The Welfare State

Introduced in Britain in 1948 and based on the National Insurance and National Health Service Acts, the Welfare State's main features are free medical services for all and joint employee/employer financing against old age. Contrary to popular belief, the author of this text argues, the father of the welfare state, William Beveridge, never believed in the idea of a cradle-to-grave state service. In the year the Labour Party celebrates its 100th birthday and New Labour embarks upon welfare reform, Derek Fraser provides a short overview of the system and its first half century.