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Unlock This CourseBefore 1900 most people believed that looking after your health was your own business. Governments only stepped in to clean up the environment, for example with sewers and clean water under the Public Health Act of 1875. In 1906 the Liberal Government won a huge election victory. Within five years it passed laws that helped individual people, especially children, the old and workers. There were four main reasons.
Key terms:
Many poor children came to school hungry and could not learn. The 1906 Act let councils use money from local rates to give free meals to children in need. (Local rates are a local tax.) Councils were allowed to do this, not forced, so only some did it at first.
From 1907 councils had to arrange for doctors to inspect children in state schools. Inspectors found problems such as bad teeth, poor eyesight and skin infections. At first the law did not pay for treatment, so parents often could not afford to fix what was found. From 1912 the government gave councils money to run school clinics.
From January 1909, people over 70 with very little money received 5 shillings a week (a quarter of a pound), collected at the post office. It was small, but it kept many old people out of the workhouse (where the very poor lived and worked for food) and gave them food and warmth, which helped their health.
Lloyd George's scheme covered workers earning under £160 a year. The worker paid 4d a week, the employer 3d and the state 2d. Lloyd George called it "ninepence for fourpence". In return a sick worker got sick pay of 10 shillings a week for up to 26 weeks, free treatment from a "panel doctor" and care in a sanatorium (a hospital for TB patients) for tuberculosis.
The Act also included unemployment insurance for workers in a few trades, such as building and shipbuilding. Some doctors feared they would be paid too little, but most joined the scheme.
These measures changed the government's role. The state was now helping people directly, not only cleaning up towns. School inspections brought hidden illness to light. School meals and pensions eased the poverty that made people ill. National Insurance meant that millions of workers could see a doctor without paying and could stay off work without falling into debt. It also paid for the care of tuberculosis patients, a major killer.
So there was real change, but not a complete health service. That only came later, with the National Health Service (see the lesson on Beveridge and the National Health Service).
Change: government action moved from the environment (sewers, water) to the individual (children, workers, the old). Continuity: help was still limited, and many people were left out. Some of the new help, such as school meals, was still left to councils to choose.
Explain TWO ways in which government action on public health in the years 1906-11 was different from government action under the Public Health Act of 1875. [6 marks]
(Remember: the 1875 Act forced councils to provide sewers, clean water and rubbish collection, and to appoint medical officers and sanitary inspectors.)
One difference is who the action helped. The 1875 Act improved the town environment for everyone, with sewers and clean water, whereas the Liberal reforms of 1906-11 targeted individuals, such as hungry schoolchildren, over-70s on pensions of 5 shillings and insured workers who received sick pay and a panel doctor.
Another difference is how far councils were forced to act. In 1875 councils had to provide sewers and appoint sanitary inspectors, so action was compulsory. In 1906 the free school meals law only allowed councils to provide meals, so many did not, and action was voluntary.
This reaches the top level because each way compares both periods, with a specific fact on each side.
For "different from" questions, name both periods in every sentence ("In 1875 ... whereas in 1906 ..."). Give two ways, and compare both periods in each. One way alone scores at most 3, and a way that covers only one period is not a comparison.