10 - Beveridge on a Welfare Society: An Integration of His Trilogy

Summary

INTRODUCTION

It is generally accepted that the Beveridge Report, formally entitled the Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942), was ‘regarded as the main blueprint for the creation of the post-war welfare state and his “scheme” affected the development of British social policy for a generation after 1945’ (Harris 2004 p. 289). During the Atlee government, basic acts, such as the National Insurance Act and the National Health Service Act of 1946, were passed. Through such measures, some of Beveridge's ideas were put into practice.

In this chapter we shall look at the broader picture, considering three works that can be seen as trilogy providing an integrated perspective on the welfare state. There are two reasons why it is valuable to see these three works as a whole. First, this brings out a more coherent understanding of Beveridge's ideas on welfare. Beyond both his unquestioning belief in price mechanism in the early 1930s and his fierce attack on economists' methodology, including that of Keynes's General Theory, in the late 1930s (see Chapter 9 by Marcuzzo), Beveridge came to embrace a comprehensive vision of an ideal future world, encompassing the roles of government, market, and community. Second, the notion of a welfare society with citizenship helps defend Beveridge against some of the criticisms that have been levelled against the welfare state. The second section of this chapter deals with social security, the third section discusses full employment, and the fourth section considers voluntary action.