The Liberal welfare reforms 1906 to 1914: the causes including social investigation and the rise of Labour, the reforms for children, the old and the unemployed, and the constitutional clash over the People's Budget.

What this dot point is asking

You need to explain why the Liberal governments of 1906 to 1914 introduced major welfare reforms, what those reforms were, and how the constitutional clash over the People's Budget unfolded. AQA wants the causes, the measures and their significance.

Why the Liberals reformed

The reforms

The reforms targeted the groups identified as the "deserving" vulnerable, deliberately avoiding the stigma of the old Poor Law:

• Children: free school meals (1906) for the needy, compulsory medical inspections (1907), and the Children's Act (1908, the "Children's Charter") protecting the young.
• The old: non-contributory old age pensions (1908) of up to five shillings a week for those over 70 on low incomes, paid through the post office to avoid the stigma of the workhouse.
• The unemployed and sick: labour exchanges (1909) to match workers to jobs, and the two-part National Insurance Act (1911), with Part 1 sickness cover and Part 2 limited unemployment cover in trades prone to seasonal layoffs.

The People's Budget and the Lords

To pay for the reforms and for naval building (the dreadnought race), Lloyd George's People's Budget (1909) proposed higher income tax, a supertax on high incomes and new land taxes aimed at the wealthy. The Conservative-dominated House of Lords broke long convention by rejecting a money bill, triggering a major constitutional crisis. After two general elections in 1910 and a threat to create hundreds of new Liberal peers, the budget passed, and the Parliament Act (1911) removed the Lords' power to veto money bills and reduced its delaying power over other legislation to two years, a permanent shift of power to the Commons.

How significant?

The debate over the reforms is central to AQA interpretations work. They were limited, contributory and selective rather than universal: pensions were small and came only at 70, insurance covered only some workers, and severe poverty persisted. Yet they marked a real shift in principle, the acceptance that the state, not just charity and the Poor Law, bore responsibility for welfare. Historians disagree on motive (humanitarian New Liberalism, or political calculation against Labour and fears for national efficiency) and on significance (a true foundation of 1945, or a modest set of measures). The strongest judgement treats them as laying the foundation in principle without building the structure.

Try this

Q1. What did the National Insurance Act (1911) cover? [2 marks]

• Cue. Sickness (Part 1) and limited unemployment in certain trades (Part 2).

Q2. What did the Parliament Act (1911) do? [2 marks]

• Cue. Removed the Lords' veto over money bills and limited its power to delay legislation.