The Approach to the Welfare State in Great Britain<xref ref-type="fn" rid="FN1">*</xref>

Abstract

BETWEEN the idea and the reality we expect some interval. The now exists in Great Britain: wvhat prepared the way for it? The term welfare state seems almost as new as what it describes-not more, perhaps, than three or four years old. Even the idea behind it is hardly half a century old in England: the idea, that is, that it is the duty of the to maintain the well-being of all its members by guaranteeing them a minimum of income and services, and insuring them against the hazards of sickness, unemployment, and old age. For such an idea to gain general acceptance there must have been a breaking-down of older ideas of the virtues of independence and thrift, not to speak of a transformation of opinion concerning the functions of the state. The present range of services provided by the had one forerunner: the Poor Law, which provided, on a local basis under national supervision, a minimum form of existence for paupers. The Poor Law Amendment Act of I834, that curious sequel to the great Reform Act, is, therefore, a logical starting point. The act did not, of course, create the pauper's right to relief: it attempted to limit it. The change of ideas which made possible the approach of the is the change from the philosophy of the new Poor Law to that of the Beveridge Report, from parish relief to National Assistance.1 The Poor Law Amendment Act aimed to limit the right to relief in two ways. First, outdoor relief was to be replaced by relief given only in a wellregulated workhouse. Second, the relief given was to be of the most exiguous sort, so as to ensure that the pauper's on the whole shall not be made really or apparently so eligible as the situation of the independent labourer of the lowest class-the famous principle of less eligibility. This