Liberal Reforms 1906-1918

1. Starter - Causes of poverty

Required Resources

• Slides 1-3

Delivery

• Display Slide 2 which contains a political cartoon from the beginning of the 20th century. The cartoon highlights the fact that at that time, the British working class were considered to be lazy and this laziness was regarded as a chief cause of poverty.
• Display Slide 3 which explains the prevalence of this view during the 19th century.
• Discuss this view with students. How does this compare to their view of the causes of poverty? (Expect students to view poverty more as a consequence of social injustice than laziness.)
• Explain that this shift in attitudes has mostly taken place over the past 100 years and was in part due to the changes introduced by the Liberal party between 1906 and 1918 and reinforced by further welfare reforms introduced after the Second World War in the 1940s.

Differentiation

Higher Ability:

Students could be asked to write two press releases on poverty, one from the perspective of a politician in the late 19th century and one from a modern day politician. Ask them to consider the style of language used as well as the message which they are trying to convey.