10.1: Votes for women and social reform

Votes for women
1. The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS)
  1. Set up in 1897 by Millicent Fawcett
  2. "Suffragists" – believed women would eventually get vote
  3. Issued pamphlets, presented petitions + organised marches and meetings
  4. Fawcett thought it was crucial to keep issue of women's suffrage in public eye
2. The Women's Freedom League (WFL)
  1. Set up in 1907 by Charlotte Despard
  2. Members not peaceful – prepared to break law as long as no violence
  3. METHODS
    1. Members chained themselves to railings outside House of Commons
    2. 1911, members didn't take part in census = broke law
    3. Members refused to pay taxes
3. The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)
  1. METHODS
    1. 5 June 1913, Emily Davison rushed infront of King Anmer's horse at Epsom race course – killed
    2. 5 July 1909, imprisoned Marion Wallace Dunlop, on hunger strike
    3. 1912-14 – Suffragettes escalated their violence: cut telephone wires, set fire to derelict buildings and postboxes, slashed paintings in art paintings + attacked/assaulted leading Liberals
    4. WSPU militancy began 1905 – interrupted meetings of Liberals = arrested
  2. Founded in 1903 by Emily Pankhurst
  3. Determined to use more extreme (even militant) methods to get publicity + secure vote quicker
  4. "Suffragettes"
4. How did authorities react?
  1. Suffragettes dying in prison ➢ gives them more publicity ∴ force-feeding
  2. Temporary Discharge Bill, 1913
    1. "Cat and mouse act" – prisoners on hunger strike released when very ill + sent back when recovered
5. Women were not allowed to vote in general elections or stand for Parliament. 3 different societies campaigned for the vote for women in the years before 1914.
Child welfare measures and OAPs
1. Child welfare measures
  1. School Meals Act, 1906
    1. Instructed local authorities to pay for school meals for the poorest children
  2. School Medical Service, 1907
    1. Every local authority had to provide a school medical service ∴ Gov. paid for school clinics (= free treatment)
  3. Children's Charter, 1908
    1. Prevented children under age of 16 to buy cigarettes and enter pubs + parents taken to court if they were cruel to children or allowed them to go begging
2. Old age pensions
  1. 1908, old age pensions included in the first budget of Lloyd George (= new Chancellor of the Exchequer)
    1. First pensions claimed 1 January 1909
      1. Pensions paid to old people over age of 70 who had income less than 12shillings/week (= over 60% of people over 70)
      2. Money of pensions came from gov. funds
      3. Pensions paid on sliding scale depending old person's income
3. The Liberals introduced a series of measures to help the young and the old.
Labour exchanges and the National Insurance Act
1. Labour exchanges
  1. Labour Exchanges Act, 1909
    1. Labour exchanges would advertise job vacancies – save unemployed people from having to tramp from one factory to another in order to find work
2. Unemployment and health insurance
  1. National Insurance Act, 1911
    1. Unemployment insurance
      1. Workers, employers + state paid equivalent to 1p/week into an insurance fund
      2. In return, workers could claim 7shillings/week up to 15 weeks – provided they could work + had sufficient contributions into fund – scheme extended to 8million people in 1920
    2. Health insurance
      1. Applied to all male workers who earned less than £3/week (= maj. of working class)
      2. Scheme proved of real benefit to poorest workers who couldn't afford doctors
      3. Bitter opposition from doctors – not paid fairly for their work
      4. Didn't apply to self-employed, wives, domestic servants or women workers (extended to women workers in 1920)
3. The Liberals also wanted to help the unemployed and those workers who were not insured against sickness.

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10.1: Votes for women and social reform

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