How Effectivley Did the Liberal Government Deal with the Problem of Poverty Between 1906 and 1914 Essay Example
How effectively did the liberal government deal with the problem of poverty between 1906 and 1914?
Between 1906 and 1914 the liberal democrats where in power, at this time it was becoming apparent that poverty was a big problem in Britain and reports from two men, Charles Booth and Seebolm Rowntree who had interests in social reform and the poorest off people of Britain, showed that many people in Britain where living below the poverty line. The liberals realised that in order to stay in power they had to make social changes and leave behind old laissez faire liberal ideas. Because of the level of poverty many families lived in bad housing had a poor diet and poor health. The Liberal government began a series of reforms aimed at helping the impoverished people of Britain. This essay will discuss how effective the measures taken by the liberals where in combating the problem of poverty in Britain.
In 1906 the liberals began their welfare reforms with the provision of free school meals act which was to be paid by property tax. This act was targeted at children who, after education becoming compulsory, where revealed to be suffering from many ailments. At this time there was also worry that the British people where suffering from a physical decline. The free meals, it was hoped, would improve the health of these children and remove health problems such as rickets. A good meal every day was a significant improvement to a malnourished child but the issue of how effective the scheme was as a whole is debatable. Though the meals where available the scheme was put in the control of local authorities many of whom were slow to act and, to begin with, only 150,000 children where receiving a free school meal. This number did rise. However, information available from 1912 shows that over half of the local authorities in England and Wales had still not set up a free meals service. Although the free school meals where an effective means of improving children’s health as it was
Between 1906 and 1914 the liberal democrats where in power, at this time it was becoming apparent that poverty was a big problem in Britain and reports from two men, Charles Booth and Seebolm Rowntree who had interests in social reform and the poorest off people of Britain, showed that many people in Britain where living below the poverty line. The liberals realised that in order to stay in power they had to make social changes and leave behind old laissez faire liberal ideas. Because of the level of poverty many families lived in bad housing had a poor diet and poor health. The Liberal government began a series of reforms aimed at helping the impoverished people of Britain. This essay will discuss how effective the measures taken by the liberals where in combating the problem of poverty in Britain.
In 1906 the liberals began their welfare reforms with the provision of free school meals act which was to be paid by property tax. This act was targeted at children who, after education becoming compulsory, where revealed to be suffering from many ailments. At this time there was also worry that the British people where suffering from a physical decline. The free meals, it was hoped, would improve the health of these children and remove health problems such as rickets. A good meal every day was a significant improvement to a malnourished child but the issue of how effective the scheme was as a whole is debatable. Though the meals where available the scheme was put in the control of local authorities many of whom were slow to act and, to begin with, only 150,000 children where receiving a free school meal. This number did rise. However, information available from 1912 shows that over half of the local authorities in England and Wales had still not set up a free meals service. Although the free school meals where an effective means of improving children’s health as it was