Social insurance and allied services : memorandum on the Beveridge Report
1943-02-10 1943 1940s 24 pages 22. These employers' contributions, amounting under the "Beveridge" plan to £137 millions a year, cannot be disposed of as something which does not affect our selling prices. It affects our selling prices materially as compared wi...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
10 February 1943
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/6D3B304A-78C2-4FCA-AD80-A7FEA8031D11 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/9A2AEB7C-53CC-4834-B0BE-479CA166CCFB |
| Summary: | 1943-02-10
1943
1940s
24 pages
22. These employers' contributions, amounting under the "Beveridge" plan to £137 millions a year, cannot be disposed of as something which does not affect our selling prices. It affects our selling prices materially as compared with the selling prices of countries which do not bear these charges, and through its effect on selling prices, reacts on our order books and - therefore on industry's ability to offer employment to the people in this country willing and anxious to undertake it. (e) The "Beveridge" plan would also materially increase the amount which has to be found by the taxpayer to subsidise the insurance premium. It is true that that part of the cost of the plan would fall on profits but it is equally true that, in so far as profits have to be heavily taxed, there is less left for the building up of those financial reserves which are essential if British industry is to devote to maintenance development and research the sums necessary to enable it to continue to maintain and develop its trade throughout the world. (66) As previously pointed out, the "Beveridge" proposals rest essentially on Assumption C - The Maintenance of Employment. If Sir William's estimate of 10% should turn out to be wrong, and this country, in spite of its greatest efforts should, through international factors outside its control or any other reason, have to face mass unemployment, the "Beveridge" proposals could only be met by an inflated currency. That issue, however, raises questions of economic and commercial policy with which the Confederation, under its Constitution, does not deal. These questions are dealt with by the Federation of British Industries and that Federation will no doubt at the appropriate moment formulate its views on the aspects of the Report which fell within its province. (67) Meanwhile, we are profoundly convinced that the primary concern of the people of this country - whose efforts are today centred on the achievement of victory and the preservation of personal freedom - is that, when the war is won, they can look forward to regular employment and will not again be exposed to the mass unemployment, with all its frustrations, hopelessness and demoralisation, which followed in the wake of our last victory. It is therefore towards the ensuring of regular employment that the efforts of every section of the community must be bent, and it is because we believe that the proposals in the "Beveridge" Report for providing Benefits, Allowances, Services and Grants to those who are not in want would, through their drain on the country's resources and their reactions on industry/
200/B/3/2/C216/5/50 |
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |