives. One of the most prominent movements toward the British welfare state because of the war was in the area of housing. As Lloyd George promised soldiers

According to Fraser (2009, p. 216), “from the end of 1920 to the summer of 1940 unemployment was never below 1 million and at times was over 3 million”. This stunningly high unemployment sparked various policy implementations that increased the state’s role in people’s lives. For example, Price (2008, p. 68) recounts the implementation of junior employment centers, instructional centers, and government training centers for skilled trades in 1925. Likewise, the government facilitated people transfers from depressed areas to more prosperous areas – over 62,000 between 1929 and 1930 – under the Empire Settlement Act (Price, 2008, p. 68). In addition, Great Britain instituted the 1934 Unemployment act in “two distinct parts, Part I on unemployment insurance and Part II on unemployment assistance” (Fraser, 2009, p. 231). Therefore, unemployment required elevated levels of state intervention that had not been observed prior. Lastly, the Local Government Act of 1929 also replaced the Poor Law by handing responsibility from the boards of guardians to local authorities (Hill, 2003, p. 23). Hence, the state directly interjected itself into people’s lives in order to counter unemployment. This demonstrates that while the wars were significant in the movement toward a British welfare state, unemployment also played a similarly important