Full record(s)

Record no:

1 of 1

Author:

BEVERIDGE William;

Title:

Social insurance and allied services: report by Sir William Beveridge, presented to Parliament by command of His Majesty, November 1942

Publisher:

London: HMSO, 1942.

Abstract:

The British government  asked Sir William Beveridge to write a report on the best ways of helping people on low incomes. In December 1942 Beveridge published a report that proposed that all people of working age should pay a weekly contribution. In return, benefits would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued that this system would provide a minimum standard of living "below which no one should be allowed to fall". These measures were eventually introduced by the Labour Government that was elected in 1945 The Report offered three guiding principles to its recommendations:1. Proposals for the future should not limited by "sectional interests" in learning from experience and that a "revolutionary moment in the world's history is a time for revolutions, not for patching". 2. Social insurance is only one part of a "comprehensive policy of social progress". The five giants on the road to reconstruction were Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. 3. Policies of social security "must be achieved by co-operation between the State and the individual", with the state securing the service and contributions. The state " should not stifle incentive, opportunity, responsibility; in establishing a national minimum, it should leave room and encouragement for voluntary action by each individual to provide more than that minimum for himself and his family".

Series:

(Cmd. 6404)

Format:

book;

Topics:

benefits; central government; economics; expenditure; grants; poverty; social work history; unemployment; welfare state;

Country/Region:

United Kingdom;

Record ID:

www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk/profile.asp?guid=0d7d84cd-ed20-4808-b327-0b376da6ec3f

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