‘Some Abstract Socialistic Ideal or Principle’: British Reactions to New Zealand's 1938 Social Security Act

Abstract

This article, utilising British and New Zealand primary sources, examines the impact of New Zealand's 1938 Social Security Act on British health care reform. The Act, brought in by the Dominion's first Labour government, sought to socialize health care. It was opposed by most New Zealand and British doctors, organised by the British Medical Association in both countries; but supported by the political left in both New Zealand and Britain. This episode is neglected in the historiography of Britain's National Health Service but what happened in New Zealand significantly shaped British thinking about health care reform in the late 1930s and 1940s.