1. Britain in 1900 The Death of Laissez- faire?

2. Background In the 1870s and 80s there was a period of economic depression – govt. and charities could not cope Social Investigations reveal the extent of poverty Investigative journalism becomes popular Socialist groups became popular

3. Salvation Army Poster - 1919

4. Work of Charities Gradually Middle Classes began to realise there was a need for charity Move away from self-help (but not direct govt. intervention) Christian, Socialist organisations spring up in C19: YMCA; Salvation Army; Dr. Barnardo’s; RSPCC; COS

5. The work of Booth Charles Booth investigated poverty in London Initially intended to disprove the poverty figures produced by Hyndman Actually discovered that statistics were worse than thought Introduced the ‘poverty line’ Life and Labour of the People in London

6. Rowntree’s Work Seebohm Rowntree investigated poverty in York Refined the ‘poverty line’ Differentiates between primary and secondary poverty Poverty a Study of Town Life Would go on to study poverty in rural areas www.jrf.org.uk

7. Politics Extension of the franchise in 1832, 1867 and 1884 led to an increasing number of working class men getting to vote Political parties had to compete for working class votes The Conservatives introduced a number of reforms: Housing Act; Education Act; Workmen’s Compensation Acts New Liberalism was influenced by men such as David Lloyd George

8. Continued Men like Keir Hardie and Ramsay Macdonald started the Labour Party At first, working class men stood as Independent Labour Candidates (with minor success) Growth of Trade Unions – influence on government and business Fabians – middle class

9. National Efficiency and Security The health of working class men was important to keep the country going. A healthy workforce would be a strong workforce – more production A healthy youth could potentially make healthy soldiers – lessons from the Boer War debacle.

10. BUT… Social changes were moderate, and slow Most Liberals and Tories were still in favour of Self Help even in 1900 The impact of the Labour Party was not really felt until the Great War Politicians were unwilling to raise taxes or annoy private insurance firms Most reforms did not come until the Liberal Government of 1906-14