Compare and

contrast the welfare system Beveridge describes and the pre-existing welfare

measures that had been rolled out in the Edwardian period (scope/values/how they

operated). Where was William Beveridge being radical and when was he merely expanding

the existing system?

Discuss

William Beveridge’s political leaning. Would you argue that this proposal builds

on Liberal or Socialist thinking? Justify.

Line 6.  Beveridge’s call for revolution rather than ‘patching’; in other words, he sees the war as an opportunity to fundamentally redesign social structures rather than make small adjustments. Do you agree with him? Do you believe that wars are good windows of opportunity for revolutionary changes? Justify using historical evidence from the periods studied.

Whose views

and ideas probably influenced the content of the Beveridge Report?

Line 20. Beveridge describes his plan as ‘first

and foremost a plan of insurance.’

line 12. Why does Beveridge emphasise the role of

both the State and the individual in achieving social security?

According

to the text, who should benefit from the welfare system he envisions?

What does

Beveridge mean when arguing that Want/poverty is the ‘easiest’ of the Five

Giants” to deal with (l. 10)?

Beveridge refers to Want, Idleness, Ignorance, Squalor and Disease as the five inter-related social issues to be tackled as a whole. Which social problem do they each represent?

Line 8, Beveridge

insists that social insurance should be part of a broader policy of social

progress. What does this imply about his approach?