This article examines the process by which the concept of universal allowances for children took shape in Britain between 1939 and 1942, focusing on the campaign initiated by the All-Party Parliamentary Group.
Recent studies of British social policy during World War II emphasize the need to re-examine the ‘Titmuss thesis,’ which stressed the influence of the War. Did the War promote changes in the conceptualisation of children’s allowances? This paper explores the question by examining the All-Party Parliamentary Group’s campaign for the introduction of ‘universal’ children’s allowances.
The campaign had two phases. The first (1939-40) was the preparatory stage for launching a full campaign, and the second (1941-42) saw the campaign ’s implementation.
In the first phase, the campaigners’ disparate ideas about children’s allowances were brought together into a coherent concept. Previous research regarded the campaign’s proposal as a unified plan. This paper, however, shows that the campaigners’ ideas initially varied, and that it was the outbreak of the War and social survey results that led them to recognize the need for a common policy on universal children’s allowances.
The second phase saw opponents sidelined, which enabled an agreement on the issue to be forged. Much importance has been attributed to the role played by the Labour Party in the Trades Union Congress’s conversion to recognizing the need for universal allowances. This paper, however, shows that not only Labour Party, but also the All-Party group’s campaign, played a significant role in outdebating their opponents, thus paving the way to a new phase of policy-making.
This leads to the conclusion that the start of World War II should be regarded as a turning point in the universal implementation of children’s allowances.
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