Shannon Whitfield Unit 27: Social Welfare Services P1
History of the Beveridge report
The Beveridge report was written by a liberal economist, who went by the name William Beveridge
and it was published in November 1942. The Beveridge report was created with the aim to try and
provide a comprehensive system of social insurance and to ensure that there was a set minimum
standard of living in the United Kingdom. Beveridge also proposed a system called ‘cradle to grave’
which aimed to improve social security, education and national health service. The report also states
that all working people should contribute towards the Government and as a result, benefits would
be paid to the sick, the widowed, the retired and to the unemployed.
Five giants
The Beveridge report helped identify five major problems which prevented people from bettering
themselves. The five problems are; want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness
Want (The need for an adequate income for all/Caused by poverty)
The first of the five giants is ‘want’. ‘Want’ is the need for an adequate income for all and this is
caused by poverty. The extent to which the standard of living can be kept above the national
minimum is depended on how successful they are when dealing with the fifth giant, also known as
‘idleness’. In order to try and solve this issue, the Government passed the ‘National Insurance Act
1946’. This act required workers to pay a weekly contribution and in return they would revive
various benefits such as; unemployment benefit, sickness benefit and the widow’s benefit.
Disease (The need for access to health care/Caused by inadequate health care provision)
The second giant is ‘disease’ which is the need for everyone to be able to access health care.
Beveridge believed that by helping people tackle their health issues it was the key for helping them
get out of poverty. This lead to the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. This then
allowed British citizens to gain access to free health care, no matter their social class or level of
wealth. Before the creation of the NHS, people had to pay to receive health care and this was a huge
issue for poorer citizens because they couldn’t afford to pay for it. A problem the Government later
discovered was that the service was extremely expensive to run.
Ignorance (The need for access to educational opportunity/Caused by a lack of education)
The third giant is ‘ignorance’ which is the need to educational opportunity. Beveridge came to
conclusion that people from higher social classes were ignorant and unaware of the problems
affecting certain communities, such as a lack of education and he wanted to change that. The
Government passed the ‘Education Act 1944’ which provided free secondary education and it raised
the school leaving age to 15 years old. An issue that occurred was that poorer family’s often had to
turn the free placements down due to them not being able to afford any extra costs involved.
Squalor (The need for adequate housing/Caused by poor housing)
The forth giant is ‘squalor’ which is need for adequate housing. Beveridge wanted to help break the
cycle of poverty. He linked the health problems that were caused by inadequate housing were
restricting people’s ability to work, resulting in many becoming homeless. The conditions many poor
family’s lived in were damp and horrendous for their health. Beveridge argued with the Government
to build more council houses.
History of the Beveridge report
The Beveridge report was written by a liberal economist, who went by the name William Beveridge
and it was published in November 1942. The Beveridge report was created with the aim to try and
provide a comprehensive system of social insurance and to ensure that there was a set minimum
standard of living in the United Kingdom. Beveridge also proposed a system called ‘cradle to grave’
which aimed to improve social security, education and national health service. The report also states
that all working people should contribute towards the Government and as a result, benefits would
be paid to the sick, the widowed, the retired and to the unemployed.
Five giants
The Beveridge report helped identify five major problems which prevented people from bettering
themselves. The five problems are; want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness
Want (The need for an adequate income for all/Caused by poverty)
The first of the five giants is ‘want’. ‘Want’ is the need for an adequate income for all and this is
caused by poverty. The extent to which the standard of living can be kept above the national
minimum is depended on how successful they are when dealing with the fifth giant, also known as
‘idleness’. In order to try and solve this issue, the Government passed the ‘National Insurance Act
1946’. This act required workers to pay a weekly contribution and in return they would revive
various benefits such as; unemployment benefit, sickness benefit and the widow’s benefit.
Disease (The need for access to health care/Caused by inadequate health care provision)
The second giant is ‘disease’ which is the need for everyone to be able to access health care.
Beveridge believed that by helping people tackle their health issues it was the key for helping them
get out of poverty. This lead to the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. This then
allowed British citizens to gain access to free health care, no matter their social class or level of
wealth. Before the creation of the NHS, people had to pay to receive health care and this was a huge
issue for poorer citizens because they couldn’t afford to pay for it. A problem the Government later
discovered was that the service was extremely expensive to run.
Ignorance (The need for access to educational opportunity/Caused by a lack of education)
The third giant is ‘ignorance’ which is the need to educational opportunity. Beveridge came to
conclusion that people from higher social classes were ignorant and unaware of the problems
affecting certain communities, such as a lack of education and he wanted to change that. The
Government passed the ‘Education Act 1944’ which provided free secondary education and it raised
the school leaving age to 15 years old. An issue that occurred was that poorer family’s often had to
turn the free placements down due to them not being able to afford any extra costs involved.
Squalor (The need for adequate housing/Caused by poor housing)
The forth giant is ‘squalor’ which is need for adequate housing. Beveridge wanted to help break the
cycle of poverty. He linked the health problems that were caused by inadequate housing were
restricting people’s ability to work, resulting in many becoming homeless. The conditions many poor
family’s lived in were damp and horrendous for their health. Beveridge argued with the Government
to build more council houses.
