To what extent did Britain change between 1945 and 1951?

The 1945-51 Labour Governments are often remembered for setting up the modern welfare state.
These governments passed many changes which aimed to protect everyone in Britain (rich or poor) from the ‘cradle to the grave’.

Before 1945 there was help available for people, including those introduced by the pre-World War I Liberal governments. However many people were still very poor and needed more help. Others felt that after a war they should not continue to live in poverty.
Indeed,British population knew some impacts that the War did on the economy and society. In fact,the government introduced central planning and the Ministries of Supply and Production organised the war industries. Coal mines and railways came under government direction. By 1945,83% of Britain's public expenditure was on military and defence requirements with the country also having to pay for war camage caused by aerial bombing and the loss of a signifificant part of the merchant naby. Britian had built up a 13£billion debt. World War II has also huge impacts on the society.
There was the rationing,policies changes,Air Raid Precautions,a rose of the employment of the women...
In 1942 a man called William Beveridge was asked by the wartime government to conduct a study into social problems in Britain at the time. The Beveridge Report (as it became known) was the basis for setting up the welfare state.
The Beveridge Report identified five major problems in Britain. They became known as the ‘Five Giants’ and were: - Ignorance (lack of education);- Disease (poor health); - Squalor (poor housing); -Want (poverty) and - Idleness (unemployment)

Even before Labour’s election in 1945, the wartime govrnment accepted the conclusions of the Beveridge Report. They began to put in places some changes. However it was the election of Labour – led by Prime Minister Clement Attlee - that really led to social action.
But... Why did the Labour Party win the 1945 General Election?
First,we can mention the electoral system . In fact,as a result of population movements,urban constituencies had an average of 6,00 fewer voters than rural and suburban constituencies. Labour traditionnaly received support from urban areas and the single majority system of voting exaggerated the scale of Labour's victory. In 1945,Labour won 383 seats with 47.8% of the bote while the Conservatives won 213 seats with 39.8% of the vote.

There was also an indoubtably desire for change. Indeed,the Conservatives had dominated the 1931-45 national government and many people wanted a change. There were strong memories of the Depression,and Labour's support of the Beveridge Report and its plan for nationalisation of major industries proved an attraction to the voters.

A final reason due to the victory of Labour was the Election Campaign. Moreover,Labour blamed the Conservatives for the appeasement in the late 1930's and accused them of helping to start World War II. Atlee received credit for his part in the war effort. He had been deputy prime minister from 1940 and came across as a moderate statesman. Also,the majority of servicemen voted Labour.
On the contrary,the Conservative Election Campaign was mainly based on Churchill's wartime leadership. Churchill was seen as a good war leader but he was thought to be a poor leader in peace time,and his warning that Labour would introduce Gestapo style police force backfired. Unlike Labour,the Conservatives lacked clear policies and produced their election manifesto in a few weeks. In addition,the Conservative Party organisation had declined during the War due,in part,to the military service of many party organisers.

In that way,we are going to talk about the background of fews Economics Reforms:
Britain had experienced central government control over the economy during World War II. Labour planned to ensure government control over the economy in peacetime. They created a planned economy where the government would control key sectors of the economy,like energy and transport.
Also,Labour was greatly influenced by the economic ideas of the Liberal economist Keynes. Keynes believed governments could control the level of inflation and unemployment through increasing public expendure or taxation. Keynesain demand management economics was the dominant economic view from the end of the World War II to 1975.

Then,an other economic reform was the nationalisation. The nationalisation of industries was also an influential change made by the labour government. In 1946 the Bank of England and civil Aviation was nationalised by the labour government and in the next three years coal, Cable and Wireless, Transport, electricity, Gas and Iron and steel followed these. Some of the industries that were nationalised by labour were not carried through very peacefully for instance the nationalisation of iron and steel. The proposal to nationalise this industries was strongly opposed by the conservatives and the steel masters. However the nationalisation of other industries such as coal was a positive change made by labour. This was because the takeover of coal meant that the employees would receive more money from the government then they would do with it being private with the employer being able to decide how much it pays them .Nationalisation involded 20% of British industry.
Economic growth was also helped by the US Marshall plan,which amounted to 1,26billion £ beteween 1945 and 1952. As well,a devaluation of the pound in August 1949 from 4,03£ to 2,80£ made imports dearer and exports cheaper. Finally,there was a wage restraint by trade unions,which kept business lost down.

The economics reforms had several repercussions on the jobs and the unemployement.
The government believed that the country – not private companies - should control important industries such as coal mining, steel works and the rail network. As such Labour took control of these industries at different times,it is actually the nationalisation.
Once the government owned these industries this meant the government could use tax money to keep unprofitable businesses going. This meant that more people were in work. Apprentice numbers could be high too. This helped tackle idleness.
Many of the improvements after nationalisation helped people already in work, not create new jobs. For example paid holidays were introduced in the coal industry.
The Labour government also introduced new laws to improve working conditions. The 1947 Dock Labour Scheme tried to end the temporary nature of dock work. This meant people could be more attracted to work in difficult jobs.
However as with nationalisation these changes mostly benefitted people already in work. It did little to create work. Some argue it put firms off hiring extra staff too as it was more expensive.

Thanks to Labour's Government,news socials seforms are implemented:
One of the major is about the health and the solutions set up for overcome diseases in Britain. Labour created the welfare state,a comprehensive plan to provide free education and healthcare for all the population. The 1944 Bulter Education Act laid the foundations Health was the main Labour reform and was run by Ernest Bevan.This provided free health care for the first time but quickly became overwhelmed by demand.
The 1945-51 governments are remembered for many things but the most famous is setting up the NHS in 1948. The National Health Service aimed to eradicate the Giant of disease by offering healthcare to all.
The NHS had three aims: ,Universal access ,Treat all medical problems and last :Free at the point of use. Before this more than half of the British population had no medical cover, meaning they often went without.
Although the NHS was set up to be free, the costs were too high. Eventually charges were introduced in 1952, prescription charges. Also, many hospitals were out-of-date and in a poor condition.

The Education also changed a lot against the ingorance.
Under the Education Act, all children sat an exam age 11 (called the 11+). Those that passed went to better schools, meaning they could get better jobs. Those that failed went to schools where they received technical training. The 11+ (or ‘qualy’ in Scotland) was criticised because children that failed often remained stuck in poverty. Many others argued that it was unfair to base a child’s future on one exam taken at age 11.
The Education Act The 1944 Education Act was designed by the wartime government, although brought by Labour to tackle ignorance. The Act aimed to improve education by raising the school leaving age to 15, meaning all children would get at least a secondary education.

An other social reform is about poverty who concerned the population and their wants.
In 1945 the newly-elected Labour government brought in the Family Allowances Act. This was to help tackle ‘want’. The Act gave weekly payments to all mothers with two or more children. The payment was 5 shillings per week for each child (except the oldest).
The Family Allowances Act was a huge help to families where the husband had been killed during the war. Also as it was paid directly to the mother it was felt that this would make it more likely to be spent on household items.
This last one was hugely helpful to many – but it did not help families with only one child. Also the payment stopped at 18 which often forced the young person to work, rather than continue with their education.
The 1946 National Insurance Act built on the work started by the original Act in 1911. All working age people had to pay money to the government each week, which led to them being given help when they needed it.
People could get sickness and unemployment benefit, an old age pension (women at 60, men at 65) and other benefits such as maternity and death grants. This was a far more generous type of welfare cover than ever before.
Weekly contributions were around 5% of earnings, a lot to the very poorest people. Not everyone was protected by the new law e.g. selfemployed people, married women, etc. Pension levels were still low.
Many people could not afford to pay National Insurance, so in the 1948 the National Assistance Act was introduced. This allowed poor people to apply for extra financial help if they needed it.
This Act meant that the very poorest – who would have missed out on help – were given assistance £2 per week for married couples. This was especially helpeful for elderly people that did not qualify for a pension. Many people complained that people who had not paid anything were receiving government benefits. Also it was means-tested and not universal, which many felt went against the spirit of the welfare state.
The government tried to tackle the problems of overcrowding and slum housing by building new houses. In 1946 the New Towns Act was launched. This aimed to end the Giant of squalor.

Also ,housing and squalor are examinated by the reform of Labour Government..

The Act aimed to improve housing by building new towns across Britain in nicer areas than crowded cities. 14 new towns were built by 1951, creating new homes and communities: East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Livingston, Milton Keynes.
There were few jobs or facilities such as shops created in the new towns. This meant that although people could live there they often faced long journeys to travel to work or to socialise.
The government announced plans to build 200,000 new houses each year. Most would be available for rent and so were available to workers. Pre-fab houses were built and jobs were created to make them.

Many new houses were built but less than the 200,000 per year which was promised. This meant that overcrowding continued and there were long housing waiting lists.

In conclusion I believe that the changes made by the labour government where very profound. The introduction of the NHS was such a profound change because it tackled the problem of disease well because enabled all classes to receive medical treatment. However I feel that the changes the labour governments made towards education were not profound in anyway. This is because the only real significant change made by labour was the age of leaving school was raised to 15.Although the introduction of national insurance was a huge change made by labour because it provided a safety net for the working class. It’s the work done by labour on Health and National insurance that shows that the changes they made were profound and benefited the British people.