William Beveridge
William Henry Beveridge entered the world on the 5th of March 1879 in Rangpur, India. His father served as an Indian Civil Service officer and District Judge there. Annette Ackroyd was his mother and a scholar who had founded the Working Women's College in London. The household embraced ideas from Auguste Comte regarding a secular religion of humanity. This influence shaped Beveridge into what he called a materialist agnostic. He attended Charterhouse school near Godalming before studying at Balliol College. Mathematics and Classics were his subjects at Oxford. He earned first class degrees in both fields.
Beveridge began working at Toynbee Hall settlement house in London during 1903. Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb influenced his theories on social reform while he worked there. He campaigned for old age pensions and free school meals throughout this period. A national system of labour exchanges became his primary focus by 1908. Winston Churchill invited him to join the Board of Trade that same year. Churchill held the position of President of the Board of Trade. Beveridge organized the implementation of these labour exchanges across Britain. He also helped create National Insurance to fight poverty and unemployment. The First World War saw him mobilizing manpower for the war effort. After the conflict ended, he received a knighthood. He then served as permanent secretary to the Ministry of Food.
A committee published its report on Social Insurance and Allied Services in November 1942. All people of working age would pay weekly contributions under this new plan. Benefits flowed to those who were sick, unemployed, retired or widowed. Beveridge argued no one should fall below a minimum standard of living. The document identified five giants blocking reconstruction: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Ernest Brown announced the formation of the committee in May 1941. Arthur Greenwood urged the inquiry forward despite Brown's initial announcement. Beveridge accepted the chairmanship reluctantly while focusing on manpower work elsewhere. Conservatives found appeal in his argument that welfare institutions increased industrial competitiveness. Healthier workers would produce more goods and demand British products. A National Health Service was included as one of three fundamental assumptions.
Ernest Bevin invited Beveridge to lead the Welfare department of his Ministry in 1940. Beveridge refused but expressed interest in organizing British manpower during wartime. Bevin commissioned him for a relatively unimportant manpower survey starting in June 1940. Neither Bevin nor Sir Thomas Phillips enjoyed working with Beveridge due to his conceited nature. His work culminated in chairing the Committee on Skilled Men in the Services. This group reported to the War Cabinet in August and October 1941. Army recruits enlisted for six weeks into the General Service Corps first. Their subsequent posting considered both their skills and army needs. The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers emerged from these recommendations. Beveridge favored strong centralized planning systems throughout this period.
Beveridge won election to the Commons in a by-election for Berwick-upon-Tweed during late 1944. He succeeded George Charles Grey who died on the battlefield in Normandy on the 30th of July 1944. Operation Bluecoat marked the day of Grey's death. A majority of 1,962 votes defeated Beveridge in the 1945 general election against Robert Thorp. Clement Attlee and the Labour Party defeated Winston Churchill that same year. Attlee announced plans to implement the Welfare State outlined in the 1942 report. A National Health Service established itself in 1948 with taxpayer funded medical treatment. David Lloyd George set up the original National Insurance scheme in 1911. Beveridge received elevation to the House of Lords as Baron Beveridge in 1946. He became leader of the Liberal Party within that chamber.
Beveridge joined the Eugenics Society which promoted methods to improve the human race. He proposed state support for men unable to work but without citizen rights in 1909. This included loss of franchise, civil freedom and fatherhood. Lancelot Hogben named chair of an attempted Department of Social Biology at LSE. Hogben was a fierce anti-eugenicist who clashed with Beveridge. John Ashworth speculated discord led to Beveridge leaving the school in 1937. Dennis Sewell noted Beveridge slipped out of Parliament gallery on debate day to address the society. The idea of child allowances developed within the society had twin aims. Educated classes would have more children while poor households limited births. Graded family allowance schemes applied to higher income brackets were desired by Beveridge. Professor Danny Dorling stated no eugenic thought appeared in the report itself.
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Common questions
When and where was William Beveridge born?
William Henry Beveridge entered the world on the 5th of March 1879 in Rangpur, India. His father served as an Indian Civil Service officer and District Judge there.
What did William Beveridge publish in November 1942?
A committee published its report on Social Insurance and Allied Services in November 1942. The document identified five giants blocking reconstruction: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness.
Why did William Beveridge lose his seat in Parliament in 1945?
A majority of 1,962 votes defeated Beveridge in the 1945 general election against Robert Thorp. Clement Attlee and the Labour Party defeated Winston Churchill that same year.
How did William Beveridge influence the creation of the National Health Service?
A National Health Service was included as one of three fundamental assumptions in the 1942 report. A National Health Service established itself in 1948 with taxpayer funded medical treatment.
Did William Beveridge support eugenics according to Professor Danny Dorling?
Professor Danny Dorling stated no eugenic thought appeared in the report itself. Beveridge joined the Eugenics Society which promoted methods to improve the human race.