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The Beveridge Report at 80

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorBen Williams,Kevin Hickson
Date01 March 2022
DOI10.1177/20419058221091635
Published date01 March 2022
26 POLITICAL INSIGHT • APRIL 2022
Few policy papers have had as much
impact on British political life as
the Beveridge Report. Written by
Liberal-supporting social reformer
and economist William Beveridge, the
government report, ocially titled
Social Insurance and Allied Services,
has
become the dening tenet of the modern
welfare state. But its initial publication –
80 years ago this year – divided opinion.
Wartime Chancellor Kingsley Wood declared
that the extension of state intervention and
The Beveridge
Report at 80
Kevin Hickson and Ben Williams trace the modern history of
a foundational moment in the Britain’s welfare state: the 1942
Beveridge Report.
signicant expense envisioned by Beveridge
was ‘an impracticable nancial commitment’.
But Beveridge’s report was soon widely
read and generated much public interest:
by 1945, 600,000 copies had been sold. It
was signicant in the outcome of that year’s
watershed general election – quite simply,
Labour was trusted to deliver Beveridge’s
main proposals and the Conservatives
weren’t. It subsequently proved to be
the catalyst for a whole range of more
© Pictorial Press / Alamy Stock Photo
Political Insight April 2022 BU.indd 26Political Insight April 2022 BU.indd 26 01/03/2022 10:2801/03/2022 10:28

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