A: GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The essence of Beveridge report

In the Regime of Wiston Churchil in the year of 1940, it was this time when the government was
focused on the military strategies without letting behind the Britain domestic future and the
possibility of creating New Jerusalem, under the publication of trusted Beveridge Report in the
rate 1942. The labor party entered into the coalition with the Conservative Party especially on
their social security problem on the part of the labor. The Portfolio minister responsible for labor
had appointed the special committee under the head of William Henry Beveridge. 1

In the second half of World war two, the Britain government had shown up intention of victory
by building up the domestic welfare which was grounded in the idea of BRAVE NEW WORLD.
The prime minister express his mood of the nation by saying, our only aim in this war is victory,
he continued said; if we speak of democracy which maintain the rights to vote but forget right to
work and the right to live, if we speak freedom we do not mean rugged individualism which
exclude social organization and economic planning… the European house cannot be in the order
unless we put our own house in order first.

Soon after appointing the special committee dealing with the social security and allied services,
they had established the area for surveying, starting from the poor law of England that was the
product of almost 45 years ago, which include but not limited to; Workmen’s compensation Act
1897, The Pension Act 1908 and 1925 and Unemployment Act 1934.

Also the committee assigned to survey on the whole field of social insurance and allied services.
In doing so the committee recommendation was grounded into three principle those are; any
proposal for the future should not restrict to use for the past experiences by considering sectional
interest. The organization of social insurance should be treated as one part only of
comprehensive policy of social progress that could attack the said giant. Social security could be
archive by the cooperation addressed by the state and individual.

1
Kelvin Jefrey (1994) War and Reform British Politics during Second World War, Manchester University Press,
Manchester pg 88-89

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The Summary of the Beveridge Report

In a nutshell, During in 1941 the inter-departmental Committee on Social Insurance and Allied
Services were appointed by the Minister for a comprehensive survey of existing schemes of
social insurance and allied services, including workmen compensation, and to make
recommendation, William Beveridge he was invited to be a chairman of the committee. 2On the
other hand the first task of the committee has to attempt for the first time a comprehensive
survey of the whole field of social insurance and allied services, to show just what provision is
now made and how it is made for many different forms of need. 3 And on how the government
could protect and promotes the economic and social well- being of the citizens, based upon the
principle of equal opportunity. Equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for the
citizens unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life.

As a matter of fact, Social Insurance(Security) and Allied Services, more commonly referred
to as The Beveridge Report, was published during the Second World War, in 1942, and is
widely regarded as the foundation stone of the post- war British welfare state.

It was meant to be a “blue-print for the future”, once the War was won. It described the road to
social reconstruction after the war as involving ‘slaying the five giants’ of Want, Disease,
Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness’. Hence it claimed to offer all citizen’s protection as of right
from the cradle to the grave, thereby abolishing the hated household means tests that had
characteristics public relief in Britain during slump year of 1930s.

On the same token under the plan for social security Beveridge propose six principle which
could be applied, and these principle are herein under explained as follows;

i. Flat rate of subsistence benefit

ii. Flat rate of contribution

iii. Unification of administrative responsibility

iv. Adequacy of benefit

v. Comprehensiveness
2
William Beveridge, Social Insurance and Allied Services report
3
Ibid at pg5

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 vi. Classification

Flat rate of subsistence benefit

The first fundamental principle of the social insurance scheme is provision of a flat rate of
insurance benefit, irrespective of the amount of the earning which have been interrupted by
unemployment or disability or ended by retirement, exceptional is made only where prolonged
disability has resulted from an industrial accident or disease. On other hand this means that the
amount which contributed by a person without regard his or her income but the social insurance
will provided to all. Also it meant that all would receive the same amount, one that was
“adequate to provide an agreed minimum standard of living and would last as long as required”

Flat rate of contribution

The second fundamental principle of the scheme is that the compulsory contribution required of
each insured person or his employer is at a flat rate, irrespectively of his means, all insured
persons rich or poor pay the same contributions for the same security, those with larger means
will pay more only to the extent that as tax- payers they pay more to the National exchequer and
so to the state share of the social insurance fund. This feature distinguishes the scheme recently
established in New Zealand under which contributions are graduated by income.

Unification of administrative responsibility

This is the third principle upon this for each insured person there will be a single weekly
contribution, in respect of all his benefits, there will be in each locality a security office able to
deal with claims of every kind and all sides of security. The method of paying different kinds of
cash benefit will be different and will take account of the circumstances of insured persons,
providing for payment at the home or elsewhere, as is necessary, all contribution will be paid
into a single social insurance fund and all benefits and other insurance payments will be paid
from the fund.

Adequacy of benefit

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Under this principle it require that, the flat rate of benefit proposed is intended in itself to be
sufficient without further resources to provide the minimum income needed for subsistence in all
normal cases. It gives room and a basis for additional voluntary provision, but does not assume
that in any case.

Comprehensive

The principle state that the social insurance should be comprehensive, in respect both of the
persons covered and of their needs, it should not leave either to national assistance or to
voluntary insurance any risk so general or so uniform that social insurance can be justified, for
national assistance involves a means test which may discourage voluntary insurance or personal
saving, and voluntary insurance can never be sure of covering the ground, for any need moreover
which, like direct funeral expenses, is so general and so uniform as to be a fit subject for
insurance by compulsion.

Classification

While unified and comprehensive, must take account of the different ways of life of different
sections of the community: of those department on earnings by employment under contract of
service, of those earning in other ways, of those rendering vital unpaid services as housewives, of
those not yet of age to earn, and of those past earning. The term classification is used to denote
adjustment of insurance to the differing circumstances of each of these classes and many
varieties of need and circumstances within each insurance class. But the insurance classes are not
economic or social classes.

The plan for social security starts with consideration of the people and of their needs, upon
which Britain people divided into six main classes described as employees, gainfully employed,
housewives, working age, below working age, and retired above working age. Needs of all those
people mentioned herein above are differ, some needs for medical treatment, other need children
allowance for example those who working below age, retired above working age need pensions,
and whereby neither of these classes can be called on to contribute for social insurance.

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But other classes have their own needs which is different from needs of the classes explained
hereinabove for example the employees except for medical treatment, funeral expenses and
pensions, they need security against interruption of earnings by unemployment and disability,

Also the person gainfully in additional for the medical treatment, funeral expenses and pensions
they need provision for loss of earnings through disability and they need some provision for loss
of livelihood. While the housewives they have a variety of special needs arising out of marriage.

For that matter, in order to solve the problem of needs or contingencies existed to the
community then Beveridge report propose the followings;

Unemployment: that is to say, inability to obtain employment by a person dependent on it and

physically fit for it, in addressing this problem the report propose to grant for unemployment
benefit.

Disability: that is to say, in ability of a person of working age, through illness or accident, to
pursue a gainful occupation, in addressing this problem the report plan to grant for the disability
benefit and industrial pension.

Loss of livelihood by person not dependent on paid employment, the report propose the
government to provide training benefit.

Nature of social insurance: The report propose that under the schemes of social insurance every
citizen of working age will contribute his appropriate class according to the security that he
needs, this means that each will be covered by for all his needs by a single weekly contribution
on one insurance document. That is to say, a system of national insurance which would provide
protection ‘from the cradle to the grave’ in return for a weekly compulsory payment by all
workers. The proposals, which formed the basis of the National Insurance Act 1946, It did not
represent a radical departure from the situation pertaining before the war, but they did bring
unemployment, sickness, retirement and maternity benefits together under a single system, while
retaining the National Assistance Board with its means-tested benefits as an additional resource
of last resort for those whose incomes still fell below a minimal subsistence line. This unified
system of national insurance was financed out of insurance payments rather than taxation, for the
government was determined to retain the link between payment and entitlement.

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Retirement from occupation: Paid or unpaid through age, met by retirement pension.

Marriage needs of a woman: In order to address the needs of the housewives the report propose
the followings; Marriage, met by marriage grant. Maternity, met by maternity grant in all cases,
and, in the case of a married woman in gainful occupation, also by maternity benefit for a period
before and after confinement. Widowhood, met by provision varying according to circumstances
including temporary widow benefit for readjustment, the provision of guardian benefit while
caring for children and training benefit and when there are no children in need of care.
Separation, in order to cure the separation problem the report propose the provision and provides
of separation benefit, guardian benefit and training benefit and lastly Incapacity for household
duties, in addressing this problem the report propose the provision of paid help in illness as part
of treatment

To suffix it, Beveridge report set out a plan to put an end to what called as the “five giants” –
wants such as poverty, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness. The centerpiece of the report
was a state-run system of compulsory insurance, every worker by contributing to a scheme of
national insurance deducted through the weekly or monthly pay-packet, would be helping to
build up a fund that would pay out weekly benefit to those who were sick or unemployed or who
suffered industrial injury.

The scheme would pay pensions at the end of working life to employees to employees and the
self- employed. The purpose of the ideas was to support the worker and his family. Benefit were
to be set at a level that enabled a man, his wife and child to survive, there would be benefit for
widows and an allowance guardian of children without parents to care them, a system of family
allowance for the second child and subsequent children was intended to ensure that those with
large families were not penalized, in avoiding the five giant problem the marriage grant become
very important, maternity grant and benefit, people were get all those grant because they had
contributed.4

For those who had not paid enough contributions or were not contributing to the national
insurance scheme, there was a second tier of welfare provision, national assistance, the financial
4
https;//www,open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=6437

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side of this was universal that everyone had a right to it, there would be universal access to
education and health services, and these would be funded from taxation and would be free at the
point of use.5

On other hands, Socialist ideologies on social security; since socialism refers to a form of
economic production whereby workers co-own and co-produce goods and services, sharing in
the profit. That to say it is the government rather than individual or businesses owns and controls
major industries and the economy is planned centrally. Consequently the government is the main
provider of goods and services for its citizen. Under the socialist ideas of social security, the state
administer the social welfare to the people because under the socialist state all means of
production are controlled by the government and the state believe in the so called socialism and
opposes to the so called individualism, the state will consider to both employed and unemployed
and shall give insurance to both. It’s from this concept where the individuals are not allowed to
opt on social security services.

The government provide services to all, the government involves in the making of the rules,
collections and distributions of funds, the government is the main provider of goods and services
for its citizens, and the citizens take advantages of social needs oriented public services.

The government runs the system, its truck social security earnings records, approval or denies
retirement benefits application, collect social security taxes and distributes retirement benefits.

The government decides how much to pay, how much of your paycheck is taxed in order to
contribute to the social security funds. The government decides when you contribute, if you are
employee the taxes the taxes are taken out of your paycheck. If you’re self-employed you pay
when you file your annual tax return. The government will decide how much to give to you, and
when. It could be every month or at the government will state.

Capitalist ideologies on social security, Capitalism is an economic system where the means of
production are owned by private individual. Under this system the economy runs through

5
Ibid

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individuals who own and operate private companies, and decisions over the use of resources are
made by the individual or individuals who own the company.

Under capitalist perspective social security is defined as the collective majors that society takes
to safeguard its member against contingencies. Contingencies in this contest could be applied to
mean all unexpected and expected accident that may affect the human being life, Things like
extreme old age, sickness and diseases, unemployment and extreme poverty are some
contingencies. And furthermore there is a less agreement that whether the essential goal will also
include the maintenance of full employment, economic growth or even ensuring “that all citizen
without distinction of status or class are offered the best standards available in relations to a
certain agreed range of social services.”6

Under capitalist ideas the issue of individualism is the main concern, the individual with private
retirement saving account have more control over how much and when to contribute then they do
with paying social security taxes. Although the government put restriction on how much to
contribute on percentage.

Social security is not a compulsory, they opt due to that are the ones who pay taxes that is
taxpayers, and they tend to say that social security is for the poor or lower earners, disabled and
to the survivors. Education and public health are very productive, social insurance and income
maintenance here had small effects on growth.

B: MAIN BODY

The relevancy of that Report in socialist ideologies

1. The Beveridge report is very important and relevant to poor and rich people who cannot
afford to meet their life requirements and daily basis, monthly basis and other basis.
Social services are possibly provided within our communities, whereby capable and
incapable, poor and rich gets an access to the social services via social security tier.

2. The Beveridge report contribute to the rise of what known as welfare state to the socialist
state and some capitalist state, under the socialist state where by all modes of production
owned by the government the state worries more about relative poverty on the sense that
6
See Asa Briggs, op,cit.. 1961, also Gunnar Myrdar, Beyond the welfare state. (Duckworth, London, 1960), P45

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 if a people are dying/suffering without the basic necessities such as food, shelter and
medical services there is absolute poverty, therefore in order to avoid these problems then
the government must play role in ensuring that it provide necessity social services to its
people, the government, not an individual or businesses, runs the social security earning
benefit, the government runs the website that lets people check their benefit record,
approves or denies retirement benefit.

3. The Beveridge report strongly influence the world Health Insurance Bureau to be
convinced that social insurance should become the primary vehicle for improving life in
the postwar era and even nowadays.

Also Beveridge report views to most international scholars believe that the national minimum
standards of living advocated by the report guaranteed the right to live. And this can be seen as
far as the main goal of social security is to help individuals maintain a reasonable standard of
living when faced with social and economic contingencies, there has been an increasing
recognition of the need to understand the adequacy of benefits. The State plays the role of
coordinating this duty and right on a national level. The principle of personal responsibility runs
through the Beveridge Report. The presumption is that the State will not provide people with free
social security benefits. For instance, In contrast to the principles and ideas contained in the
Report, Japan’s income-related premiums clearly demonstrate that the principle of State
responsibility has become fundamental to postwar Japanese health insurance.7

4. Moreover the report, it much concerned to give people the security to pursue the lives
they chose for the poor, old age, children, and diseases and to the rich for the entirely
community as a living fraternal brotherhood as far as socialist perspectives is concerned.

5. All people of working age should pay national insurance contributions in return benefits
would be paid to people who were sick, unemployed, retired, widowed. As the vision of
social contribution and social progress.

7
See Yoneyuki Sugita (2014) The Beveridge Report and Japan, Social Work in Public
Health, 29:2, 148-161, DOI: 10.1080/19371918.2013.775883: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2013.775883

9|Page
 6. The report is very relevant and useful to the people who are employees in both public and
private sectors where different benefits are paid in different contingencies. Including the
old age benefit, the medical care benefits, survivals benefit.

The relevancy of that Beveridge Report in Capitalist ideologies

1. The core concept of the Report was that principle of individual responsibility in daily life,
which would rival the principle of state responsibility adopted by the postwar world
social insurance system. That is it stressed individuals ‘propensity for self-help,
independence, and self-responsibility if they pursued living standards above the
minimum level.8 The method for accomplishing this is based on the idea that in a
capitalist society, people may enjoy guaranteed minimum standards of living only if they
faithfully comply with their obligation to make adequate premium contributions.
2. The idea of beveridge report in capitalism view, is that the welfare state neither
capitalism or socialist but unique characterized in the genuine commitment to promote
people well-being.
3. There is recognized attribute in capitalist countries in term of extent to which their
government intervention in in the social welfare. Also relevant is nature of his
intervention. It has already shown that this government allocate different amount of
resources to this program.
4. Also Beveridge report contribute to the universal tier to the social security to the socialist
and capitalist state, in order to ensure that those who have no anything to gain assistance
when they’re in any contingency, universal tiers of social services adopted by both
capitalist and some socialist state, for example the United Nations General Assembly
during in 2016 adopted the Global Partnership for Universal Protection (USP2030) by the
international labor organization and the World Bank in partnership with the European
Commission, inter- America Development Bank, the Food and Agricultural Organization
( FAO), Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the
purpose of increase the number of countries that can provide universal social protection,
supporting countries to design and implement universal sustainable social protection

8
See (Kondo & Yoshida, 1950, p. 11).

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 system, and joining efforts to the international agencies, donors and government in
providing social protection coverage all people.

5. Social security stand as a source of tax collection from the employments and jobs under
capitalist state. It maintains the working spirit and a love for employment post.

6. The report, gives priority to healthy fiscal conditions, and to maintain a balanced budget,
in the sense that it open to decreasing the level of the minimum standards of living and
preserving the self-help principle. Hence capitalist perspectives.

7. The state tends to spends higher shares of national income on public services and
benefits. Social production like pensions, unemployment income and assistance to the
hard-up. The report is important because is concern on the elimination of poverty in
community as far as individual person under capitalist views is concerned.

CONCLUSION

By summing up, it is undisputed fact that, The Beveridge report create an open sphere towards
development and growth of the social security system to the worldwide in general. And for that
matter, there are sign that the government of many developing countries are now seeking to
implement the social programs that are appropriates to their economic social realities. On other
hand both the socialist and capitalist state provides the free social services to its people who have
no anything, the services like free education system, free medical services to all including
children and old without any payment, the provision of water and food services to those with
needs by the government also are provided. Apart from that also some scholars point out a
critiques in the manner that, social insurance during hard times tended to acquire the nature of
public assistance. Using insurance as a means of providing mutual assistance among specific
group of people should not be used as a means of income distribution because it misses the core
purpose of insurance. Beveridge’s principle of “flat-rate contributions for flat-rate benefits”
assumes that the insured people are independent minded and have an equal duty to make
premium contributions and an equal right to receive benefits.

REFERENCES

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Asa Briggs, op,cit.. 1961, also Gunnar Myrdar, Beyond the welfare state. (Duckworth, London,
1960), P45

Beveridge,W. H. (1942). Social insurance and allied services, report by Sir William Beveridge.
London,UK: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.

Harris, J. (1997). William Beveridge: A biography (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University

Press.

Hirata, T. (1974). Shakai Hosho [Social security]. Tokyo, Japan: Nihon Rodo Kyokai.

Hori, K. (1999). Gendai Shakai to Shakai Hosho [Modern society and social security]. In K. Hori
(Ed.), Shakai Hoshoron

[Arguments of social security] (pp. 1–58). Tokyo, Japan: Kenpakusha.

Kenkyujo (Ed.), Fukushi Kokka 4 [Welfare state 4] (pp. 3–58). Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo Daigaku
Shuppan.

Kelvin Jefrey (1994) War and Reform British Politics during Second World War, Manchester
University Press, Manchester pg 88-89

Yoneyuki Sugita (2014) The Beveridge Report and Japan, Social Work in Public Health,

29:2, 148-161, DOI: 10.1080/19371918.2013.775883

https;//www,open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=6437

ST. AUGUSTINE UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA

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 SCHOOL OF LAW

LLB 4
COURSE NAME : SOCIAL SECURITY LAW
COURSE CODE : SLW.
SUBMITTED TO : MR. MASSOUD
SUBMITTED BY : GROUP
DATE OF SUBMISSION : 07th. JANUARY, 2020
TYPE OF WORK : GROUP ASSIGNMENT

S/NO NAME REG. NO SIGNATURE

1 CHIWANGA LUGANO LLB 56861
2 LEORNALD E. NZIGO LLB 56496
3 NDOMBA ROBERT R LLB 57231
4 GOODCHANCE H. ALEX LLB 56343
5 MWILOLEZI JOHN B LLB 56488
6 GERVASE ADERICK LLB 57718
7 HENRY MARCHIORY LLB 57134
8 ROBERT ANGELINA LLB 56370
9 MALEWO ELIREHEMA LLB 58091
10 ABDELY A. NGOISA LLB 57156
Question:

Discuss the relevancy of Beveridge report of (1942) to the capitalist and

socialist state.

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