The Beveridge Report
William Beveridge was a social policy expert who had worked with the Liberal Government at the start of the 1900s, helping to develop their social policies and reforms.
During the war, Beveridge was appointed head of a committee charged with investigating social security in Britain.
The Five Giants
The committee, led by Beveridge, identified five major problems which prevented people from bettering themselves:
- want (caused by poverty)
- ignorance (caused by a lack of education)
- squalor (caused by poor housing)
- idleness (caused by a lack of jobs, or the ability to gain employment)
- disease (caused by inadequate health care provision)
The Report
The Committee鈥檚 Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services was published in December 1942. It became known as the Beveridge Report.
The recommendations were for a system that would be:
- comprehensive 鈥 cover all problems relating to poverty, from birth to death
- universal 鈥 available to all
- contributory 鈥 paid into from wages
- non-means tested 鈥 available to all, even if unable to pay
- compulsory 鈥 all workers were to contribute
The challenge of addressing the 鈥楩ive Giants鈥 led to the establishment of the Welfare State under the Labour Government