Twentieth Century British History Advance Access originally published online on May 12, 2009
Twentieth Century British History 2009 20(3):370-395; doi:10.1093/tcbh/hwp016
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Rethinking the Beveridge Strait-jacket: The Labour Party, the TUC and the Introduction of Superannuation
University of Leiden
*d.m.oude-nijhuis{at}hum.leidenuniv.nl.
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Abstract |
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This article highlights the role of the trade union movement in the failure of Labour's attempts to create adequate state pension benefits during the first half of the post-war period. It argues that union opposition to attempts to redistribute income among workers made it impossible for Labour to achieve a redistributive contributory solution for the shortcomings of the state pension. The initial choice of the ‘flawed’ Beveridge solution for social security, the failure of consecutive attempts to introduce national superannuation and the resulting inadequacy of state pension provision in the United Kingdom, can be understood only once we realize the importance of this opposition.