The Beveridge Report at 80
| Author | Ben Williams,Kevin Hickson |
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/20419058221091635 |
26POLITICAL 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, ocially titled
Social Insurance and Allied Services,
has
become the dening 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.
signicant 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 signicant 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 2601/03/2022 10:2801/03/2022 10:28
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