'Welfare' has a long and positive history in Britain | Letter
Martin Bailey responds to a letter that said the word ‘welfare’ is American and has negative connotationsRuth Lister is very much mistaken in her accusation that the word “welfare” is...
By Guardian Staff · The Guardian Opinion
Martin Bailey responds to a letter that said the word ‘welfare’ is American and has negative connotations Ruth Lister is very much mistaken in her accusation that the word “welfare” is pejorative and American in origin ( Letters, 13 July ). William Beveridge refers to welfare 25 times in his report of 1942 . Moreover, the use of the word welfare in Britain has a long and positive history – it was the stated aim to improve the welfare of the British people by liberals, the labour and trade union movement, many Christians, friendly societies and other progressives throughout 19th-century Britain, much of this reaching political fruition in the reforms of the Lloyd George government and the acts of the 1945 Labour administration. Continue reading...