Britain Before 1900, Poverty was hidden. Most people were unaware of it. If you didn’t live in poverty, it is unlikely that you were aware of it. Poverty exists in ‘pockets of deprivation’; people who are poor stay in one area, and people from outside of that area do not move in. This means that poverty remains unknown. People in poverty also do not have a voice. Generally, it is wealthy people who are in a position to make their voice heard, and so the true story of poverty remains untold. Charities The Guild of Help was a group of wealthy volunteers who distributed food and clothes to the poorer people in society. The clothes would be recycled when they were outgrown. They produced fire guards and distributed baby kits, which included nappies. Dr Barnado’s charity looked after abandoned children. By the time of his death, Thomas Barnado is thought to have saved nearly 60,000 lives. Government Help The Poor Law said that local parishes were responsible for the poor. In order to save money, parishes made it as unpleasant as possible to claim help. Most councils gave small amounts of money to the poor, but some refused even to do this. The Victorian System of Workhouses was continued. The workhouse was like a voluntary prison; they were dirty, cramped, and families would be split up. If you entered the workhouse, you were officially declared a pauper, and this would bring disgrace on your family. Being a pauper meant losing your vote and being buried in an unmarked grave. Parishes declared that there was no issue with poverty, because nobody was claiming help from the poor law; in reality, the conditions were so bad that people would have rather died on the streets than enter the workhouse. Case study of a working class man, 1890 – George Meredith 1.Poor housing – whole family in one small, damp terraced house 2.Illness and Accidents – cannot afford to pay for doctors and medicines, if you were ill, you lost your job and had no income 3.Old age – no pensions, so you became the responsibility of your children 4.Low wages and irregular work – rent takes one third of income, labourers got just 19 shillings a week. Weather dependant, seasonal.

Why did people begin to take notice of poverty after 1900? 1.The work of social pioneers – Booth and Rowntree. Charles Booth at the end of the 19 th century there was lots of talk of poverty. Government policy said that 25% of all people were living in poverty, and Booth felt that this figure was too high. He carried out his own investigation and actually found 31% of people were in poverty. He shocked himself with this finding, and also discovered that poor people were not lazy or criminals – they were just people who could not earn enough to live on. Seebohm Rowntree read Booth’s report and thought that poverty was just a London problem. He decided to use a scientific result to investigate poverty; any family earning less than 22 shillings were poor. He investigated his home town of York and discovered that 28% of people lived in poverty. These two men made the problem of poverty a political issue which was very hard to ignore – they uncovered the hidden problem. Rowntree’s Findings for causes of poverty: 1.Unemployment – 5% 2.Death of Wage earner – 10% 3.Illness and Old age – 5% 4.Low wages – 22% 5.Large family – 52% 6.Other – 6% 2. The Boer War and ‘National Efficiency’ In 1899, Britain went to war with South Africa. Thousands of young men volunteered to serve in the Boer War, but after medical examinations, two thirds were declared medically unfit to serve in the army. People began to worry that in a large war, Britain’s army would be weak and easily defeated. People also said that British workers were weaker physically than workers in the USA or Germany. Poverty was holding back ‘national efficiency’. 3. Rise of the Labour Party The labour party began in It was committed to ending poverty and making life fairer for ordinary people, by distributing the country's wealth more fairly. The other main political parties of the time, the liberals and the conservatives, started to talk about poverty because they did not want to lose votes to the new labour party.

1906 Liberal Reforms – Improving the Lives of Children 1906 – Free School Meals Local councils could provide free school meals for children from the poorest families. These would be paid for by local rates. By 1914, over 158,000 children were having a free meal at school every day – School Medical Inspections Doctors and nurses went into school to conduct compulsory medical checks and recommend any treatment that they thought necessary. Treatment still had to be paid for by parents (until 1912) 1912 – School Clinics A network of clinics was set up, which provided free medical treatment for children. This was necessary because some parents could not afford the treatment that doctors wanted to give their children as a result of discovering an illness at a medical inspection The Children’s Act Children became protected persons which meant that parents could be prosecuted for violence against them. Poor law authorities were made responsible for visiting and supervising children who had suffered cruelty or neglect. All children’s homes were to be registered and inspected. Children under the age of 14 who had broken the law must not be sent to adult prisons Juvenile courts were set up and borstals were specially built to deal with young offenders. Children under the age of 14 were not allowed to go into pubs and shopkeepers could not sell cigarettes to children under 16.

1906 Liberal Reforms – Improving the lives of the sick, unemployed and elderly 1909 – The Labour Exchanges Act A national string of labour exchanges were set up around the country, so unemployed workers could go there instead of walking around on the streets looking for work. This was much more efficient – The National Insurance Act This aimed to prevent poverty from sickness. Workers could insure themselves against sickness, and draw money form the scheme if they fell ill and were unable to work. All manual workers and low paid white collar jobs had to join. Workers paid 4d for insurance stamps which were stuck on a card. Employers contributed 3d for each worker in the scheme, and government contributed 2d. If a worker then fell ill, they would receive 10s a week for 13 weeks, and then 5s for a further 13 weeks in any one year. Workers in the scheme could get free medical treatment and maternity care. At the start, 10 million men and 4 million women were covered by the scheme – The National Insurance Act Part II Aimed to prevent poverty from unemployment by insuring workers against periods when they were out of work. Scheme was open to people who worked in trades like engineering and ship building, where employment is seasonal. Workers, employers and government paid 2d a week into the scheme. Workers could be paid 7s6d a week for up to 15 weeks in any one year – The Pensions Act Everyone over the age of 70 was eligible for a state pension. As ingle person received 5s a week and a married couple 7s 6d, later increased to 10s.

How effective were Liberal Reforms? Pensions – only half a million people qualified for pensions. State pensions were only for people over the age of 70; have an income of less than £21 a year; were British citizens who had lived in Britain for 20 years or more; had not been in prison in the last 10 years before claiming the pension; had always worked as well as they could according to their opportunity, ability and need. People who had never worked were denied a pension. National Insurance for sickness – It initially covered 10 million men and 4 million women.; It was only for people who were on low incomes, less than £160 per year, and for people who made the contributions – it did not cover the dependents. Poor people also had to pay the money out of their wages which meant less money for food. National Insurance for Unemployment – Initially covered 2.25 million workers, but was restricted to trades where seasonal unemployment was common, like shipbuilding. Free School Meals – 158,000 children were getting a meal by 1914, but it was not compulsory, and some councils did not offer it. Labour Exchanges – by 1914, 1 million people were being employed through the labour exchange, but these jobs were usually temporary or part time – the government did nothing to increase the number of jobs available. Opposition to Liberal Reforms Liberal reforms were pushed forward by the chancellor of the exchequer, David Lloyd George. He had read the works of Booth and Rowntree, and believed that the government should help the poor. In 1809, Lloyd George introduced a budget which paid for reforms by taxing landowners. The conservative party opposed the reforms, who still believed that everybody should look after themselves. Conservative members in the House of Lords stopped the budget in 1908, but in 1910, after winning another election, the Liberal could push pensions through.