Inequality and Gender photo

Inequality and Gender

  1. The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)
  2. Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England
  3. Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage
  4. Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression
  5. More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage
  6. The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?
  7. The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?
  8. The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?
  9. Inequality and Race
  10. Inequality and Gender
  11. The Thatcher Years : the individual and society
  12. Inequalities in Britain today

Inequalities between women of different social categories are nothing new. Despite the effects of the Welfare State, there remained several inequalities right into the 1960s.

In the field of abortion for example, some managed to find a compliant doctor and the money to pay for the abortion and there were those who either were unable to find the means of terminating an unwanted pregnancy or who resorted to back street butchery.

The Family Planning Act was passed in 1967 and was to have a great effect on women’s lives. Abortion became more easily available: in 1968, 22,000 abortions were carried out in public hospitals; in 1969, the number reached 31,000. The figure for single women continued to rise in the 1970s and 1980s: in 1971, 44,300; in 1990, 116,200. However, for married women, the figure actually fell slightly during the same period (1971, 41,500; 1990, 38,200).

Young mothers have always had difficulties in returning to work, especially if they were unable to find a willing child-minder. One reason is that until the 1990s, children usually did not go to school until the age of 5.

And child-minding was usually quite expensive as the local authorities only provided a limited number of places. This was not surprising as successive Government policies had encouraged women to remain at home to look after the children rather than to enter the workplace.

The number of births to unmarried mothers remained fairly stable from the beginning of the 20th century until the 1960s at approximately 4% of the total of births. From the 1960’s onwards, the percentage doubled. Then followed a period of relative stability (due probably to the effects of The Family Planning Act). Later, the percentages rose (luring the 1980’s and 1990’s.

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Inequality and Race photo

Inequality and Race

  1. The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)
  2. Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England
  3. Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage
  4. Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression
  5. More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage
  6. The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?
  7. The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?
  8. The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?
  9. Inequality and Race
  10. Inequality and Gender
  11. The Thatcher Years : the individual and society
  12. Inequalities in Britain today

According to Seymour-Ure (in The Political Impact of Mass Media, 1974), the disturbances in Notting Hill in 1958 symbolised a turning point in British race relations.

Previously, immigration had been a relatively peripheral political issue; after 1958 it became one of the most important and the most sensitive.

In 1962, the Conservative Government passed the Commonwealth Immigration Act, introducing controls through a voucher system to limit the flow of West Indian and Indian sub-continent immigrants.

When the Labour Government came to power, instead of repealing the legislation, as they might have (cf. Race Relation Act, 1976 – Chapter 74) been expected to do (the Labour Party had opposed the introduction of the 1962 Act but the defeat of the Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary, Patrick Gordon-Walker at the 1964 General Election in the Midlands constituency of Smethwick, with a large percentage of “immigrants”, was a sign that Labour had to tread softly on this issue), they in fact tightened by the Act in 1965 by limiting the number of vouchers still further.

In the mid-1960s, a growing number of Kenyan Asians were settling in Britain. The Labour Government then passed the 1968 Commonwealth Immigrants Act, stopping “coloured” immigration, though with a voucher scheme for Kenyan Asians.

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The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered ? photo

The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?

  1. The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)
  2. Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England
  3. Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage
  4. Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression
  5. More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage
  6. The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?
  7. The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?
  8. The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?
  9. Inequality and Race
  10. Inequality and Gender
  11. The Thatcher Years : the individual and society
  12. Inequalities in Britain today

Post-war Britain is characterised by Butskellism, a hybrid word formed from part of the names of the Conservative (Butler) and Labour (Gaitskell) Chancellors of the Exchequer.

This socio-economic policy was a compromise between private and public responsibility for the individual and was seen to describe a consensus between right and left which was to last until 1975 (for the Conservatives) and 1979 (for the Labour Party).

The 50s and 60s were years of the acceptance by both sides in British politics of a Welfare State, which looked after the individual “from the cradle to the grave”.

Economic and social changes

Received wisdom indicates an increase in the standard of living for the majority of British people. The average male weekly wage for men in 1952 was £8 14s, the equivalent of £36 in 1976 when the same average weekly wage had reached £65.

This represented an increase in real terms of 80% in 24 years. Or there again, considering the percentage of homes owned by their residents, the figure in the same period jumped from 29% to 54%, an increase of 86%.

For the first time in their lives, many working-class and lower-middle-class people benefited considerably from the “affluent society”. They could borrow money at low rates of interest and buy new consumer goods and services. In 1951 there were 48 cars and 103 telephones for 1,000 people. In 1976, the figures were 103 and 392 respectively.

However, it must be remembered that economic growth was slower in Britain than in most other capitalist countries. This is often referred to as “relative” economic decline.

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The Welfare State : an end to poverty and inequality ? photo

The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?

  1. The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)
  2. Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England
  3. Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage
  4. Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression
  5. More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage
  6. The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?
  7. The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?
  8. The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?
  9. Inequality and Race
  10. Inequality and Gender
  11. The Thatcher Years : the individual and society
  12. Inequalities in Britain today

According to Beveridge, two points of view are presented concerning the introduction of the Welfare State. The established view is that it was introduced in a climate of consensus: wartime hardships, the Evacuation, national solidarity and the acceptance of an increased role for the State in central planning led to a bipartisan approach to the need for durable change in social and health policies in Britain, as in other Western countries.

More recently, it has been pointed out that the War did not eliminate social differences or resentment, Evacuation did not lead to an ending of social prejudice, and the Conservatives and Labour Party did not agree on the way forward.

Nevertheless, Beveridge concludes that the War “was a major watershed in the history of school medical provision… It undoubtedly led to a determination to do something about the burden of poverty and ill health which had been revealed.

The Butler Education Act (1944)

Even before the Labour victory of 1945, Conservative Minister R. A. Butler introduced the 1944 English Education Act: since education had, like social security and health care, developed haphazardly, it was felt the situation before 1944 was complex, wasteful of ability and inequitable.

The 1944 Act laid the responsibility for education in England on the State and LEAs (Local Education Authorities), a national system, where locally administered Education became a free and universal social service. A Minister of Education was created.

Public education was to be organised in 3 stages: primary, secondary and further. In every area of the country schools should be sufficient in number, character and equipment “to afford all pupils opportunities for education offering such variety of instruction and training as may be desirable given their different ages, abilities and aptitudes”.

The private fee-paying sector was left intact. Education for all became compulsory from 5 to 15. Every parent had to ensure his child received a “suitable education” and every LEA had to make suitable provisions for this.

At age 11, children would take a test in English, Arithmetic and General Knowledge (11 plus): in the function of the results obtained at this examination, children would be sent either to Grammar School (for those with the highest marks) or Secondary Modern/Technical School for the rest.

This was known as the tripartite system but in reality, it was bipartite since very few LEAs set up Secondary Technical Schools. Comprehensive Schools were not proscribed, nor were they encouraged.

At age 16, the “brighter” pupils would take GCE O-Levels (General Certificate of Education Ordinary-Level) in several subjects, the others CSE examinations (Certificate of Secondary Education), introduced in 1963. At age 18, the “brightest” pupils would take GCE A-Levels (Advanced), which enabled pupils to apply for university.

The Labour victory of 1945 was followed by a heavy legislative programme. There were bills concerning Coal Nationalisation, Industrial Injuries, National Insurance, New Towns, Housing, Trade Union Law, the National Health Service… Much of the social planning for this legislation had been carried out during the war.

A common name for this battery of legislation concerning public health, social security, pensions and children’s allowances, better educational opportunities, and even a greater role for the State in the economy of the country (through nationalisations) is the Welfare State.

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The Beveridge Report : a revolution ? photo

The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?

  1. The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)
  2. Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England
  3. Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage
  4. Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression
  5. More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage
  6. The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?
  7. The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?
  8. The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?
  9. Inequality and Race
  10. Inequality and Gender
  11. The Thatcher Years : the individual and society
  12. Inequalities in Britain today

William Beveridge

William Beveridge was born in 1879 and he became a social worker in the East End of London in 1903. Later, he visited Germany to see for himself the system of social insurance introduced by Bismarck.

Beveridge became a journalist, writing mainly on social policy. He was noticed by Churchill (still a Liberal at that time) and in 1908, Beveridge became a civil servant at the Board of Trade.

Over the next three years, he worked on a national system of labour exchanges, which were introduced by the Liberal Government of Lloyd George. This measure only covered 2.75m men, one in six of the workforce.

Beveridge remained a civil servant for the duration of World War I and after the war, he became the Director of the London School of Economics (LSE). He continued academic work at the Universities of London and Oxford.

In June 1941, he was asked to chair an interdepartmental committee on reconstruction problems and on the coordination of existing schemes of social insurance.

At this time, the social security “system” was in a confused state: 7 Government departments were involved in providing various cash benefits to some people.

The terms of reference were:

To undertake, with special reference to the inter-relation of the schemes, a survey of the existing national schemes of social insurance and allied services, including workmen’s compensation, and to make recommendations. (Beveridge, Beveridge Report : Social Insurance and Allied Services, 1942)

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More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage photo

More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage

  1. The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)
  2. Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England
  3. Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage
  4. Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression
  5. More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage
  6. The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?
  7. The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?
  8. The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?
  9. Inequality and Race
  10. Inequality and Gender
  11. The Thatcher Years : the individual and society
  12. Inequalities in Britain today

Before the Industrial Revolution, men and women worked together as an economic unit, especially in rural communities. In well-off households, women would run the house.

The Industrial Revolution polarised women’s condition: the well-to-do withdrew from household management, leaving the way clear for the housekeeper. A woman was seen by the upper classes as an idealised creature, gentle, pure, and pious.

However, the ever more numerous working-class women would frequently work in factories. In 1851, 2.3m women and female children of working age out of 8m worked. Many women worked in service (1.2 million in 1881). Feminists disliked both these extremes.

Arguments against the franchise for women: women were disqualified by their sex; the franchise was based on property qualification; women were thought to be too emotional; most women did not need the vote (they were surrounded by men who often would have it).

For the rest, if vagrant and very poor men did not have the vote, then their women did not deserve it either; the “idealized” woman was above the dirty affairs of Parliament; female suffrage might well pose a threat to men’s sexual domination of women.

Women’s rights were limited if non-existent throughout the 19th century. Reforms were finally obtained after the perseverance of female/feminist activists.

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Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression photo

Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression

  1. The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)
  2. Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England
  3. Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage
  4. Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression
  5. More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage
  6. The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?
  7. The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?
  8. The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?
  9. Inequality and Race
  10. Inequality and Gender
  11. The Thatcher Years : the individual and society
  12. Inequalities in Britain today

The work of Charles Booth and Rowntree (see Chapter 2: Victorian Philanthropy) influenced a new current within the Liberal Party: new Liberalism.

When the Liberal Party was returned to office in 1906, supported by the nascent Labour Party, it introduced several important pieces of legislation: Education (Provisions of Meals) Act (1906), Education (Administrative Provisions) Act (1907), Children Act (1908), Old Age Pensions Act (1908), Trade Boards Act (1909), Labour Exchanges Act (1909) and Health and Unemployment Act (1911).

Even if we take all these laws together, we only have a piecemeal attempt to deal with social protection. Lloyd George and Churchill (at the time a Liberal) were responsible for the 1911 legislation on unemployment insurance and believed that something should be done to improve a situation that had scarcely evolved since 1834.

The liberals were not overtly committed to social reform during the 1906 election campaign but espousing such a cause was a way of possibly stymying the nascent Labour Party and also preventing any more revolutionary attempts at changing the social system.

Not all workers were covered by this legislation. Only wage-earners were eligible and sexually transmitted and alcohol-related diseases were excluded.

Of course, the wives and children of the poor and the unemployed were also excluded. The Act was administered essentially by the former (private) insurance companies, which became richer, as did the “panel doctors”, guaranteed a per capita sum per “panel patient”.

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Electoral inequalities : the Road to Male Suffrage photo

Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage

  1. The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)
  2. Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England
  3. Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage
  4. Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression
  5. More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage
  6. The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?
  7. The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?
  8. The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?
  9. Inequality and Race
  10. Inequality and Gender
  11. The Thatcher Years : the individual and society
  12. Inequalities in Britain today

Before 1832, the electoral system in Great Britain was confused: there were County seats, Borough seats, “scot and lot” seats (where any adult male who paid local poor rates could vote), “potwalloper” seats (where every resident male of at least 6 months standing who was not a pauper could vote) and of course “rotten boroughs”.

Eventually, after a long struggle (cf The Peterloo Massacre in 1819), the First Reform Act was passed by a Whig Government in 1832, which resulted in an extension of male suffrage for England: in county seats to those owning freehold property worth at least 40 shillings per annum and those leasing or renting land worth at least £50 per annum; in borough seats to those owning property worth at least £10 per annum with provisions.

There were also changes in the distribution of seats: 56 borough constituencies lost their representation entirely, 30 boroughs lost one of their two members, 22 new Parliamentary boroughs were created with two members, 19 new Parliamentary boroughs were created with one member and county representation increased. Similar measures affected Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.

However, many working-class men felt they had gained nothing from this legislation: they only saw a small increase in the electorate to the advantage of the middle class. There followed a period of agitation, referred to as Chartism.

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Victorian philanthropy photo

Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England

  1. The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)
  2. Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England
  3. Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage
  4. Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression
  5. More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage
  6. The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?
  7. The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?
  8. The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?
  9. Inequality and Race
  10. Inequality and Gender
  11. The Thatcher Years : the individual and society
  12. Inequalities in Britain today

Two approaches seem to characterize the second half of the 19th century: on the one hand, Victorian philanthropy, designed essentially to reward those worthy of salvation and, on the other hand, a movement away from assistance towards self-help, the Cooperative Movement, Friendly Societies including Oddfellows, Trade Unions…

Charity was widespread during the 19th century though the actual amount distributed is difficult to estimate. It is claimed by William Howe, who produced surveys of London charities, that “the income of the London charities… (reached)… £2,250,000 in 1874-75 rising to £3,150,000 in 1893-94“. This was approximately one-third the figure spent by the Poor Law authorities at the time.

There have even been claims that charity exceeded State expenditure on the poor. Of course, not all charitable donations were intended for the poor.

Middle-class philanthropy was sometimes to be found in certain employers who attempted to look after the welfare of their workers: Cadbury in Birmingham, Lever on Merseyside, and Colman in Norwich are examples of this.

In 1869, the Charity Organization Society (C.O.S.) was set up to organize charities to maximize the charitable effects and to minimize any demoralization of the poor, by encouraging undeserving people to remain recipients of relief.

One of its leading lights was Octavia Hill, a leading housing reformer. Beneficiaries of church-sponsored charities would be expected to attend church or send their offspring to Sunday School in exchange for help. Many poor people resented this dependency culture and preferred to remain defiantly independent yet in need.

When one mentions “self-help”, one thinks immediately of Samuel Smiles: the moralizing concept of “self-help” seemed to be a value prized by the mid-Victorian middle class.

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The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834) photo

The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)

  1. The Poor Law Amendment Act (1834)
  2. Victorian philanthropy in 19th century England
  3. Electoral inequalities in Victorian England: the Road to Male Suffrage
  4. Ante Bellum, Inter Bella : Legislation and the Depression
  5. More electoral inequalities : the Road to Female Suffrage
  6. The Beveridge Report: a Revolution?
  7. The Welfare State: an end to poverty and inequality ?
  8. The Affluent Society : poverty rediscovered?
  9. Inequality and Race
  10. Inequality and Gender
  11. The Thatcher Years : the individual and society
  12. Inequalities in Britain today

In the Middle Ages, responsibility for the poor was in the hands of religious orders, usually to be found in the monasteries. In the middle of the 16th century, after the dissolution of the monasteries, the problem of looking after the poor became critical.

The increase in population was another factor and the poor people were often seen wandering around the country.

For many, the solution was to send the poor to fill up the new colonies in Virginia and beyond. In 1572, it was a criminal offence to be a vagabond and compulsory poor rates were introduced in the parishes.

The Poor Law of 1601 mentioned the “lame, impotent, old, blind, and other among them being poor and not able to work” and required the administration of poor relief in the parishes where the inhabitants had to take care of their “own poor”.

These laws were a mixture of charity and harshness, especially in the punishment of able-bodied people.

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Definitions : the State, the Nation, Home Rule and Devolution photo

Scotland: the State, the Nation, Home Rule, and Devolution

  1. Scotland: the State, the Nation, Home Rule, and Devolution
  2. The Act of Union of 1707
  3. Scottish Home Rule
  4. The rise of the Scottish National Party (SNP)
  5. The Scottish Parliament
  6. Scotland: the Road to Independence

The State and the Nation

For Benedict Anderson, Nations are “imagined communities”: it means that there is a will of the people to do things together and this group of people is so large that people cannot know every member: hence, they imagine the other members like them, sharing the same value.

The State is an independent polity, a political unit with a fully independent legislature. Scotland is not a State but she is a Nation.

Until 1999, Scotland was described as a “stateless nation”. Now it has a legislature: she is referred to as a “partially-stated nation”.

Home Rule – Devolution

“Home Rule” is a concept developed by the Liberal Party at the end of the 19th century. The whole concept was “Home Rule All Around” (i.e. Home Rule in the UK).

Then, it meant self-government (independence, autonomy), and later: devolution proposals of the Labour Party.

For Scotland, Home Rule means Scotland governed by Scots in Scotland: it underlines Scotland’s sovereignty. On the other hand, devolution underlines the sovereignty of the British State.

Vernon Bogdanor defines devolution as “the transfer of powers from a superior to an inferior political authority. Devolution may be defined as consisting of three elements:

  • the transfer to a subordinate elected body
  • on a geographical basis
  • of functions at present exercised by ministers and Parliament

The Scotland Act of 1998 set up the Scottish Parliament, its rules etc. Section 28: “This section does not affect the power of the British Parliament to make laws for Scotland”.

In theory, the British Parliament can still make laws for Scotland in Education for instance. The Scottish Parliament is subordinated to the British Parliament.

  • Devolved areas: education, health, environment…
  • Reserved areas: defence, foreign affairs, constitution…

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The Scottish Parliament photo

The Scottish Parliament

  1. Scotland: the State, the Nation, Home Rule, and Devolution
  2. The Act of Union of 1707
  3. Scottish Home Rule
  4. The rise of the Scottish National Party (SNP)
  5. The Scottish Parliament
  6. Scotland: the Road to Independence

Introduction

On May 1st 1997, a general election took place in the UK. It was won by the Labour Party after 18 years of Conservative Government (1979-1997).

The political programme of the Labour Party included a vast number of constitutional reforms and manifestos:

  • devolution (power to the regions) to Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and English regions (wide range).
  • reform of the House of Lords.
  • incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into British law.

The Labour Government was for devolution because there were demands for more autonomy (yet not the same demands):

  • Scotland: Parliament (law-making body)
  • Wales: Assembly
  • Northern Ireland: Assembly and power-sharing executive between Catholics and Protestants.

The Scotland Act

September 11th 1997: referendum in Scotland on devolution. Majority of “Yes” votes. The Scottish Bill was introduced and validated. It became the Scotland Act in 1998, which defines the Scottish Parliament, and its rules…

The next stage was the 1st Scottish General Election. Donald Dewar, who had been Secretary of State for Scotland in Tony Blair’s Government became the First Minister of Scotland. Labour did not have a majority and allied with the Liberal-Democrats (coalition executive).

Between mid-May and the end of June, the Scottish Parliament met regularly but it was officially opened by the Queen on July 1st, 1999.

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