What would William Beveridge do? Marking the 75th anniversary of his groundbreaking report, the London School of Economics is asking that question with events on the future of the welfare state: Beveridge was LSE director for almost 20 years. Last week a whole day was devoted to basic income – a universal wage paid regardless of need: an idea, many keep saying, whose time has come. But Beveridge would have been appalled. And so would most voters in their current state of mind. His 1942 cradle-to-grave social insurance plan sprang from a wartime collective spirit, seeming to square an age-old problem. His universal safety net was a great leap forward – though never quite what it claimed to be: there are no silver bullets.
From Tudor poor laws to Victorian workhouses to universal credit, the same political dilemmas face all welfare policies: how to prevent starvation without the moral hazard of encouraging dependence. Beveridge was wary of the predicament. His plans meant you pay in when in work, draw out when in need, earning rights through contributions. This moral basis was instantly politically attractive.
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