The Report of the National Assistance Board for 1952
| Published date | 01 December 1953 |
| Date | 01 December 1953 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1953.tb01714.x |
The Report
-HE
Report of the
the National Assistance
Board
for
1952
By R. E.
C.
JEWELL
National Assistance Board for 1952 contains some
1
sta&g facts and figures which encourage reflection on the central
position of national assistance in the Welfare State today. In his introduction
of the Report to the Minister of National Insurance, the Chairman of the
Board, Mr. George Buchanan, observes that during the year under review
the number of persons receiving weekly assistance rose by more than 200,000,
which was considerably more than the rise in 1951. In the Spring of last
year the Board proposed increases in the assistance rates to meet the higher
food prices resulting from the Budget reductions in subsidies and other
higher costs. The new rates are nearly half as much again as the rates that
came into operation at the start of national assistance in 1948. The consequent
rise in the average payment, combined with the large number of allowances,
has brought the rate of expenditure on assistance to over A100 million
a
year. A remark
of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget speech
last year, quoted in the Report, is significant
:
“
The ultimate protection
against want in this country is National Assistance.
I
have no doubt that
the National Assistance Board
will
take cognisance
of
my proposals on food
subsidies and will make appropriate recommendations.
.
.
.”
The other arresting statement in
Mr.
Buchanan’s introductory remarks
is to the effect that additional persons over retirement age who needed
assistance in supplementation of their retirement pensions
or
non-contributory
old age pensions accounted for more than half the increase. In addition,
allowances were made in supplementation
of
sickness
or
industrial injury
benefit, widows’ benefit and unemployment benefit. More than a million
of
the persons drawing national assistance on 5th November, 1952, were
over pensionable age and nearly 200,000 were over
80
years old; women
drawing assistance numbered more than a million.
It
can thus be seen
that the national insurance scheme introduced after the war is at present
failing to achieve its primary purpose as the contributory benefits provided
are inadequate.
Fortunately the National Insurance Act provides for a review of the
working of the scheme in 1954. The timing could hardly be more opportune
and a detailed examination of all aspects of the scheme will then be possible.
In addition, remedial action could be provided by the government actively
encouraging men and women to remain at work as long as possible.
The absurd situation that has arisen owing to the inadequacy of existing
insurance benefits is well illustrated in the following passage of the Report
:
. .
.
Widows’, sickness and unemployment benefits were not increased
until 24th July, family allowances until 2nd September and retirement
pensions until
29th
Septcmber.
Thus
a
sick man with a wife and three
children who before 16th Junc (the date of the assistance
scale
increases)
was
receiving sickness
benefit
at
the
standard
rate
of
57s.,
with
family
cc
417
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