Memorandum on the Beveridge Report

1943-02 1943 1940s 28 pages The subsistence basis as adopted by Sir William Beveridge was an attempt to state what bare "freedom from want" meant, not merely in money terms, but in terms of food, clothing and shelter. It assumed a certain expenditure on food based on the British M...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Beveridge, William Henry Beveridge, Baron, 1879-1963 (contributor)
Institution:MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Language:English
English
Published: London : Communist Party of Great Britain February 1943
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10796/5AC75DEA-8498-4D3C-8657-F10F784C5DF7
http://hdl.handle.net/10796/9D0AEA7C-E282-492A-867B-CBB225B2D938
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Summary:1943-02 1943 1940s 28 pages The subsistence basis as adopted by Sir William Beveridge was an attempt to state what bare "freedom from want" meant, not merely in money terms, but in terms of food, clothing and shelter. It assumed a certain expenditure on food based on the British Medical Association scales, a certain expenditure for clothing and for rent. Now, the Communist Party is of the opinion that this subsistence scale was somewhat niggardly; but at any rate it is a scale which tried to define subsistence in terms of real things. At those points where the scale was insufficient, its insufficiency could be demonstrated. Sir William Beveridge's scales of benefit were based on two considerations: (i) what was necessary to sustain an unemployed or sick man, or an old age pensioner; and (2) what the contributors to social insurance and the state could afford. The Government has rejected the first criterion and has fastened only on the second. There will, therefore, be no guarantee that any scales of benefit it proposes shall be adequate even for physical subsistence. It followed from Sir William Beveridge's proposals that benefit should be related to the cost of living. Thus the benefit of 24/- for a single person and 40/- for a couple is related to a cost of living of 25 per cent above the level of 1938. In rejecting the principle of a subsistence scale, the Government also rejects the relation of benefits to the cost of living. Thus if the cost of living in post-war years should be higher than that anticipated by Sir William Beveridge, it would be possible to give the amounts of money proposed by Sir William Beveridge, but the recipients would not be able to purchase any more goods than they are able to do on the basis of the present low scales. The Government can also be charged with robbing the old age pensioners of hope. Beveridge proposes to put old age pensions (after twenty years' transition) on a subsistence basis. This scale in our opinion is an exceedingly low one, but the Government does not hold out the hope of the old age pensioner reaching it even after a period of twenty years. 4 15X/2/103/272
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