📋 The register
Disabled people could sign up to a national register if their disability made it hard to find or keep work. Registering was voluntary. Those on it could get help with training and finding a job.
The Impact of Depression and War, 1928-45 » The Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section B, Breadth study B8, Key topic 2
- Why Parliament passed the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act in 1944
- What the register, the quota and sheltered work were
- Why the Act was significant, and where it fell short
- How the Depression and the Second World War changed Britain, 1928-45
In 1944 Britain was still at war, yet Parliament passed a law to help disabled people find work. It was the first time a British law set out to give disabled people a share of jobs. This lesson looks at why it was passed, what it did, and how far it changed things.
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Unlock This CourseWhy was the Act passed?
Several things pushed the government towards action. Between the wars, disabled people had often been seen as a burden, and many lived in institutions or on poor relief. After the First World War a voluntary scheme, the King's National Roll, had asked employers to take on disabled ex-servicemen, but employers could not be forced to join.
The Second World War made the problem larger. Bombing injured civilians as well as soldiers, and thousands of servicemen would return with lost limbs or other injuries. At the same time, factories were short of workers, so every skilled person mattered. In 1941 the government set up a committee, known as the Tomlinson Committee, to study how disabled people could be trained and found work. Its report came out in 1943, and the Act followed in 1944.
Key terms:
- Register: an official list of disabled people who wanted help finding work.
- Quota: the share of an employer's workers that had to be registered disabled people (3 per cent under the 1944 Act).
- Sheltered work: jobs in special workplaces for people whose disabilities made ordinary jobs very hard to get or keep.
- Resettlement: helping a person back into work and daily life after injury or illness.
What did the Act do?
💼 The quota
Employers with 20 or more workers had to make sure that 3 per cent of them were registered disabled people. Employers who fell short were limited in taking on other workers, and could be fined.
The Act also let the government reserve some jobs for registered disabled people, such as lift attendants and car park attendants. For people who could not work in ordinary firms, it provided sheltered work. The best known scheme was Remploy, which ran factories that employed severely disabled people. The Act also backed training and resettlement services.
How significant was it?
Significance
New principle: for the first time the state said that employers, not only charities, had a duty to give disabled people work.
Practical help: training, the register and sheltered workshops gave thousands of people a wage and a place in society.
Limits: many employers did not reach the 3 per cent and few were prosecuted. Many disabled people did not register, because they did not want to be labelled. Sheltered work kept disabled people apart from other workers, and the Act did not make it illegal to treat disabled people unfairly. That did not come until much later.
Drawing it together: Depression and war, 1928-45
What changed and what stayed the same
Class: the Depression brought mass unemployment and the means test, and the Jarrow Crusade of 1936 showed anger about it. War then brought full employment and rationing, which shared hardship more fairly.
Gender: women gained equal voting rights in 1928, but the marriage bar and lower pay held them back until war work and national service for women opened new jobs.
Race: ethnic tensions grew in the 1930s, with the British Union of Fascists, refugees from Nazi Europe arrived and in 1940 many "aliens" were interned, and the war brought Empire volunteers and the colour bar. The Constantine case in 1944 made the colour bar a public issue, yet it stayed legal.
Disability: eugenic ideas and institutions in the 1930s gave way to the 1944 Act.
Overall: war did more than the Depression to push the government to act, but most of the big changes in rights came after 1945.
Common mistakes
- Saying the Act banned discrimination against disabled people. It did not; it set a quota and offered help.
- Writing that registering was compulsory. It was voluntary.
- Saying the quota was always met. Many employers fell short.
- Describing the Act only as a result of the war. The Tomlinson Committee and the earlier voluntary scheme also mattered.
Exam-style question
This is a Paper 2 Section B (c) question. Cover at least three aspects, weigh change against continuity, and end with a judgement.
How far did opportunities for disabled people in Britain change in the years 1914-45?
You may use the following in your answer:
- the First World War
- the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act (1944)
You must also use information of your own. [16 marks]
Model answer
Opportunities for disabled people changed a good deal by 1945, but the biggest changes came late and many things stayed the same.
The First World War brought some change. About 41,000 men lost limbs, and the government opened hospitals such as Queen Mary's at Roehampton to fit artificial limbs. The King's National Roll of 1919 asked employers to take on disabled ex-servicemen, which opened some jobs. However, it was voluntary, and it helped war veterans rather than disabled people in general.
Between the wars there was less change. The Mental Deficiency Act, passed in 1913, was still in force and let people judged to be "mentally defective" be kept in colonies, and in the 1930s eugenicists such as those in the Eugenics Society argued that disabled people should not have children. The Brock Committee of 1934 suggested voluntary sterilisation, though Parliament did not pass a law. In the Depression, with nearly three million unemployed, employers had little reason to hire disabled workers. So in the 1920s and 1930s opportunities were limited and attitudes were often harsh.
The Second World War brought the biggest change. Labour shortages and thousands of injured servicemen and civilians led to the Tomlinson Committee, and then the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act of 1944. For the first time employers with 20 or more workers had to employ a quota of 3 per cent registered disabled people. Training, the register and Remploy's sheltered workshops gave thousands of people jobs.
Yet the change had limits. Many employers did not meet the quota and few were prosecuted. Registration was voluntary, and sheltered work separated disabled people from other workers. There was still no law against discrimination.
Overall, opportunities changed significantly, because by 1945 the law gave disabled people a right to help finding work that they did not have in 1914. But the change was limited in its effect, since attitudes and discrimination remained. The 1944 Act mattered more than the First World War, which helped only some veterans.
What lifts it to the top level: it covers three periods, weighs change against continuity, uses facts beyond the bullets, and reaches a judgement against a stated criterion (a right in law compared with real effect).
Exam tip
For "how far" in a change-over-time question, run through the whole date range in order and give a counter-case. Finish with a judgement that names your criterion, such as the effect in practice or the number of people affected.