Q) 'The Labour government (1945-1951) simply completed the welfare state which was started by others'. How far do you agree?.
Labour Government came to power in 1945 just after World War 2. During World War 2 a lot of state intervention took place, such as children being evacuated into the countryside. This not only saved thousands of lives but also brought a sense of togetherness with town and countryside people. It gave people who lived in the countryside an idea of how children lived and were brought up in the cities. War brought an awareness of the need for reform and a sense that such reforms were needed urgently. At the end of World War 2 British people had higher taxes and more expensive government controls than ever, so it seemed like an excellent idea to continue with the development of the welfare state. The purpose of my essay is to come to a conclusion as to how far I agree with the statement The Labour Government (1945-1951) simply completed the welfare state which was started by others'. .
I will do this by detailing all the things that the Labour Government (1945-51) did and make clear how significant other factors were in explaining the developments of the welfare state.
The Labour Government completed the welfare state but early development began as far back as 1850. The Liberal party of 1906-1914 took the biggest steps in creating a welfare state. The Liberals never set out to create a welfare state they simply intended to provide specific solutions for specific problems. During the early 90's there were many problems throughout Britain; 13 out of 100 children died before they were one year old and 1 in 3 of them were never seen by a doctor. There was malnutrition and a lack of medicines for children and adults, every so often there would be outbreaks of disease in the poorest parts of the city. The consensus of Britain was moving away from the laissez- faire' way of thinking and more people started to think that state intervention was a pretty good idea.