Starter quiz
- What support for children had been available since the 1920s?
- free childcare
- free school meals
- free school milk ✓
- free vegetables
-
- The ______ state is the system by which the government protects the health and well-being of its citizens.
- 'welfare' ✓
- How many 'prefab' homes were created to address the immediate housing crisis following WW2?
- 15 700
- 157 000 ✓
- 1.57 million
-
- What percentage of people paid into a system to allow them to access healthcare prior to the NHS?
- 20 percent
- 40 percent ✓
- 60 percent
-
- By how much had primary poverty fallen from 1936 to 1950?
- 14 percent
- 24 percent
- 34 percent ✓
-
- Match the Acts to how they improved the lives of British people post-WW2.
- 1948 Children's Act⇔ensured that children were properly cared for and housed ✓
- 1946 Industrial Injuries Act⇔provided insurance in the case of workplace injuries ✓
- 1948 National Assistance Act⇔gave extra support to some disabled, elderly and unemployed people ✓
Exit quiz
- Why did Labour want to put major British industries into government hands?
- to make them more cost effective
- to make them more efficient ✓
- to make them more profitable for the government
- to make them run in the interests of the people ✓
-
- Which major industry was the first to be nationalised?
- coal ✓
- electricity
- gas
- steel
- railways
-
- What is the term for a democratic welfare state that incorporates both capitalist and socialist practices?
- 'social democracy' ✓
- Why did the Conservatives not want Labour to nationalise the iron and steel industries?
- They were currently making a profit. ✓
- They were completely opposed to nationalisation.
- They knew they could never be profitable.
-
- When were all previously nationalised industries sold back to private ownership?
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1980s ✓
- 1990s
-
- Sort these industries by the date they were nationalised.
- 1⇔coal
- 2⇔electricity
- 3⇔railways and gas
- 4⇔iron and steel
Worksheet
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Presentation
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Due to their belief in social democracy, the Labour government were committed to a programme of nationalisation.
- They believed that this would lead to lower prices and create more jobs, with better working conditions.
- By 1951, key industries were nationalised: the coal mines; iron, gas and steel industries; and the railways.
- The Conservatives, critics of nationalisation, took over in 1951, but allowed these industries to remain nationalised.
- Output increased and more places were connected by rail but the process only artificially helped declining industries.
Common misconception
Pupils might think that the people had control of nationalised industries.
The first chairman of the National Coal Board (NCB) was the former owner of the largest coal company in Britain.
Keywords
Social democracy - a democratic welfare state that incorporates both capitalist and socialist practices
Nationalise - to transfer an industry or business from private to government ownership
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