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26-470: The National Insurance Act 1911 ( 1 & 2 Geo. 5 . c. 55) created National Insurance , originally a system of health insurance for industrial workers in Great Britain based on contributions from employers, the government, and the workers themselves. It was one of the foundations of the modern welfare state. It also provided unemployment insurance for designated cyclical industries. It formed part of

52-698: A level with Germany; we should not emulate them only in armaments ." His measure gave the British working classes the first contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment. The Act only applied to wage earners—about 70% of the work force—their families and the unwaged were not covered. After first praising the proposal, the Conservatives split, and most voted against it. But when returned to office they did not change it. Some trade unions who operated their own insurance schemes, and friendly societies who had their own schemes, at first opposed

78-613: A single national organisation in the healthcare field (the National Health Service ) which, among other things, fulfilled the role of the Approved Societies; Approved Societies thus became redundant, and ceased to exist in 1948. The National Insurance Act Part II provided for time-limited unemployment benefit for certain highly cyclical industries, especially the building trades, mechanical engineering, foundries, vehicle manufacturing, and sawmills. The scheme

104-454: A year. The money would be collected from labour exchanges . By 1913, 2.3 million were insured under the scheme for unemployment benefit and almost 15 million insured for sickness benefit. A key assumption of the Act was an unemployment rate of 4.6%. At the time the Act was passed, unemployment was at 3% and the fund was expected to quickly build a surplus. Under the Act, employees' contributions to

130-458: Is cited as "39 & 40 Geo. 3 c. 67", meaning the 67th act passed during the session that started in the 39th year of the reign of George III and which finished in the 40th year of that reign. Note that the modern convention is to use Arabic numerals in citations (thus "41 Geo. 3" rather than "41 Geo. III"). Acts of the last session of the Parliament of Great Britain and the first session of

156-607: The Co-operative News , and Mary Lawrenson , a teacher who suggested the creation of an organization to promote instructional and recreational classes for mothers and girls. Acland began organizing a Women's League for the Spread of Co-operation , which held its first formal meeting of 50 women at the 1883 Co-operative Congress in Edinburgh and established local branches. It began as an organization dedicated to spreading

182-684: The Women's Co-operative Guild and later to the Co-operative Women's Guild. In 1899, Margaret Llewelyn Davies was elected general secretary of the Guild and was widely credited with greatly increasing the success of the Guild. By 1910, it had 32,000 members. Maternity benefits were included in the National Insurance Act 1911 because of the guild's pressure. The guild became more politically active, and expanded its work beyond

208-539: The list of acts of the Parliament of England and the list of acts of the Parliament of Scotland . For acts passed from 1707 to 1800, see the list of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain . See also the list of acts of the Parliament of Ireland . For acts of the devolved parliaments and assemblies in the United Kingdom, see the list of acts of the Scottish Parliament , the list of acts of

234-594: The "ninepence for fourpence"). Under the Act, workers could take sick leave and be paid 10 shillings a week for the first 13 weeks, and 5 shillings a week for the next 13 weeks. Workers also gained access to free treatment for tuberculosis, and the sick were eligible for treatment by a panel doctor. Due to pressure from the Co-operative Women's Guild , the National Insurance Act provided maternity benefits. In parts of Scotland whose economy

260-587: The British Isles; their objectives included the establishment of minimum wages and maternity benefits, and in April 1914 they were involved in an International Women's Congress at The Hague , which passed a resolution totally opposing war: this Conference is of opinion that the terrible method of war should never again be used to settle disputes between nations, and urge that a partnership of nations, with peace as its object, should be established and enforced by

286-719: The National Insurance Fund than they took out. In 1925, and then 1931, further Acts were passed which reduced the government contribution to the fund: the government pressured the backers of Approved Societies (the insurance companies, trade unions, and so on) to take on the financial burden themselves. Together with increasing government control on which treatments they were allowed to fund, this led many Societies to complain that they had become little more than branches of government, and membership attendance at society meetings dwindled away, becoming virtually non-existent by 1940. The National Insurance Act 1946 introduced

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312-534: The Northern Ireland Assembly , and the list of acts and measures of Senedd Cymru ; see also the list of acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland . The number shown after each act's title is its chapter number. Acts passed before 1963 are cited using this number, preceded by the year(s) of the reign during which the relevant parliamentary session was held; thus the Union with Ireland Act 1800

338-399: The Parliament of the United Kingdom are both cited as "41 Geo. 3". Acts passed from 1963 onwards are simply cited by calendar year and chapter number. The first session of the 30th Parliament of the United Kingdom , which met from 31 January 1911 until 16 December 1911. Co-operative Women%27s Guild The guild was founded in 1883 by Alice Acland , who edited the "Women's Corner" of

364-462: The co-operative movement, but soon expanded beyond the retail-based focus of the movement to organizing political campaigns on women's issues including health and suffrage. Annie Williams , a suffragette organiser for the Women's Social and Political Union in Newcastle found in 1910 that "Co-operative women are very keen to know about 'Votes for Women'." In 1884, the league changed its name to

390-653: The details after inspecting the German system. The medical profession and the British Medical Association were angry with the law, despite support from some prominent leaders such as Victor Horsley . Some critics on the right such as Hilaire Belloc considered the Act to be a manifestation of The Servile State , which Belloc criticised in his book of the same name. Collection of contributions began in July 1912, and payments on 15 January 1913. The bill

416-401: The government with 7 O'Brienites against it. It became law on 16 December 1911, and went into effect on 1 July 1912. The National Insurance Act Part I provided for a National Insurance scheme with provision of medical benefits. All workers who earned under £160 a year had to pay 4 pence a week to the scheme; the employer paid 3 pence, and general taxation paid 2 pence (Lloyd George called it

442-643: The people's will. After World War I , the guild became more involved in peace activism, concentrating especially on the social and political conditions that encouraged or gave rise to war, as well as opposition to the arms trade. In 1933 they introduced the White Poppy as a pacifist alternative to the British Legion 's annual red poppy appeal. At this time membership of the guild was at its peak, with 1,500 branches and 72,000 members. The guild continued with several local branches, although it did not have

468-404: The proposal, but Lloyd George convinced most of them to support it. The friendly societies and trade unions were given a major role in administering health insurance. Covered workers outside those agencies dealt with the local post office. The government picked up responsibility for the basic benefits that the unions and societies had promised, thus greatly helping their financial reserves. The Act

494-574: The scheme were to be compulsory and taken by the employer before the workers' salary was paid. Amended by National Insurance Act 1913 c. 37, draft regulations were published in November 1913. 1 %26 2 Geo. 5 This is a complete list of acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the year 1911 . Note that the first parliament of the United Kingdom was held in 1801; parliaments between 1707 and 1800 were either parliaments of Great Britain or of Ireland ). For acts passed up until 1707, see

520-596: The societies. The 1911 Act only allowed Approved Societies to collect the contributions of their members; they could not keep the money, but had to forward it to the National Insurance Fund. The societies' own expenditure, such as the cost of treatment for their members, would be reimbursed by the Fund, on a six-monthly basis. The government did not reimburse any "improper" payments, such as "treatments" that did not comply with government regulations, or corrupt payments. Any organisation could become an Approved Society, as long as it

546-864: The wider social welfare reforms of the Liberal Governments of 1906–1915, led by Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith . David Lloyd George , the Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, was the prime moving force behind its design, negotiations with doctors and other interest groups, and final passage, assisted by Home Secretary Winston Churchill . Lloyd George followed the example of Germany, which under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck had provided compulsory national insurance against sickness from 1884. After visiting Germany in 1908, Lloyd George said in his 1909 Budget speech that Britain should aim to be "putting ourselves in this field on

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572-487: Was based on actuarial principles, and it was planned that it would be funded by fixed payments from workers, employers, and taxpayers. It made no provision for dependants. Part II worked in a similar way to Part I. The worker gave 2 1 ⁄ 2 d (i.e pre-decimal pence) per week while employed, the employer 2 1 ⁄ 2 d, and the taxpayer 3d. After one week of unemployment, the worker would start to be eligible to receive 7 shillings (i.e. 84d) per week for up to 15 weeks in

598-525: Was introduced by Lloyd George to Parliament on 4 May 1911. On the Third Reading, the government was victorious by a huge majority. Most Unionists abstained, although 11 voted against the bill and 9 in favour of it, while the Labour Party was also split, with 32 Labour MPs supporting the government and 5 from the party's socialistic wing voting against. In addition, 58 'Redmonite' Irish voted with

624-665: Was psychologically important, as it removed the need for unemployed workers to rely on the stigmatised social welfare provisions of the Poor Law . This hastened the end of the Poor Law as a social welfare provider: the Poor Law Unions were abolished in 1929, and the administration of poor relief was transferred to the counties and county boroughs. Key figures in the implementation of the Act included Robert Laurie Morant and especially economist William Braithwaite, who drafted

650-637: Was registered under the Act, and complied with the Act's obligations, including to operate on a not-for-profit basis. As well as societies created by the trade unions and friendly societies , commercial insurers also established Approved Societies, such as the National Amalgamated Approved Society (created by Pearl Assurance and others); the largest Approved Societies were the four operated by Prudential , which collectively looked after 4.3 million members. Many Approved Societies were nominally profitable, contributing more to

676-572: Was still largely based on subsistence farming , the collection of cash contributions was impractical. The Highlands and Islands Medical Service was established in the crofting counties on a non-contributory basis in 1913. Though the fund was held centrally, and the obligation to pay into it was a nationally imposed one, access to the scheme was via "Approved Societies", who collected the contributions, paid out for treatment, and provided day-to-day administration. A worker could choose which Approved Society to belong to; this stimulated competition between

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