Legislation To Bring About A Welfare State

Question 1

Education Act

Answer 1

1944
The 1944 Education Act set the school-leaving age at 15 years old, and introduced free secondary schools.
grammar school for academic pupils
secondary modern school for the teaching of practical subjects
technical school to learn practical skills

Question 2

Family Allowance act

Answer 2

1945
Parents were given 5 shillings (£7.54 in today’s money) per week for each child after their firstborn. This was to help cover some of the costs involved in bringing up children, eg clothes, food.

Question 3

National insurance act

Answer 3

1946
Unemployment pay for six months and sick pay for as long as you were sick. Maternity benefit. Death grant to help with funeral costs. Old age pensions at 65 for men and 60 for women.

Question 4

New towns act

Answer 4

1946

Authorised the building of new towns at places such as Stevenage, Basildon, Newton Wycliffe and Peterlee.

Question 5

National Health Service Act

Answer 5

1946
Aneurin Bevan’s NHS Act came into effect on 5 July 1948. Doctors, hospitals, dentists, opticians, ambulances, midwives and health visitors were available, free to everybody.

Question 6

Town and country planning Act

Answer 6

1947
This law set a target of building 300,000 new houses a year and 1.25 million council houses were built between 1945 and 1951. It also defined green belt land that had to be kept rural.

Question 7

Children’s Act

Answer 7

1948

Required councils to provide good housing and care for all children ‘deprived of a normal home life’.

Question 8

Homes for all policy

Answer 8

The Government attempted to solve housing issues by building over 1.2 million new homes between 1946 and 1951. Four out of the five houses were council houses built by the local councils, to be rented by families. 156,623 prefabricated houses, known as prefabs, were built in some areas. These were a quick solution to the housing shortage.

Question 9

What were labours reasons for nationalisation of key industries?

Answer 9

-to increase efficiency in the key industries and help modernise them
-to lower prices and lead to more jobs
-to further the status of workers and improve working conditions
-to put workers and consumers before profit

Question 10

Successes of nationalisation

Answer 10

1 in 10 British people worked in these nationalised industries.
Output increased in several industries, for example coal.
Working conditions in the coal industry improved as workers benefitted from paid holidays and sickness pay.

Question 11

Failures of nationalisation

Answer 11

The Government paid £2700 million in compensation to the previous industries.
The Conservative party criticised the whole process, saying central government had too much control.
Many people believed the process artificially helped declining industries.