The Open UniversitySkip to content
 
Skip My preferences

My preferences

Skip Learning ToolsSkip Rate and Review

Rate and Review

Unit rating: 5 stars.
Rated by 3 user(s)
Skip Alternative FormatsSkip Tags

Tags

Please log in to tag your favourite units
Skip Share this unit with a friend

Share this unit with a friend

Help with sending a link to this unit (new window)
Permalink to this unit:
 

Topic outline

 

  • Time: 4 hours
    Level: Introductory

 
 

Introduction

  • Introduction Resource
  • This Unit looks at the work of William Beveridge in reforming the field of social welfare after World War II. Particular attention is paid to the attitude towards women and immigrants to the United Kingdom....
 

1: The Beveridge vision

  • 1: The Beveridge vision Resource
  • It was not until after the Second World War that the British welfare state took its mature form. In a climate of relief after the war, a climate diffused with an idealism for a new, more just society,...
 

2: William Beveridge

  • The Beveridge report Resource
  • The architect of much of this reform in the field of social welfare was William Beveridge. His report entitled ‘Social Insurance and Allied Services’ was compiled as the war was at its height (Beveridge,...
  • Problems with implementation Resource
  • Writing a report is one thing – getting it implemented as policy is another. In the full version of An Introduction to the Beveridge Report, Jacobs (1992a) makes clear that there were a number of departures...
  • Did Beveridge wear blinkers? Resource
  • Jacobs singled out several groups who were not covered by the insurance scheme. They include:
 

3: The five giants

  • 3: The five giants Resource
  • At this point let us examine the idea of the ‘five giants’ (Want, Ignorance, Disease, Squalor and Idleness). Beveridge, remember, was not just writing about income protection; he had a vision of social...
 

4: More giants?

  • Sexism Resource
  • Let us leave the emotive word ‘sexism’ to one side for a moment and look at what Beveridge actually said about the place of women in his scheme and the kind of reasoning he used. He gave considerable attention...
  • Racism Resource
  • You may want to question whether the term ‘sexism’ is a useful one to help understand the Beveridge vision, but you can probably agree that there is an idea about the family and about the ‘natural’ responsibility...
  • Beveridge’s insurance model and immigration Resource
  • What has this to do with Beveridge? His insurance model assumed that a man would start to contribute at the beginning of his working life and emphasised that he had paid for and was entitled to the benefits...
 

References and Acknowledgements

Skip Log inSkip Related educational resources