From Cradle to the Grave

• Introduction: – How can we tell this

children are poor?– Do you think the

government ought to help?

– What sort of help should be given?

…contd

• Today we take it for granted that social services would be involved in trying to help these children escape poverty.

• We would react with shock and disgust if social workers failed to protect these poor and vulnerable children.

• It is not only in times of crisis we expect help from the Government.

• We are provided with help to make sure we are looked after at difficult times in our lives

• For example, we are born in NHS hospitals, we go to state-funded schools and when we are ill we can choose to go the state-funded doctor. If we lose our job we get state help to help us find another one and money to live on whilst unemployed. When we are old we get a state pension.

19th C

• At end of the 19th C people thought very differently.

• They thought if you were poor it was your own fault.

• There was little state help.• Attitudes have changed since then.• Britain has built up its welfare state.• This achievement still causes arguments today –

people disagree about how much help a government should give its people and who pays for this help.

19th C

• 19th C Britain was governed by a government who believed that the British citizens should be left to their own devices; care for themselves.

• It was not the place of the government to intervene.

• By 1890 the role of government was very small– To provide control of the workplace– To provide minimum standards of public health– To provide limited education– To provide limited help for the poor in society who

deserved to be helped.

Worries?

• Poverty- There was a growing concern about poverty.- How much existed and what should the government do about it?- The educated and wealthier people may have been interested in this but they did not know how much existed in their country.- There many presumed causes of poverty ranging from causes which they thought were the fault of the poor themselves to no-one.

Key thinkers

• Samuel Smiles thought that people could help themselves out of poverty if they only tried hard enough.

• He published a book called ‘Self-help’ which showed how this could be done.

• This may have been ok for skilled workers who earned decent wages – they could save for instance for bad times.

• But, what about those who could not help themselves

Voluntary Help

• Usually the first place people looked for help was relatives.

• **COPY ABOVE**• John Langley in his book ‘Always a Layman’

describes how neighbours also helped each other.

• Women would also help each other.• Looking after children, sitting with the sick, giving

out some food or clothes .• They did not have much but they knew it might

be enough to help the next person.

Not enough!• If this was not enough then people had to depend on the help of charitable organisations.

• They were usually run by middle class people who helped because they felt it was their duty to help those worse off than themselves.