Eva Said:

How did the liberal reforms of the 19th century change Britain?

We Answered:

Workers had more rights, more people got the right to vote, all children got the right to education, and people got more resources from the government (help if they needed it). W.E. Gladstone was an important Liberal prime minister during this period, and Conservatives in power included Benjamin Disraeli. Queen Victoria was the queen during most of the 19th century.

Francisco Said:

History Question. Explain why the Liberal Reforms (1906-1914) failed to solve the problems of the poor?

We Answered:

Between 1906 and 1914 the Liberal reforms attempted to deal with the problem of poverty. The Liberals focused on four groups in society - the old, the young, the sick and the unemployed.

Old age pensions

In 1908, the Liberals introduced old age pensions which became law in 1909. This Act gave pensions of five shillings per week (25 pence in today's money) at the single rate to persons over 70 whose incomes were less than £21 per year. A married couple received seven shillings and sixpence a week. This sum could be collected at the Post Office. A smaller amount was paid to slightly higher earners. People who had an income greater than £31.50 per year received no pension at all. Those who had habitually failed to work or who had been in prison also received nothing.
The major criticism of this Act was that it did not go far enough. The money was not enough to enable people to pay for the barest necessities and, although it helped, it was not the answer to old age poverty. Also, many elderly people needed financial help long before they reached 70 years of age. In fact most died before receiving a pension.

'Children's Charter'

In 1906, the government allowed local authorities to provide free school meals for poor children. In 1907 school medical inspections began, although it was not until 1912 that free medical treatment was available.
Social reformers blamed poverty for causing crime among the young people. There was also the view that by sending young law breakers to adult prisons they would simply learn how to be better criminals. As such, in 1908 juvenile courts and borstals were set up.
These reforms, including forbidding the sale of cigarettes and alcohol to children under 16 years of age, were given the name 'Children's Charter' because it was believed these measures would guarantee a better life for young people. However, the provision of school meals was not made compulsory until 1914 and researchers found that during school holidays the growth of children slowed and body weight often declined.
Medical inspections did little to solve any problems they uncovered and so it was not until free medical treatment became available in 1912 that the situation could get better. However, education authorities largely ignored the provision of free medical treatment for school children.

Health insurance

In the early twentieth century a free National Health Service did not yet exist and the poor could not usually afford medical services. To help address this, the Liberal Government introduced the National Insurance Act in 1911.
For the first time, compulsory health insurance was provided for workers earning less than £160 per year. The scheme was contributory. The worker paid fourpence a week, employers paid threepence and the state paid twopence. The scheme provided sickness benefit entitlement of nine shillings (45 pence), free medical treatment and maternity benefit of 30 shillings (£1.50).

Unemployment insurance

The second part of the National Insurance Act dealt with unemployment. Most insured workers were given seven shillings (35 pence) unemployment benefit a week for a maximum of 15 weeks in any year if they became unemployed. This scheme was also contributory - financed through a combination of worker and state contributions to the scheme.
However, this Act only provided for the insured employee and not his family. Also, the Act was meant only to cover temporary unemployment and only applied to seven trades, most of which suffered from seasonal unemployment. When long term unemployment increased after World War I, the system began to break down as the government was taking in less money from workers than it was paying out to the unemployed.

Results

Overall, the Liberal reforms marked a transition point between old laissez-faire attitudes and those of a more collectivist nature. The reforms made only limited inroads into the problem of poverty. The pensions paid were inadequate and the unemployment benefits were limited to only certain trades, and then provided only for the employee and not his family. The government was prepared to intervene to help the poor, but the poor had also to help themselves by making contributions towards their benefits.

Dean Said:

How did the Liberal Reforms help children, the sick and the old, and the unemployed?

We Answered:

liberals gave them education and health care...

those are the biggies...

and just to prove a point, poverty has declined greatly since the New Deal and Great Society programs, average life spans have increased and unemployment, overall, has remained low...

seems to be working wonders...

Yolanda Said:

Where can i find revision on the liberal reforms and the womens votes?

We Answered:

Well, I know its a bit late now but GCSE bitesize history Britain Depth Study
and
http://www.mrallsophistory.com they have really good powerpoint presentations and podcasts.

Also, schoolhistory.co.uk is amazing!

Please tell you me you revised Homefront....

Sergio Said:

How many more liberal reforms can we afford before the nation is bankrupt?

We Answered:

Every day the US Govt has to borrow more money in order to simply keep up with current costs.

It's like having $4,000 in monthly income,and $5,000 in monthly expenses.Then every month you put $1,000 on a Credit Card to keep up.

In other words,we're already more or less bankrupt.And 0bama just keeps borrowing more.

RWE

Tommy Said:

List some reasons why Liberal Reforms were introduced in the UK on 1906 - 1914?

We Answered:

The British, were and still are way behind the Germans, introduced the Old-age pension in 1906 and later some form of insurance based access to medical benefits, in response to the Germans introducing civilised benefits in the 1890's,