4.2.5

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Social Changes After World War One

War highlighted the inequality in the postwar world, leading to many later reforms.

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War highlighted inequality

  • When children were evacuated to the countryside, more people realised the differences in living standards between people in different areas.
    • Some evacuated children were in a very unhealthy state.
  • The need to raise large armies made the government aware of the problems created for society by an unhealthy workforce.
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Reforms to reward soldiers after WW1

  • The government realised the importance of having a healthy population. David Lloyd George wanted to have ‘homes fit for heroes’.
  • After the First World War, overcrowded housing was banned.
  • In 1918, it became compulsory for local councils to provide health visits and support for pregnant women.
  • In 1919, councils started to build housing for poor families.
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Ministry of Health

  • In 1919, a Ministry for Health was set up.
    • This looked after sanitation, healthcare and the training of doctors and nurses.
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Later reforms

  • In 1934, the Free School Milk Act meant children could have free milk in schools. This was critical as Britain was hit by the Great Depression.
  • Evacuated children in the Second World War triggered outrage as people saw how unhealthy they were.
  • Almost 1 million homes were built by the Labour government between 1945 and 1952. The New Towns Act of 1946 created whole new towns (like Milton Keynes and Telford) close to large cities.

The Beveridge Report and the Welfare State

In 1942, Sir William Beveridge (a Liberal politician) wrote a report about the state (government) called the Beveridge Report. It was very popular and sold over 100,000 copies within a month.

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The Beveridge Report

  • The report claimed that everyone had a right to be free of the ‘five giants’: disease, want, ignorance, idleness and squalor.
  • It highlighted that people’s quality of life needed to improve and suggested that the government should be responsible for this.
  • The report suggested that welfare should be available to everyone in need. It should be paid for by tax payers, non-means tested (available to everyone) and compulsory for everyone.
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The Welfare State

  • The government’s involvement in improving public health and social security is called the welfare state.
  • The welfare state was implemented by the Labour Party led by Clement Attlee in 1945.
  • The welfare state included a health service that was “free at the point of delivery”, a weekly allowance for families to look after their children and a ‘benefits’ system to give financial help to the very poor.
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Later reforms and reports

  • In 1946, the New Towns Act was set up to plan new towns.
  • In 1956, the Clean Air Act established smokeless zones in cities.
  • In 1980, the Black Report said that there were still inequalities in health between the rich and poor.

Jump to other topics

1Medicine in Medieval England

1.1Ideas about the Cause of Disease & Illness

1.1.1Supernatural & Religious Explanations

1.1.2Hippocrates

1.1.3Galen

1.1.4End of Topic Test - Ideas About Disease

1.1.5Exam-Style Questions - Hippocrates' Contribution

1.2Approaches to Prevention & Treatment

1.2.1Medieval 'Doctors'

1.2.2Medieval Surgery

1.3Case Study

1.3.1The Black Death

1.3.2End of Topic Test - Medieval treatment

1.3.3Grade 9 - Medieval Medicine

2The Medical Renaissance in England

2.1Ideas about the Cause of Disease & Illness

2.1.1Scientific Approach & Knowledge

2.2Approaches to Prevention & Treatment

2.2.1Changing Methods of Treatment

2.2.2Institutions & Technology

2.2.3Changes for Physicians, Surgeons & Hospitals

2.2.4Dissection & Vesalius

2.3Case Studies

2.3.1William Harvey & the Great Plague

2.3.2End of Topic Test - Medical Renaissance in England

2.3.3Grade 9 - The Medical Renaissance

3Medicine in 18th & 19th Century Britain

3.1Ideas about the Cause of Disease & Illness

3.1.1Germ Theory

3.1.2Koch & Pasteur's Vaccination

3.1.3Exam-Style Questions - Pasteur & Koch

3.2Approaches to Prevention & Treatment

3.2.1Improving Public Health

3.2.2Anaesthetics & Antiseptics

3.2.3Physicians, Surgeons & Nurses

3.2.4Exam-Style Questions - Nightingale's Contribution

3.3Case Studies

3.3.1Vaccination & Edward Jenner

3.3.2Fighting Cholera in London, 1854

3.3.3End of Topic Test - 18th & 19th Century Medicine

3.3.4Grade 9 - 18th & 19th Century Medicine

4Medicine in Modern Britain

4.1Modern Understanding of Disease

4.1.1Viruses & Bacteria

4.1.2New Diseases & Treatments in 20th C

4.1.3Diagnosing Disease

4.2Approaches to Prevention & Treatment

4.2.1Antibiotics

4.2.2New Treatments in the 20th Century

4.2.3New Approaches to Surgery & Prevention

4.2.4Social Changes in the Early 20th Century

4.2.5The NHS

4.2.6The NHS 2

4.3Case Studies

4.3.1Penicillin & Lung Cancer

4.3.2End of Topic Test - Modern Britain

4.3.3Grade 9 - Medicine in Modern Britain

5Treatment in WW1

5.1Medicine in WW1

5.1.1Trench Warfare

5.1.2The Impact of WW1

5.1.3Disease in the Trenches

5.1.4End of Topic Test- Treatment in WW1

5.1.5Grade 9 - Treatment in WW1

5.1.6Exam-Style Questions - Role of War on Medicine

6Themes in Medicine

6.1Themes in Medicine over Time

6.1.1The Role of Individuals

6.1.2Institutions - Government

6.1.3Institutions - The Church

6.1.4Science & Technology

6.1.5Attitudes in Society

6.1.6End of Topic Test -Themes in Medicine

6.1.7Grade 9 - Themes in Medicine

6.1.8Exam-Style Questions - Attitudes to Illness

7Some Extra Context (Not Compulsory for Exam)

7.1Medieval Medicine

7.1.1Islamic Advances in Medieval Medicine

7.1.2End of Topic Test - Extra Content

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Social Changes in the Early 20th Century

The NHS 2