Poverty – From Self-Help to Government

intervention

We will investigate: Why British society took on a more caring, hands on approach to the

problem of poverty.

Self-help and the voluntary system

• At the start of the 20th century, there were no old age pensions, unemployment benefits, health insurance or help for children.

• If the main wage-earner in a family died or could not work, a whole family could be plunged into terrible poverty.

• However, the Government believed that the social problems of Britain could be solved through:

• voluntary action • charity • self-help

Poor Boy and Girl, c. 1890s

Self-help?• The belief existed that poverty

was caused by laziness, drunkenness and lack of morals.

• Many thought that ‘self-help’ (individuals being responsible for their own social standing and livelihood) should be promoted.

• This belief was promoted by Samuel Smiles who published a book called 'Self-Help' in 1859. "Self-help is the root of all genuine growth", Samuel Smiles.

Charity• The poor received money, time and expertise from

charitable Victorian people and organisations to help them deal with poverty.

Provider of charity Help provided

Thomas BarnardoProvision of homes for orphaned children, he began work in London in 1867

Octavia Hill Property owner who provided a good standard of housing

RSPCC Provided help for children and orphans

Salvation ArmyWork colonies set up to help the poor to learn new work and life skills

Problems with charity provision

• It depended where you lived what charity was available. The bigger cities had most charities but they also had most demand.

• Charities often selected the people they were willing to help according to whether they felt they were the deserving or undeserving poor. This moral judgement meant many went without help.

• Many had a religious fervour which put people off.

19th century attitude changes

• Over the 19th century the belief that government should not interfere in the lives of the people was continuously questioned.

• Due to the pressures of the industrial revolution and the problems that it brought, along with the advent of male suffrage (the vote), government was increasingly pressurised into intervening in the lives of the people.

• Over the 19th century the role of government increased.

CHANGE = VOTE =

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

There were several factors that contributed to a change in attitude towards the poorer working classes, their plight and their conditions.

Factor 1:Social surveys• Two main social surveys of the poor, carried out by

Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree, shocked the wealthy Victorians.

• People knew that poverty existed but these surveys revealed that poverty was on a much larger scale than the socialist thinkers of the day had believed.

• The idea that poverty was an individual's own fault was also challenged, as the surveys showed the main causes of poverty were outwith a person's control.

• Liverpool ship owner who originally believed that if people were poor it was their own fault.

• Between 1889 and 1903 he studied the life of the poor in London.

• His findings 'Life and Labour of the people in London' changed his opinion and he concluded that 30% of London's population was living in poverty.

• He used scientific methods and put people in classes. He worked out a 'poverty line', a level of income required to stay beyond starvation.

• The scale of poverty he discovered could not be met by charity alone.

• The reasons for poverty were not necessarily a person's own fault.

Charles Booth

Seebohm Rowntree

• Member of the wealthy family Rowntree who owned a chocolate factory.

• He conducted his own research into poverty in York.• A study of Town Life found similarities to those of

Booth.• Showed poverty was widespread; one third of the

population living in towns lived in poverty.• Primary poverty was used to describe those whose

earnings were low but could survive on this (15%). Secondary poverty was used to describe those whose earnings were enough but who spent their money in a wasteful way (18%).

• Again it found poverty was not the person's fault.• Many of the elderly, ill and unemployed lived in such

poverty. Even those who did work had wages that were so low they could not afford the basics.

How important were the Reports?

• This information was serialised in newspapers and magazines for all of Britain to see.

• Their findings showed that the amount of poverty that existed required levels of help that only the government could provide.

• Within the Liberal Government there was real genuine concern for the plight of these people.

• The extent of poverty was widespread.• The causes of poverty were revealed to be not

always due to the individual.• It was clear that something had to be done to

alleviate the conditions of the poor.

Factor 2: Fear for Britain's strength – 'National Efficiency'

• The Boer War• In 1899 war broke out between the powerful British

Empire and the Boer Republics in South Africa.• The British thought the war would be over quickly, but the

Boer forces proved to be well trained, well equipped and well led.

• The war dragged on for three years. Eventually, Britain used 450,000 troops to defeat Boer forces that totalled 35,000 men.

• The war was a great shock to British confidence. • In Britain people searched for answers as to why it had

taken three years for professional soldiers to defeat a force of Boer farmers.

• The quality of soldiers (poverty = poor health) was blamed for the poor British performance in the war.

SO FAR……

PANIC! THE PHYSICAL DETERIORATION OF THE NATION

• Fears for Britain's imminent declineMilitary EconomicBritain was an Empire and Empire required a huge army to defend and maintain it.

Britain's workforce – Up until the end of the 19th century Britain had been the leading industrial nation. Other countries were catching up and taking over.

Britain would lose its military strength and its Empire would crumble.

Britain would lose its economic competitiveness and other countries would overtake leaving Britain behind.

David Lloyd George

Seebohm Rowantree

The Committee on Physical Deterioration set up in 1903

• The Boer War caused such a panic in Britain that a commission was set up.

• This investigated the reasons why so many army recruits were rejected on the grounds of ill health.

• It reported that they found no real evidence of long-term deterioration, however, they did make the following recommendations.– Medical inspections of children in schools– Free school meals for the very poor– Training in mothering skills– These recommendations were very

important in the future Liberal reforms after 1906.

The Impact of Political developments in Britain

• The Victorian period had seen a growth in the number of men who could vote.

• By 1900 6 out of 10 men could vote.

• The working classes and their needs now had to be considered more than ever before.

• The growth in newspapers and in education after the 1870s saw an increasingly educated and politicised working class who also helped highlight the problems of society.

Factor 3: Political Advantage

• A new political party was formed in 1903 –This new Labour Party which had very attractive ideas for the working classes to improve their social and economic conditions.

• This Labour Party was beginning to gain public support for its social welfare policies such as old age pension and unemployment benefits.

• The Liberals realised that they had to instigate social reforms or risk losing the support of the working classes.

Factor 4: New Liberalism• A new type of Liberalism had emerged by 1906, and it was

this 'new liberalism' which provided the inspiration for the reforms.

• New Liberals, such as Lloyd George, Winston Churchill and Herbert Asquith, argued that there were circumstances in which it was right for the state to intervene in people's lives.

• These new Liberals were personally committed to creating reforms to help specific problems from which the poor suffered.

• These 'New Liberals' came into positions of power and were more able to influence government policy and reform.

Factor 5: The German model

• The example of Bismarck's progressive social legislation in Germany, coupled with her economic and military strength, impressed both Lloyd George and Churchill.

• Among other measures, the Germans had instigated an early form of sickness insurance for its workers.

• Lloyd George and Churchill felt inspired to introduce similar style reforms in Britain