Poverty and the Welfare State in Inter-war London

Roy Bailey and Timothy Hatton

No 1686, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: In this paper we re-examine poverty among working class households in inter-war London using the newly computerized records from the New Survey of London Life and Labour (NSLLL), a survey of living standards in London undertaken in 1929–31. First, we examine how the use of different poverty lines affects the number of households found to be in poverty. We then analyse the effects of the inter-war social security system in relieving poverty. Finally, we estimate what difference it would have made to the extent and incidence of poverty if the post-Beveridge social security system had been in place during the inter-war period. Our main conclusions are that the inter-war social security system had played a greater role in averting poverty than it has sometimes been given credit for, even though substantial poverty remained. The post-Beveridge social security system, if applied in the inter-war period, would have reduced poverty still further, but would not have eliminated it.

Keywords: Interwar Britain; Poverty; Social Security; Welfare State (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I32 I38 N34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997-08
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Journal Article: Poverty and the Welfare State in Interwar London (1998)
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