SOCIAL SECURITY FOR BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23811, 3 December 1942, Page 5

SOCIAL SECURITY FOR BRITAIN

Beveridge Report

Issued

MINIMUM LIVING STANDARD

(N.Z, Press Association—Copyright.)

(Rec. 7 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 1. A minimum standard of living in Britain after the war is visualised in the Beveridge report, which will be debated in the House of Commons after Christmas, and was issued today as a White Paper. For the purpose of the benefits proposed by the report, on which Sir William Beveridge and a staff of experts have been working since June last year, the population is divided into six groups. The revenue proposals are on the principle of a weekly contribution from earners, a proportion from employers, and the balance from the State.

The first of the six groups includes wage earners and all other employees who, for the payment of a small sum each week, would receive medical benefits, compensation for accidents, unemployment benefits, and retiring allowances.

In the second group are small tradesmen who would receive free medical treatment, disability pension, and funeral grants. Women are included in the third group, for which the report recommends marriage allowances, maternity grants, and a special widows’ benefit. Students and other persons not earning would be granted free medical treatment and funeral allowances, and children up to the age of 16 would be granted a sum of 8s a week by the State. Old-age pensioners are covered in the last group, and they would be provided with free medical treatment and funeral grants. Provisional Benefit Rates Sir William Beveridge says that the money rates of the benefits cannot now be settled finally, since such factors as price levels may change. Based on the present value of money, the most important of the provisional rates recommended is 40s a week for a man and his wife in unemployment and disability, and after a period of retirement a pension, in addition to allowances for children, at an average rate of 8s a head weekly. For married women gainfully occupied there would be a maternity benefit at the rate of 36s a week, for 13 weeks, in addition to a maternity grant of £4 available for all married women. Other rates, such as those for widowhood and industrial disability, show similar increases.

A marriage grant of up to £lO, according to the number of contributions, and a funeral grant of £2O for adults, are provided. Provisional rates of weekly contribution suggested are; 4s 3d for an insured man over 21 years of age. in classes 1, 2, and 3; and 3s fid a week in class 4; 3s 6d weekly for an insured woman over 21 in class 1, with other classes contributing proportionately. The employer's weekly rate of contribution is 3s 3d for a man, and 2s 6d for a woman, over 21. Contributions by individuals and employers are lower for those under 21.

The plan, according to Sir William Beveridge, seeks “to abolish want by ensuring that every citizen willing to serve, according to his power, has at all times sufficient income to meet his responsibilities.” “Fundamental Principles”

Six fundamental principles arc embodied in the Beveridge plan. They are;

(1) The provision of a flat rate of insurance benefit, irrespective of the amount of earnings which arc interrupted by unemployment or disability or ended by retirement. (2) A flat rate of contribution, rich and poor paying the same contributions for the same security.

(3) Unification of administrative responsibility—a single contribution in respect of all benefits and a security office in each locality to deal with every sort of claim difficulty. (4) Adequacy of benefit, the proposed rate of benefit being intended to be sufficient alone to provide the minimum income needed for subsistence in all normal cases.

(5) Comprehensiveness—Social insurance should not leave to national assistance or voluntary insurance any risk so general that uniform social insurance can be justified for it. (6) Classification—Adjustment of insurance to satisfy the differing circumstances and needs of each of the six classes into which the population would be divided.

Sir William Beveridge estimates that the plan would involve the national Exchequer in an additional charge of at most £86,000,000 in the first year of full operation, which he describes as not unreasonable. That the burden can be borne, he says, is hardly open to question. He adds that the contributions which would be required of an insured person for all vital security are substantially less than he is now paying for compulsory insurance for a loss important purpose, or on account of medical services for which he pays when he receives them. The additional charge to employers would be well repaid by greater efficiency and contentment.

Sir William Beveridge advocates that the plan should be put into operation in the immediate aftermath of the war. He also recommends the establishment of reciprocity with similar schemes in other countries, to facilitate labour becoming mobile without loss of insurance benefits. At a press conference, Sir William Beveridge said: “The plan does not assume that there will be no unemployment. On the contrary, it provides money for an 81 per cent, rate of unemployment continuously. I do not want this state of affairs, but the scheme’s finances will stand it. Nevertheless. I strongly urge that steps should be taken to prevent mass unemployment. “The plan treats a man and his wife as a team, each of whom is necessary for a man’s earnings. When earnings are stopped there will bo a joint benefit, The principle of the scheme is that trousers should pay more than skirts unless the ladies wear the trousers.”

“A British Revolution”

Sir William Beveridge says that the existing measures in Britain for social security, with the one exception of medical services, are not surpassed and hardly rivalled elsewhere in the world. He claims that the abolition of want just before this war was easily within the economic resources of the community, but want was not abolished and that is the aim of the Beveridge plan. ‘‘The scheme proposed is in some ways a revolution,” says Sir William, “but in more important ways it is a natural development from the past. It is a British revolution.” The report gives three principles as having guided Sir William Beveridge in formulating his proposals;— (1) Though full use should be made of past experience, the proposals should not be restricted by consideration of sectional interests—a revolutionary moment in the world’s history is not the time for patching, (2) Want must be recognised as only one and perhaps the least complicated of the five giants on the road of reconstruction: the others are disease, ignorance. squalor, and idleness. Social security is only part of the general social policy. (3) Social security must be achieved by co-operation between the State and individual. The State should offer security for service and contribution. Sir William Beveridge concludes: “This report is submitted by one who believes that the British people in this supreme crisis will not lack the courage, national unity, or material and spiritual power, to plan their part in achieving both social security and the victory of justice among nations upon which that security depends.”